Synopses & Reviews
The most dramatic growth of Christianity in the late twentieth century has occurred in Africa, where Catholic missions have played major roles. But these missions did more than simply convert Africans. Catholic sisters became heavily involved in the Churchandrsquo;s health services and eventually in relief and social justice efforts. Inand#160;
Into Africa, Barbra Mann Wall offers a transnational history that reveals how Catholic medical and nursing sisters established relationships between local and international groups, sparking an exchange of ideas that crossed national, religious, gender, and political boundaries.
and#160;
Both a nurse and a historian, Wall explores this intersection of religion, medicine, gender, race, and politics in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the years following World War II, a period when European colonial rule was ending and Africans were building new governments, health care institutions, and education systems. She focuses specifically on hospitals, clinics, and schools of nursing in Ghana and Uganda run by the Medical Mission Sisters of Philadelphia; in Nigeria and Uganda by the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary; in Tanzania by the Maryknoll Sisters of New York; and in Nigeria by a local Nigerian congregation. Wall shows how, although initially somewhat ethnocentric, the sisters gradually developed a deeper understanding of the diverse populations they served. In the process, their medical and nursing work intersected with critical social, political, and cultural debates that continue in Africa today: debates about the role of women in their local societies, the relationship of women to the nursing and medical professions and to the Catholic Church, the obligations countries have to provide care for their citizens, and the role of women in human rights.
and#160;
A groundbreaking contribution to the study of globalization and medicine, Into Africa highlights the importance of transnational partnerships, using the stories of these nuns to enhance the understanding of medical mission work and global change.
Review
andquot;American Catholic Hospitals offers a tremendous amount of new material and refreshing perspectives on current health care system challenges in the United States.andquot;
Review
andquot;Wall provides solid scholarship and engaging insight into the historic and contemporary contributions of American Catholic hospitals and their ability to adapt and serve amid the changing landscapes of church and state, culture wars, and healthcare reforms of the 20th century.andquot;
Review
andquot;Wall traces the nursing and management roles of nuns and brothers in church-related US health care institutions. This well-documented volume will be a useful addition for collections supporting academic programs in public health, hospital administration, bioethics, and divinity, and for comprehensive collections in the history of medicine. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;
American Catholic Hospitals is fair, balanced, insightful, and intriguing. The story Wall tellsandmdash;a story about a significant segment of the USand#160;health care systemandmdash;is meticulously documented. Readers will find her study to be illuminating, even inspirational.andquot;
Review
andquot;In American Catholic Hospitals, Barbra Mann Wall traces the ways Catholic hospitals have accommodated changes both within the church and in society over the last century. Her book is well researched and a fascinating read.andquot;
Review
andquot;Wall presents a compelling and well-documented narrative of the dynamic transformation of Catholic hospitals in twentieth-century America. Drawing on records from Catholic congregations throughout the United States, she reveals an admirable perseverance of religious caregivers, demonstrated by their willingness to adapt to socioeconomic forces often inimical to charitable care.andquot;
Review
andquot;Well-written and informative, this book is an incredibly in-depth, sensitive look into the worlds of Filipino lives, families, and religious practices. Using multiple sources of data, Cherry puts Filipino religious lives in context, helping us get up-close views that bring social patterns to life.andquot;
Review
andquot;Cherry's book captures the heartbeat of the Filipino immigrant community in America by its focus on how religion and family impact American civic life and the future of American Catholicism.andquot;
Review
andquot;Using interviews and surveys, sociologist Cherry presents a thick description and analysis of the interplay of faith, family, and community life among the first generation of Filipino Americans in Houston, Texas. A significant contribution to immigration, ethnic/multicultural, Asian American, and religious studies. Highly recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;A clear and honest examination of the Filipino Catholics in America. Cherry has provided a valuable contribution to the study of Asian Americans, migration, and religion.andquot;
Review
“A wonderful personal story of what it means to be part of a disruptive movement that changed healthcare in the United States, making nurse practitioners the future of primary care.”
Review
"Ward makes a convincing case for a view of health care that relies on clinical skills and diagnosis with sensitivity to the differences among groups—against one that pursues only curing at the expense of thorough diagnosis and caring."
Review
andquot;Stephen Cherry offers readers a close look at an immigrant group in the United Statesvthat has been significantly understudied relative to its size and importance. Cherry makes a strong argument for the significant impact of the Filipino-American community on American civic life and on
American Catholicism.andquot;
Review
andldquo;A particularly striking exploration of the interplay between religion, health, gender, and politics. Walland#39;s work enriches and challenges existing perspectives on the development of health care in sub-Saharan Africa, andand#160;provides an essential historical link between the colonial period and the present day.andquot;
Review
andquot;Cherryandrsquo;s work is an important contribution to the literature on immigrant religion and religious communities. This work is suitable for multiple readerships from undergraduate studies and graduate seminars in religion, race or ethnicity, culture, and Asian American studies.andquot;
Review
andquot;Cherry expands the possibilities for a truly public sociology, and thereby, offers a long awaited, unusually rich analysis of contemporary American Catholicism from Filipino epistemological perspectives.andquot;
Synopsis
In American Catholic Hospitals, Barbra Mann Wall chronicles changes in Catholic hospitals during the twentieth century, many of which are emblematic of trends in the American healthcare system.
Wall explores the Church's struggle to safeguard its religious values. As hospital leaders reacted to increased political, economic, and societal secularization, they extended their religious principles in the areas of universal health care and adherence to the Ethical and Religious Values in Catholic Hospitals, leading to tensions between the Church, government, and society. The book also examines the power of women--as administrators, Catholic sisters wielded significant authority--as well as the gender disparity in these institutions which came to be run, for the most part, by men. Wall also situates these critical transformations within the context of the changing Church policy during the 1960s. She undertakes unprecedented analyses of the gendered politics of post-Second Vatican Council Catholic hospitals, as well as the effect of social movements on the practice of medicine.
Synopsis
Winner of the 2016 Lavinia Dock Award from the American Association for the History of Nursing
Awarded first place in the 2016 American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award in the History and Public Policy category
The most dramatic growth of Christianity in the late twentieth century has occurred in Africa, where Catholic missions have played major roles. But these missions did more than simply convert Africans. Catholic sisters became heavily involved in the Church's health services and eventually in relief and social justice efforts. In Into Africa, Barbra Mann Wall offers a transnational history that reveals how Catholic medical and nursing sisters established relationships between local and international groups, sparking an exchange of ideas that crossed national, religious, gender, and political boundaries.
Both a nurse and a historian, Wall explores this intersection of religion, medicine, gender, race, and politics in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the years following World War II, a period when European colonial rule was ending and Africans were building new governments, health care institutions, and education systems. She focuses specifically on hospitals, clinics, and schools of nursing in Ghana and Uganda run by the Medical Mission Sisters of Philadelphia; in Nigeria and Uganda by the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary; in Tanzania by the Maryknoll Sisters of New York; and in Nigeria by a local Nigerian congregation. Wall shows how, although initially somewhat ethnocentric, the sisters gradually developed a deeper understanding of the diverse populations they served. In the process, their medical and nursing work intersected with critical social, political, and cultural debates that continue in Africa today: debates about the role of women in their local societies, the relationship of women to the nursing and medical professions and to the Catholic Church, the obligations countries have to provide care for their citizens, and the role of women in human rights.
A groundbreaking contribution to the study of globalization and medicine, Into Africa highlights the importance of transnational partnerships, using the stories of these nuns to enhance the understanding of medical mission work and global change.
Synopsis
This ground-breaking book draws upon a rich set of ethnographic and survey data, collected over a six-year period, to explore the roles that Catholicism and family play in shaping Filipino American community life. It illustrates the powerful ways these forces structure and animate not only how first-generation Filipino Americans think and feel about their community, but how they are compelled to engage it over issues deemed important to the sanctity of the family.
Synopsis
Having spent decades in urban clinical practice while working simultaneously as an academic administrator, teacher, and writer, Frances Ward is especially well equipped to analyze the American health care system. In this memoir, she explores the practice of nurse practitioners through her experiences in Newark and Camden, New Jersey, and in north Philadelphia.
Ward views nurse practitioners as important providers of primary health care (including the prevention of and attention to the root causes of ill health) in independent practice and as equal members of professional teams of physicians, registered nurses, and other health care personnel. She describes the education of nurse practitioners, their scope of practice, their abilities to prescribe medications and diagnostic tests, and their overall management of patients’ acute and chronic illnesses. Also explored are the battles that nurse practitioners have waged to win the right to practice—battles with physicians, health insurance companies, and even other nurses.
The Door of Last Resort, though informed by Ward’s experiences, is not a traditional memoir. Rather, it explores issues in primary health care delivery to poor, urban populations from the perspective of nurse practitioners and is intended to be their voice. In doing so, it investigates the factors affecting health care delivery in the United States that have remained obscure throughout the current national debate
Synopsis
Inand#160;
Into Africa, Barbra Mann Wall offers a transnational history that explores the intersection of religion, medicine, gender, race, and politics in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the years following World War II. The book highlights the importance of transnational partnerships, using the stories of four groups of European and American nuns to enhance our understanding of medical mission work and global change.
About the Author
BARBRA MANN WALL is an associate professor of nursing and the associate director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Her bookand#160;
Unlikely Entrepreneurs: Catholic Sisters and the Hospital Marketplace,and#160;won the 2006 Lavinia Dock Award for Best Book, American Association for the History of Nursing.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. Faithfully Filipino and American
2. Catholic Culture and Filipino Families
3. Community of Communities
4. Communities in Conflict
5. Building Centers of Community
6. Caring for Community
7. Protecting Family and Life
8. Growing Presence and Potential Impacts
Methodological Appendix
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index