ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part addresses the question: Who should deliver health care? by discussing the impact on black women workers of changing systems of health-care delivery. It focuses on the status of the black physician, and provides less attention to the changing character of medical support staff. Federal involvement in the national health-care system has had a positive effect on the access black women have had to health services. Attention to mental health and stress is especially important when the physical outcomes of poor mental health are considered. A survey of working women noted, for example, that women who reported themselves under stress experienced more health symptoms, and actual health effects than did women who experienced less stress. Similarly, there is correlation between stress, race/ethnicity, substance abuse, and long-term physical side effects.
