To Give Their Gifts: Health, Community, and Democracy / Edition 1

by Richard A. Couto

Overview

Democracy needs the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people. The experiences of the twelve creative community health leaders, which this book presents, provide excellent examples of innovative democratic leadership. To Give Their Gifts recaptures the neglected narratives of democracy. It places community and mutual responsibility for one another at the center of democratic leadership, explains health care as social justice, and asserts the belief that everyone has the "gifts"--and the right--to contribute to community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826514110
Publisher:	Vanderbilt University Press
Publication date:	08/31/2002
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard A. Couto is a professor in the Ph.D. Program in Leadership and Change at Antioch University. His most recent book, Making Democracy Work Better: Mediating Structures, Social Capital and the Democratic Prospect, won the 2000 Virginia A. Hodgkinson Research Prize of Independent Sector.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction: Democracy and the Crisis of Health Care in the United States	1
Part I	The Practice of Community Health and Democratic Leadership	15
1	All People Have Intrinsic Value	19
	Native American Diabetes Program	21
	La Clinica del Pueblo	33
2	Cultural Diversity Is a Strength	47
	Healthy Powderhorn	49
	Asian Health Services	59
3	The Right to Self-Determination	71
	Health Resource Center for Women with Disabilities	73
	Westside Health Authority	83
4	Mutuality and Interdependency	95
	Southwest Georgia Community Health Institute	97
	The Ecumenical AIDS Ministry	107
5	The Responsibility of Participation	119
	Institute for Urban Family Health	121
	Salud para la Gente	133
6	Education, Employment, and Health	145
	Kids as Agents of Change	147
	Odyssey House	159
Part II	The Principles of Community Health and Innovative Democratic Leadership	169
7	Health: Communal Bonds of Social Goods	171
8	Leadership: Making Significant Change	193
	Conclusion: Retelling the Gift Relationship	217
	Afterword	225
	References	227
	Index	235

Editorial Reviews

A brilliant piece of work, and one that not only adds new dimensions to our thinking about leadership but also tailors it to the community health field with wonderful and inspiring stories.
--Meredith Minkler, School of Public Health, UC Berkeley

The importance of the programs so vividly described in this important book-what they stand for, what they have accomplished, what it takes to make them work-cannot be overstated. Besides the powerful narrations of 'ordinary people' confronting very real and human situations, their accounts describe effective strategies that work, even in the most difficult situations. The verification of how actual change can take place at the grass-roots level is especially relevant in this post-September 11 era.
--Edward J. Eckenfels, Emeritus Professor, Rush Medical College

From the Publisher