Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture and Five College-Fortieth Anniversary Professor at Amherst College.

Series Foreword by Ilan Stavans
Preface
Why Do Hispanics in the United States Report Poor Health?
Sharon Bzostek, Noreen Goldman, and Anne Pebley
Understanding Differences in Past Year Psychiatric Disorders for Latinos Living in the United States
Margarita Alegría, Patrick E. Shrout, Meghan Woo, et al
Does Americanization Have Adverse Effects on Health?: Stress, Health Habits, and Infant Health Outcomes among Puerto Ricans
Nancy S. Landale, R. S. Oropesa, Daniel Llánes, and Bridget K. Gorman
Nativity, Duration of Residence, Citizenship, and Access to Health Care for Hispanic Children
T. Elizabeth Durden
Botánicas in America's Backyard: Uncovering the World of Latino Healers' Herb-healing Practices in New York City
Anahí Viladrich
"She's 16 Years-Old and There's Boys Calling Over to the House": An Exploratory Study of Sexual Socialization in Latino Families
Marcela Raffaelli and Lenna L. Ontai
Language Barriers Surrounding Medication Use among Older Latinos
Jan E. Mutchler, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Antonia Coppin, and Alison Gottlieb
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Editor and Contributors

Ilan Stavans has amassed a collection of cutting-edge articles that inform readers about how Latinos navigate both the mainstream medical arena and culturally specific healing traditions.
This work highlights the myriad problems Latinos face in becoming fully acculturated consumers of health care. Its series of chapters by expert contributors bridges the communication gap between mainstream medical professionals who need to understand the Latino worldview and Latinos that need to adapt to the puzzling complexity of providers and insurers that make up the American health care system.
Backed by research using quantitative methods and other techniques, Health Care's seven chapters cover topics ranging from infant care to teenage dating and sexual mores to prescription medication use by older adults. Much of the coverage focuses on problems of access and the ways in which Latinos move between mainstream health care, and the world of traditional remedies provided by botánicas (shops specializing in herbs and other healing items) and curanderos (folk healers).