My body : women speak out about their health care /

This book should be required reading for all medical students. Crook shares her invaluable community and public health nursing experiences, largely in Vancouver, northern Canada, and Washington State, and also wonderful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming family health care experiences of 54 diverse women aged 17 to 77. Reasonably organized, extremely readable, and nontechnical, this fine book is divided into 17 compact and concise chapters and then further subdivided into brief manageable sections. The author covers a range of topics and provides a good overview of such issues as the history of women doctors, the male model, quacks, alternative medicine, different needs during the life cycle, healing in different cultures, health information networks and systems, what women want from their doctors, why doctors do not provide health information, finding health information, and the next generation. There are many excerpts from interviews, quotations, and case studies shared throughout that clarify situations and make real the personal experiences of women. Excellent suggestions are offered and often specifically listed in outline form to help women improve their communication exchanges with physicians. All levels E. R. Paterson; SUNY College at Cortland

Sometimes the worst healthcare decisions women make are simply the result of not having the appropriate information. Crook does an outstanding job of empowering women with the information needed to reverse this trend. She draws on interviews from Canadian and American women from various socioeconomic backgrounds who have traditionally left their health decisions up to professionals and now want to take an active role. The book has something for everyone. Contained are chapters on the historic view of women in medicine; problems of women at different stages of their lives; enlightening advice on signing presurgical forms (which can be problematic); and a delightful section on teaching children to be assertive toward medical professionals. The list of resources at the back enhances the book's usefulness. Not necessarily a cover-to-cover reader but an ideal decision-making tool to be picked up when needed. Recommended for health, academic, and public libraries.‘Belinda Wise, formerly with Univ. of Farmingdale, N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.