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.

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 analysis of the efforts of American nurses to establish nursing as an academic discipline and nurses as valued researchers in the decades after World War II. Nurses represent the largest segment of the U.S. health care workforce and spend significantly more time with patients than any other member of the health care team. Dr. Nurse probes their history to examine major changes that have taken place in American health care in the second half of the twentieth century. The book reveals how federal and state health and higher education policies shaped education within health professions after World War II. Starting in the 1950s, academic nurses sought to construct a science of nursing—distinct from that of the related biomedical or behavioral sciences—that would provide the basis for nursing practice. Their efforts transformed nursing’s labor into a valuable site of knowledge production and proved how the application of their knowledge was integral to improving patient outcomes. Exploring the knowledge claims, strategies, and politics involved as academic nurses negotiated their roles and nursing’s future, Dr. Nurse highlights how state-supported health centers have profoundly shaped nursing education and health care delivery. 

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.

Compassion, in its many manifestations, is the key to rediscovering what lies at the heart of nursing practice all over the world. It is absolutely essential that nurses start to revisit compassion as a central focus for nursing practice...' This user-friendly book adopts a patient-centred approach to care. The challenging theories are grounded in practical applications, encouraging readers to recognise opportunities for change in their daily practice. The book focuses on six key concepts central to compassionate care: Empathy and sensitivity Dignity and respect Listening and responding Diversity and cultural competence Choice and priorities Empowerment and advocacy Case studies and points for discussion are used throughout to aid comprehension, with chapter overviews and an index for quick reference. Suitable for group or individual learning, Compassion and Caring in Nursing is highly recommended for all nurses, carers and health visitors. It is also ideal for undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students who wish to develop their skills in patient-centred care.

Learn how to influence policy and become a leader in today's changing health care environment. Featuring analysis of cutting-edge healthcare issues and first-person insights, Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care, 8th Edition continues to be the leading text on nursing action and activism. Approximately 150 expert contributors present a wide range of topics in policies and politics, providing a more complete background than can be found in any other policy textbook on the market. This expanded 8th edition helps you develop a global understanding of nursing leadership and political activism, as well as the complex business and financial issues that drive many actions in the health system. Discussions include the latest updates on conflict management, health economics, lobbying, the use of media, and working with communities for change. With these innovative insights and strategies, you will be prepared to play a leadership role in the four spheres in which nurses are politically active: the workplace, government, professional organizations, and the community.

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.

"An accessible and highly readable introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness through the inclusion of key theorists, concepts, and theories, with reference to contemporary health concerns and recent relevant research." - Kylie Baldwin, De Montfort University "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...an authoritative analysis of the social nature of health." - Ray Fitzpatrick, University of Oxford This bestselling text introduces students to the core principles of the sociology of health, demonstrating the relationship between social structures and the production and distribution of health and disease in modern society. Written with a truly sociological and critical perspective, the book tackles themes such as class, gender and ethnicity, and engages with a range of theories and theorists, including Foucault, Fleck, Parsons, Weber, and Kuhn. The third edition has been thoroughly updated to include the latest cutting-edge thinking in the area, with new empirical examples, updated references, and new sections on 'Thought Styles after Fleck', and 'Transformations of the Medical Profession.' It also uses helpful learning features including chapter overviews, case studies, summaries and further reading suggestions, to provide stimulating and thought-provoking exercises for students in health, nursing and sociology schools.

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.

For more than a decade, From Silence to Voice has been providing nurses with communication tools they can use to win the resources and respect they deserve. Now, in a timely third edition, authors Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon focus on how nurses can describe and frame their work to seize unprecedented opportunities to advance their profession and lead improvements in health care systems.

The authors, both journalists, argue that because nursing needs the support and cooperation of others to fulfill its potential, it is critical that nurses communicate the full scope of nursing practice. Nurses must go beyond describing nursing in terms of dedication and caring and articulate nurses' specialized knowledge and expertise.

From Silence to Voice helps nurses explain their contributions to patient safety, satisfaction, and outcomes. It shows how nurses can communicate with various publics about important aspects of their work, such as how they master and employ complex medical technologies and regimens, and how they use their clinical judgment in life-and-death situations. "Nurses and nursing organizations," the authors write, must go out and tell the public what nurses really do so that patients can actually get the benefit of their expert care.

This comprehensively revised and updated third edition helps nurses use a range of traditional and social media to accurately describe the true nature of their work. Its analyses of images that are projected by nursing campaigns and its detailed guidance in helping nurses construct positive and powerful narratives of their work make From Silence to Voice a must-read in nursing schools and organizations and by individual nurses in all areas of the profession. Because nurses are busy, many of the communication techniques in this book are designed to integrate naturally into nurses everyday lives and to complement nurses work with patients and families."

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

There are few enough studies of the needs of dying people in the Western world, but no accessible studies of the needs of dying people in Asian cultures. Now, in this pioneering work, Dr Mui Hing June Mak shows us how a Good Death expresses itself in Hong Kong, and also how this ideal varies and is modified in other Asian societies as this is observed in their own, often inaccessible literature. The author offers a comprehensive review of the literature on dying conduct and needs from several Asian perspectives, and also provides a perceptive analysis of the lessons to be learnt from her qualitative study which employed a 'Grounded Theory' methodology to understand the experiences and end-of-life needs of cancer patients in hospice care in Hong Kong. A relation-based theory, Harmonious Death, is developed. She also makes several suggestions to translate these theoretical concepts into practice. Dr Mak brings to her words not only the disciplined eye of a hospice clinician and academic but also a compassionate insight derived from her direct personal experiences. Close, personal relationship with three dying people were formative of her current research and professional interests, and also the driving concern in ensuring that the voices of all the participants in her study are heard clearly, sympathetically, and poignantly. Audience: The book will be of interest to teachers, students and professionals across the whole range of health and social care and social work, particularly those in palliative or hospice settings, as well as well as those with an interest in behavioural and social sciences, anthropology, philosophy, thanatology, not to mention the humanities. Contents: Foreword by Professor Allan Kellehear . literature review . Western and Chinese perspectives on death and dying . the research study . elements of a Good Death in Chinese culture: awareness of death; maintaining hope; freedom from pain and suffering; maintaining social relations; experiencing personal control; preparation and bidding farewell; accepting the timing of one's death A Harmonious Death, The Good Death models . Conclusions and recommendations for hospice philosophy, education, research and health policy

With all of the cultural and ethnic information that could affect patient and family care, POCKET GUIDE TO CULTURAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT, 4th Edition is the perfect portable yet complete reference. This guide discusses the clinical implications of ethnic populations from over 170 countries with a wealth of information on each-from languages spoken to health care beliefs and practices to eye contact. Ideal for everyday use, this handbook is the most comprehensive and portable resource on the market for patient care. Alphabetically organized by country with all sections presented consistently to give you quick access to important cultural information. Presents comprehensive content on all cultural aspects that affect patient assessment. Includes brief descriptions of each country's topography and provides maps to illustrate potential environmental etiologies of an illness. Updated international childhood immunization schedules and the latest information from the World Health Organization provide the most up-to-date healthcare standards from around the world. Extensive bibliographies give you resources for further information. A streamlined and concise format with thumb tabs dividing each section makes this pocket guide the perfect quick reference tool. Thoroughly updated content includes new country names and their demographics, patient data, health care practices, and other cultural implications that affect care of today's culturally diverse patient population. New international contributors bring together a wealth of information on the specifics of care for patients from over 170 countries. Includes more historical and political information for each country to provide current background information. Increased emphasis on how a population appears in the worldview and how their religion affect decision-making gives you a fuller perspective on each country's culture. More information on naturalistic healing and practices helps you treat patients from a variety of backgrounds.

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/

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"

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.

"An accessible and highly readable introduction to the Sociology of Health and Illness through the inclusion of key theorists, concepts, and theories, with reference to contemporary health concerns and recent relevant research." - Kylie Baldwin, De Montfort University "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...an authoritative analysis of the social nature of health." - Ray Fitzpatrick, University of Oxford This bestselling text introduces students to the core principles of the sociology of health, demonstrating the relationship between social structures and the production and distribution of health and disease in modern society. Written with a truly sociological and critical perspective, the book tackles themes such as class, gender and ethnicity, and engages with a range of theories and theorists, including Foucault, Fleck, Parsons, Weber, and Kuhn. The third edition has been thoroughly updated to include the latest cutting-edge thinking in the area, with new empirical examples, updated references, and new sections on 'Thought Styles after Fleck', and 'Transformations of the Medical Profession.' It also uses helpful learning features including chapter overviews, case studies, summaries and further reading suggestions, to provide stimulating and thought-provoking exercises for students in health, nursing and sociology schools.

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.

"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 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."

"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."