Culture, Health and Illness is the leading international textbook on the role of cultural and social factors in health, illness, and medical care. Since first published in 1984, it has been used in over 40 countries within universities, medical schools and nursing colleges. This new edition meets the ever-growing need for a clear starting point in understanding the clinical significance of cultural and social factors. The book addresses the complex interactions between health, illness and culture by setting out anthropological theory in a highly readable, jargon-free style and integrating this with the practice of health care using real-life examples and case histories. Fully revised throughout, the fifth edition has expanded its coverage of topics that are challenging both the patient and the carer's understanding of health and illness: poverty and inequality of healthcare, genetics, biotechnology, the internet and health, chronic diseases, drug-resistant infections, changes in nutrition and body image, medical care of migrants, medical technology, global pandemics such as AIDS and malaria, drug and alcohol dependence, and patients' 'languages of distress', a complex topic central to the doctor-patient relationship. In today's world of increasing cultural, religious and ethnic diversity of populations, Culture, Health and Illness is essential reading for students of medicine, nursing, psychiatry, public health, health education, international health and medical anthropology, across the globe.

Now in its fourth edition, this definitive and popular introduction to human behaviour in the context of health and illness includes three new chapters, many new contributors and a new co-editor. It is arranged in nine sections to cover the core concepts of psychology and sociology as they apply to medicine. The life cycle Development of the person Society and health Preventing illness and promoting health Illness, behaviour and the doctor-patient encounter Illness and disability Coping with illness and disability Hoe do health services work How do you fit into all this? Topics presented as self-contained double-page spreads. Cases throughout to reinforce understanding of important concepts. Boxes and discussion points throughout. The authors comprise psychologists, sociologists and doctors. Highly illustrated 48 new contributors New co-editor, Gerry Humphris 3 new chapters: Malnutrition and obesity Urban nature health and well-being LGBT Health

Sociology and its applications are key components of the core foundation programme in nursing and healthcare.
Sociology of health and health care is an essential textbook for all students of nursing and healthcare and is organised in four parts: the nature of sociology and sociological research; the social patterning of health and disease; the social aspects of illness and dying; and the organisation and delivery of health care.
Sociology of health and health care explores the nature of sociology and sociological research and their application to health and health care. It explores the impact of current social contexts on health and healthcare and recent developments in healthcare policy and addresses their implications for nursing and inter-professional working. This fourth edition also examines new approaches to understanding social inequalities in health and experiences of chronic illness and dying.

The new edition of this landmark international work builds on the previous two volumes, offering a window onto occupational therapy practice, theory and ideas in different cultures and geographies. It emphasizes the importance of critically deconstructing and engaging with the broader context of occupation, particularly around how occupational injustices are shaped through political, economic and historical factors. Centering on the wider social and political aspects of occupation and occupation-based practices, this textbook aims to inspire occupational therapy students and practitioners to include transformational elements into their practice. It also illustrates how occupational therapists from all over the world can affect positive changes by engaging with political and historical contexts. Divided into six sections, the new edition begins by analyzing the key concepts outlined throughout, along with an overview on the importance and practicalities of monitoring and evaluation in community projects. Section Two explores occupation and justice emphasizing that issues of occupational injustice are present everywhere, in different forms: from clinical settings to community-based rehabilitation. Section Three covers the enactment of different Occupational Therapies with a focus on the multiplicity of occupational therapy from the intimately personal to the broadly political. Section Four engages with the broader context of occupational therapy from the political to the financial. The chapters in this section highlight the recent financial crisis and the impact it has had on people's everyday life. Section Five collects a range of different approaches to working to enable a notion of occupational justice. Featuring chapters from across the globe, Section Six concludes by highlighting the importance and diversity of educational practices. Comprehensively covers occupational therapy theory, methodology and practice examples related to working with underserved and neglected populations Gives a truly global overview with contributions from over 100 international leading experts in the field and across a range of geographical, political and linguistic contexts Demonstrates how occupational injustices are shaped through political, economic and historical factors Advocates participatory approaches which work for those who experience inequalities Includes a complete set of new chapters Explores neoliberalism and financial contexts, and their impact on occupation Examines the concept of disability Discusses theoretical and practical approaches to occupational justice

An understanding of leadership and management theory and practice is integral to the success of a new generation of health and social care professionals, and managers of services. It is equally important for educators in the field. Leading and Managing in Contemporary Health and Social Care by Elizabeth Rosser and Cate Wood supports the development of all health and social care professionals as managers and leaders in today's rapidly evolving environment. This new title addresses pertinent topics including: integration and enhancement of health and social care services; interprofessional working; the importance of a strong organizational culture; developing individual resilience; leading innovation; and practising successful project and financial management within global and culturally sensitive contexts. With a growing mandate for health and social care professionals to understand leadership and management within their organizations, and a strong appreciation of these skills by employers, this new book is an important contribution that students and educators alike will welcome. Comprehensive and authoritative text written by experts in their field Fifteen chapters offer current thinking from a range of different perspectives Presents leadership management theory that can be applied across a wide range of workplaces Includes summary points and case studies for reflection and application Ideal reference for Master's students and those undertaking MBA courses with a focus on health and social care

This new interpretation of the history of nursing in the United States captures the many ways women reframed the most traditional of all gender expectations--that of caring for the sick--to create new possibilities for themselves, to renegotiate the terms of some of their life experiences, and to reshape their own sense of worth and power.

For much of modern U.S. history, nursing was informal, often uncompensated, and almost wholly the province of female family and community members. This began to change at the end of the nineteenth century when the prospect of formal training opened for women doors that had been previously closed. Nurses became respected professionals, and becoming a formally trained nurse granted women a range of new social choices and opportunities that eventually translated into economic mobility and stability.

Patricia D'Antonio looks closely at this history--using a new analytic framework and a rich trove of archival sources--and finds complex, multiple meanings in the individual choices of women who elected a nursing career. New relationships and social and professional options empowered nurses in constructing consequential lives, supporting their families, and participating both in their communities and in the health care system.

Narrating the experiences of nurses, D'Antonio captures the possibilities, power, and problems inherent in the different ways women defined their work and lived their lives. Scholars in the history of medicine, nursing, and public policy, those interested in the intersections of identity, work, gender, education, and race, and nurses will find this a provocative book.

Sociology for Nurses has become a leading textbook and an invaluable companion for students wishing to get to grips with how sociology can positively transform professional nursing practice. This thoroughly revised new edition maintains its commitment to providing jargon-free explanations of sociological theories and evidence to show how studying sociology can be useful in all branches of nursing. Readers will develop a clear understanding of what sociology is and why it is essential to practice, gain deeper awareness of social issues such as gender, ethnicity, class and the life course, and become more familiar with the social contexts of health policy and nursing as a profession. With updates in every chapter, the third edition includes a new chapter on research methods, a reorganized collection of chapters on health policy, extended coverage of long-term illness and disability, as well as contemporary case studies on topical healthcare issues such as dementia, the ‘obesity epidemic’ and recent attempts to integrate health and social care. In addition, the book provides clearly defined learning aims, a useful glossary of sociological concepts, structured activities and questions for discussion, and annotated suggestions for further reading. The editors and contributing authors to the book have a wealth of experience teaching sociology to nurses at diploma and degree pre-registration and post-registration levels. Their book will continue to spark interest and debate among all student nurses, particularly those approaching sociology for the first time. Please visit the accompanying website at: http://www.politybooks.com/sociologyfornurses.

This practical and patient-centred guide assists medical professionals in delivering better clinical care to Arab patients. In examining the psychosocial underpinnings of Arab medicine, this unique book summarises and assesses the latest research, taking into account the needs and priorities of Arab patients. Important issues covered include patient education, compliance, 'doctor shopping', and psychiatric and mental health services. The evidence-based approach integrates academic research and first-hand experience from the unique bicultural position of the contributors. "Caring for Arab Patients" is vital for all healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and occupational therapists with responsibilities for Arab patients, throughout the world. Students of medicine and nursing will find much of interest, as will healthcare managers, researchers, academics, policy makers and shapers.

Mary Seacole: The Making of the Myth is the first book to challenge the popular misconceptions that surround Mary Seacole s iconic status as a pioneer nurse and battlefield heroine, intended, by some, to replace Florence Nightingale in those roles. McDonald masterfully disentangles reality from the myths, both those that exaggerate Seacole s work and ignore or denigrate Nightingale s. Drawing on the considerable primary sources available on both women, including letters and journal notes by officers, medical doctors and other observers during the Crimean War, as well as Seacole s own memoir, McDonald debunks claims that Seacole was the real heroine of the Crimean War and a pioneer of healthcare. Her book supports the recognition of Seacole for her life and work, but not as the decorated battlefield heroine as she is typically portrayed today."

Recent anthropological scholarship on "new midwifery" centers on how professional midwives in various countries are helping women reconnect with "nature," teaching them to trust in their bodies, respecting women's "choices," and fighting for women's right to birth as naturally as possible. In No Alternative, Rosalynn A. Vega uses ethnographic accounts of natural birth practices in Mexico to complicate these narratives about new midwifery and illuminate larger questions of female empowerment, citizenship, and the commodification of indigenous culture, by showing how alternative birth actually reinscribes traditional racial and gender hierarchies. Vega contrasts the vastly different birthing experiences of upper-class and indigenous Mexican women. Upper-class women often travel to birthing centers to be delivered by professional midwives whose methods are adopted from and represented as indigenous culture, while indigenous women from those same cultures are often forced by lack of resources to use government hospitals regardless of their preferred birthing method. Vega demonstrates that women's empowerment, having a "choice," is a privilege of those capable of paying for private medical services-albeit a dubious privilege, as it puts the burden of correctly producing future members of society on women's shoulders. Vega's research thus also reveals the limits of citizenship in a neoliberal world, as indigeneity becomes an object of consumption within a transnational racialized economy.

The reassuring bromides of "chicken soup for the soul" provide little solace for nurses and the people they serve in real-life hospitals, nursing homes, schools of nursing, and other settings. In the minefield of modern health care, there are myriad obstacles to quality patient care including work overload, inadequate funds for nursing education and research, and poor communication between and within the professions, to name only a few. The seventy RNs whose stories are collected here by the award-winning journalist Suzanne Gordon know that effective advocacy isn't easy. It takes nurses willing to stand up for themselves, their coworkers, their patients, and the public.

When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough brings together compelling personal narratives from a wide range of nurses from across the globe. The assembled profiles in professional courage provide new insight into the daily challenges that RNs face in North America and abroad and how they overcome them with skill, ingenuity, persistence, and individual and collective advocacy at work and in the community. In this collection, we meet RNs working at the bedside, providing home care, managing hospital departments, teaching and doing research, lobbying for quality patient care, and campaigning for health care reform.

Their stories are funny, sad, deeply moving, inspiring, and always revealing of the different ways that nurses make their voices heard in the service of their profession. The risks and rewards, joys and sorrows, of nursing have rarely been captured in such vivid first-person accounts. Gordon and the authors of the essays contained in this book have much to say about the strengths and shortcomings of health care today and the role that nurses play as irreplaceable agents of change."

The healthcare system has turned the art and science of healing into big business, and many doctors can no longer devote the greater part of their working hours directly to patient care, faced as they are with reams of insurance- and legal-related paperwork, the constant threat of malpractice, and a burgeoning patient population. Despite this, some physicians still enter the profession with deeply held convictions, hopes, and idealism, and go on to excel not just as medical doctors, but as human beings. Characteristics of Compassion: Portraits of Exemplary Physicians is book that profiles the recipients of the prestigious "Excellence in Medicine" award given by the American Medical Association. It gives insight into what sets these outstanding doctors apart from their peers to inspire medical professionals and their patients. It provides first hand insights and identifies a rich description of traits/motivations shared by today's leading physicians.

Provides a reference on quality of life (QOL) for oncology nurses in many settings. Section I overviews the evolution of QOL in oncology nursing, and Section II highlights theory development related to QOL. Section III focuses on research and measurement issues, and Section IV demonstrates the impor

"Kevin White guides us through the many reasons for the centrality of health showing clearly that health and illness are the products not just of our biology but of the society into which we are born. He expertly draws on the works of Parsons, Marx, Foucault and feminist writers to provide an authoritative analysis of the social nature of health." - Ray Fitzpatrick, University of Oxford "I have used this book for many years because it is so well written, and it is easy for the students to understand." - Julianne Law, Bangor University "An excellent introductory text to help the students to begin to critically analyse different perspectives on health." - Debbie Chittenden, University of Bolton This is a new edition of the best-selling textbook for students of the sociology of health and illness. Free of jargon, intuitive about student needs and well versed in course requirements, Kevin White's book is used widely across both health and sociology schools.

"At Work in the Field of Birth" is an ethnographic study of midwifery in Canada in the wake of its historic transition from the margins as a grassroots social movement devoted to low-tech, woman-centered care to a regulated profession within the public health care system. In January 1994, after decades of lobbying by midwives and their supporters, the province of Ontario recognized midwifery as a profession for the first time in more than a century.

Through stories about becoming and being a midwife and stories about receiving midwifery care, this book describes how fundamental tenets of midwifery philosophy and practice--the meaning of tradition, natural birth, and home birth, and the place of medical technology in midwifery--are being reworked by the practical and ideological challenges of midwifery's new place within the formal health care system. MacDonald presents contemporary midwifery as a complex cultural system in which "nature" and "tradition" emerge as dynamic rather than esssentialized social categories of meaning and experience.

STORY EXCERPT:
Martina, another rural midwife, tells me "My great-grandmother was a midwife . . . so I sort of have this idea that there is still a bit of that in my blood. But at the same time-I mean, we don't just get called during labour-it's much more clinical. We are doing blood work that my grandmother wouldn't have done and more lab work and tests. But I want to hold on to some of that. I don't want to become a techno midwife. It's not what I want to do at all. It doesn't mean tat we don't use technology or are not willing to-we certainly do, all the time. But I think that one thing that attracts women to midwives and certainlyattracts women to become midwives is the sense of the neighbour, the friend, having a cup of tea. It is more friendly, you've got time to spend with women."

"At Work in the Field of Birth" is an ethnographic study of midwifery in Canada in the wake of its historic transition from the margins as a grassroots social movement devoted to low-tech, woman-centered care to a regulated profession within the public health care system. In January 1994, after decades of lobbying by midwives and their supporters, the province of Ontario recognized midwifery as a profession for the first time in more than a century.

Through stories about becoming and being a midwife and stories about receiving midwifery care, this book describes how fundamental tenets of midwifery philosophy and practice--the meaning of tradition, natural birth, and home birth, and the place of medical technology in midwifery--are being reworked by the practical and ideological challenges of midwifery's new place within the formal health care system. MacDonald presents contemporary midwifery as a complex cultural system in which "nature" and "tradition" emerge as dynamic rather than esssentialized social categories of meaning and experience.

STORY EXCERPT:
Martina, another rural midwife, tells me "My great-grandmother was a midwife . . . so I sort of have this idea that there is still a bit of that in my blood. But at the same time-I mean, we don't just get called during labour-it's much more clinical. We are doing blood work that my grandmother wouldn't have done and more lab work and tests. But I want to hold on to some of that. I don't want to become a techno midwife. It's not what I want to do at all. It doesn't mean tat we don't use technology or are not willing to-we certainly do, all the time. But I think that one thing that attracts women to midwives and certainlyattracts women to become midwives is the sense of the neighbour, the friend, having a cup of tea. It is more friendly, you've got time to spend with women."

Compelling, timely, and essential reading for healthcare providers, "Meaning in Suffering" addresses the multiplicity of meanings suffering brings to all it touches: patients, families, health workers, and human science professionals. Examining suffering in writing that is both methodologically rigorous and accessible, the contributors preserve first-hand experiences using narrative ethnography, existential hermeneutics, hermeneutic phenomenology, and traditional ethnography. They offer nuanced insights into suffering as a human condition experienced by persons deserving of dignity, empathy, and understanding. Collectively, these essays demonstrate that understanding the suffering of the "other" reveals something vital about the moral courage required to heal--and stay humane--in the face of suffering. Winner, Nursing Research Category, "American Journal of Nursing"

'I read your book and found it easy to understand and informative, without being too full of jargon. My previous experience of sociology left me thinking that the social sciences were too protective of their own information - in that the language used was often designed to restrict its understanding, so it was a pleasant surprise to find such "user friendly" language!' - Julie Rankin, Student. Praise for the First Edition: 'The book is a great introduction! it gives the students a sound basis, gets them thinking and gives them the confidence to move on' - Sarah Nettleton, University of York.'This book was a pleasure to read, given its clarity and the broad spectrum of topics covered so succinctly! It delivers a grounded and measured summary of the sociology of health. Perhaps most importantly however, I feel it achieves the task of promoting critical thinking and questioning in relation to the medical model and our understanding of health as anchored in the social world' - Zoe Hildon, Imperial College London. The eagerly-awaited new edition of "Understanding the Sociology of Health: An Introduction" (previously "Understanding Health: A Sociological Introduction") brings together the best of current thinking in the sociology of health and illness in a truly 'readable' and concise manner. Extensively revised and drawing on the latest applied sociological research and new theoretical insights into health and illness, "Understanding the Sociology of Health: An Introduction" explores everything from health inequalities to chronic illness; embodiment to research techniques; and health care organisation to social theory. Though aimed primarily at students on health and social care courses and professions allied to medicine, this textbook provides valuable insights for anyone interested in the social aspects of health. Anne-Marie Barry is a Research Consultant in Edinburgh and former lecturer in sociology at Robert Gordon's University, Aberdeen. Chris Yuill is lecturer in sociology at Robert Gordon's University, Aberdeen.

Life Support offers an intimate and important look at what nurses do for patients and their families. It takes us right to the bedside on hospital wards and home visits, in clinics and emergency rooms, capturing the drama of nurses' work in the story of three RNs at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. Gordon's heroines are nurse practitioner Ellen Kitchen, who bicycles through poor neighborhoods in Boston to visit elderly patients at home; oncology nurse Nancy Rumplik, whose technical skill and emotional support enable cancer patients to endure some of the most arduous high-tech medical treatments; and clinical nurse specialist Jeannie Chaisson, who helps new RNs and physicians begin their careers on a general medical floor. Life Support draws on the experience of these and other nurses to examine the history of their profession, the complex relationship between doctors and nurses, and the central role that nurses play in the final days of life, when care, not cure, is a patient's main concern. In addition, the book makes a powerful critique of hospital restructuring and managed care. Gordon shows how understaffing, shorter hospital stays, layoffs, and replacement of nurses by unlicensed personnel are threatening the quality of care and shifting more of its burden onto patients' families. She describes what consumers can do to resist these trends - through alliances with concerned providers.

The fifth edition of this highly popular text offers a lucid and readable account of ethical issues affecting nurses and other health care practitioners, which will be of value throughout their careers. Nursing ethics offers a highly practical approach with a direct focus on ethical issues that might be encountered by health practitioners in training, in practice and in management. It is also interactive and case-based, encouraging readers to reflect on their current and future areas of practice. The concluding chapters discuss the role of moral theory and give practical models for ethical decision-making. The authors have developed a holistic approach that explores: ethics in hospital and community settings, inter-disciplinary teamwork, ward and hospital management, nursing research, performance management and the political ethics of nursing administration, health service re-structuring and reform. The content has been substantially revised for this edition and significant new material added to reflect developments in theory and practice. covers a wide range of ethical issues - much more than just 'clinical' dilemmas and decision-making skills a down-to-earth and practical approach to applied ethics user-friendly layout material on moral theory kept to a minimum (but dealt with thoroughly at the end of the book) focuses on ethical issues in nursing and case studies taken from nursing practice i.e. the concrete concerns of nurses and other front-line workers pedagogical features include: chapter aims, learning outcomes and further reading for possible essay, tutorial and project topics also useful as a general work of reference on ethic in health care An up-to-date analysis of professions in the context of modernity, to enable health professionals to make sense of global cultural & social developments An analysis of the ethics of evidence-based practice An examination of professional accountability and ethics in performance management to help practitioners/managers understand the ethical basis of management useful web links and teaching notes on a dedicated website: http://evolve.elsevier.com/Thompson/nursingethics/

"Nursing, everyone believes, is the caring profession. Texts on caring line the walls of nursing schools and student shelves. Indeed, the discipline of nursing is often known as the 'caring science.' Because of their caring reputation, nurses top the polls as the most-trustworthy professionals. Yet, in spite of what seems to be an endless outpouring of public support, in almost every country in the world nursing is under threat, in the practice setting and in the academic sector. Indeed, its standing as a regulated profession is constantly challenged. In our view, this paradox is neither accidental nor natural but, in great part, the logical consequence of the fact that nurses and their organizations place such a heavy emphasis on nursing's and nurses' virtues rather than on their knowledge and concrete contributions." from the Introduction

In a series of provocative essays, The Complexities of Care rejects the assumption that nursing work is primarily emotional and relational. The contributors-international experts on nursing- all argue that caring discourse in nursing is a dangerous oversimplification that has in fact created many dilemmas within the profession and in the health care system. This book offers a long-overdue exploration of care at a pivotal moment in the history of health care. The ideas presented here will foster a critical debate that will assist nurses to better understand the nature and meaning of the nurse-patient relationship, confront challenges to their work and their profession, and deliver the services patients need now and into the future.

Contributors: Sanchia Aranda, University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; Rosie Brown, University of Melbourne; Sean Clarke, University of Pennsylvania and University of Montreal; Suzanne Gordon; Marie Heartfield, University of South Australia; Tom Keighley, Royal College of Nursing; Diana J. Mason, American Journal of Nursing; Lydia L. Moland, Babson College; Sioban Nelson, University of Toronto; Dana Beth Weinberg, Queens College, CUNY"

"Nursing, everyone believes, is the caring profession. Texts on caring line the walls of nursing schools and student shelves. Indeed, the discipline of nursing is often known as the 'caring science.' Because of their caring reputation, nurses top the polls as the most-trustworthy professionals. Yet, in spite of what seems to be an endless outpouring of public support, in almost every country in the world nursing is under threat, in the practice setting and in the academic sector. Indeed, its standing as a regulated profession is constantly challenged. In our view, this paradox is neither accidental nor natural but, in great part, the logical consequence of the fact that nurses and their organizations place such a heavy emphasis on nursing's and nurses' virtues rather than on their knowledge and concrete contributions." from the Introduction

In a series of provocative essays, The Complexities of Care rejects the assumption that nursing work is primarily emotional and relational. The contributors-international experts on nursing- all argue that caring discourse in nursing is a dangerous oversimplification that has in fact created many dilemmas within the profession and in the health care system. This book offers a long-overdue exploration of care at a pivotal moment in the history of health care. The ideas presented here will foster a critical debate that will assist nurses to better understand the nature and meaning of the nurse-patient relationship, confront challenges to their work and their profession, and deliver the services patients need now and into the future.

Contributors: Sanchia Aranda, University of Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; Rosie Brown, University of Melbourne; Sean Clarke, University of Pennsylvania and University of Montreal; Suzanne Gordon; Marie Heartfield, University of South Australia; Tom Keighley, Royal College of Nursing; Diana J. Mason, American Journal of Nursing; Lydia L. Moland, Babson College; Sioban Nelson, University of Toronto; Dana Beth Weinberg, Queens College, CUNY"

The third book in the Emergence series, The Emergence of Man into the 21st Century offers writings on men's experiences as boys, fathers, and sons, and reflections on relationships, gender, sexuality, race, violence, loss, careers, health, and the search for meaning. The authors who contributed to this important work speak to us in a frank and poignant way about the male experience, helping us embrace our differences, question our presuppositions, and understand the diverse meanings of our experiences.