Unequal social relations are reflected in uneven patterns of health within and between populations. In Working for Equality in Health, health workers and academics distil the results of their efforts to understand, oppose and change health inequalities.
Working for Equality in Health brings to bear the understanding of a unique combination of practitioners and activists on a key issue for health experience, policy and practice. Common themes and common obstacles become apparent: the need for ever better understandings of the interactive effects of social disadvantage; the damage wrought to people's health by inegalitarian economic, social and health policies and the benefits of alliances between health professionals and other health workers to combat social and health inequalities.


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Women who work as prostitutes are struggling against a disadvantaged position in society. The relative poverty in which many women still live in is seen as the cause for prostitution, in that sex is their most saleable commodity and can bring them substantial financial rewards. Originally published in 1982 and drawing on her involvement with PROS (Programme for Reform of the Law on Soliciting), one of the Street Prostitutes' Campaigns in Britain, and on interviews with prostitutes and their clients, the author examines how the financial benefits are offset by the attitudes prostitutes encounter from men. It is shown that while, in some ways, the role of client reflects men's advantageous social position, male clients are often trying to compensate for failure in their marriage, or an inability to conform to the accepted masculine role. What the clients want and the conditions in which prostitutes work are discussed in separate chapters. Meanwhile, the Law, the media and public opinion unite to protect the public face of morality and to condemn prostitutes as a corrupting influence in society. This study concludes by showing how prostitutes' campaigns are struggling with these issues and relates this to the feminist efforts to improve the conditions in which women exist and work.

Widening social inequalities in Britain are reflected in uneven patterns of health within and between populations. Among professional health workers there is a developing awareness of the significance of tackling inequality in order to procure better health. In "Working for Equality in Health", the contributors, who include health activists, service users and carers, politicians and researchers as well as health and social care professionals, not only detail the interrelationships and processes by which health inequalities are maintained, but present analyses - refined through experience - of strategies to combat them. They describe their attempts in practice to counteract the impact on people's health of the complex interaction of inequalities based on class, relative poverty, "race", gender, age, disability and sexual orientation. This book brings to bear the understanding of a combination of practitioners and activists on a key issue for health experience, policy and practice.

Deepening health inequalities, the restructuring of the welfare state involving the fragmentation of social work as a recognizable discipline, and popular disaffection with health and welfare professionals underline the need to rethink social work's contribution to people's health. In three main ways this book suggests what social work can contribute to people's health. The magnitude of the profound and unjust human suffering which arises from the impact of social inequalities on health should be a matter of urgent concern to social workers. Through focusing on this problem, social work can make a significant contribution to more equal chances and experiences of health and illness. To make such an impact requires major shifts in the conceptualization, practice and organization of social work. The text should be useful to trainees and professionals in social work and health care.

Tackling inequalities in health is an essential social work task. Every day, social workers grapple with the impact on people's lives of the social inequalities that shape their health chances and experience. This book examines the relationship between social work and health inequalities in the context of globalisation. Based on the practice expertise and research of social workers from developing and developed countries worldwide and using specific examples, this book: * demonstrates the relevance of health inequalities to social work practice and policy across the lifecourse; * analyses barriers to good health that result from global social, economic, environmental and political trends; * develops core ideas on how social workers can act to combat negative effects of globalisation by adopting a health inequalities lens. "Social work and global health inequalities" is a unique snapshot of a new global social work that is responsive to local conditions and circumstances but seeks partners in the international struggle for equity, rights and social justice. This groundbreaking collection is essential reading for social work students, academics and researchers, and for policy makers, managers and social workers.

Tackling inequalities in health is an essential social work task. Every day, social workers grapple with the impacts on people's lives of the social inequalities that shape their health chances and experiences. This book examines the relationship between social work and health inequalities in the context of globalisation. Based on the practice expertise and research of social workers from developing and developed countries worldwide and using specific examples, this book: demonstrates the relevance of health inequalities to social work practice and policy across the life course; analyses the barriers to good health that result from global social, economic, environmental and political trends; develops core ideas on how social workers can act to combat the negative effects of globalisation by applying a health inequalities lens. "Social Work and Global Health Inequalities" is a unique snapshot of a new global social work that is responsive to local conditions and circumstances but seeks partners in the international struggle for equity, rights and social justice. This groundbreaking collection is essential reading for social work students, academics and researchers, and for policy makers, managers and social workers.

This book explores the development of truly feminist social work, setting out the progress to date in establishing a feminist presence in the four central areas of social work: the definition of social problems for intervention, therapy and counselling, statutory social work and community action. Showing how progress in one area fosters the others, the authors also examine why it is crucial to ensure that feminist issues inform working relations and political organisations.