Appalachian Health: Culture, Challenges, and Capacity

Although health outcomes and other measures of well-being in the United States have vastly improved over recent decades, gains in Appalachia have been more modest than in other parts of the country. The common refrain is that this ‘lagging behind’ is a result of Appalachia’s persistent poverty and bleak labour-market outlook; yet economic explanations reveal an incomplete picture.

Appalachian Health explores major challenges and opportunities for promoting the health and well-being of the people of Appalachia, a historically underserved population. It considers the intersections of health and social, political and economic factors to shed light on the trends affecting mortality and morbidity among the region’s residents.

This edited volume brings together high-profile authors from across academia, public health and government to offer perspectives on a wide range of topics including health behaviors, environmental justice, and pandemic preparedness. This volume also provides updated data on issues such as opioid abuse, ‘deaths of despair’, and the social determinants of health. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Appalachian Health offers a timely and much-needed optimistic account of health status in Appalachia. By more closely studying Appalachia - which is, in many ways, emblematic of rural regions across the United States - this volume both better illuminates the complex determinants of health and offers a more systematic way to evaluate processes affecting well-being in rural places.