This book presents a collection of essays that aims to make public the social discourse on ethics of health research used by responsible, practising researchers in order to demonstrate the detailed and fine consideration given to the ethics of the research task.

This book presents a collection of essays that aims to make public the social discourse on ethics of health research used by responsible, practising researchers in order to demonstrate the detailed and fine consideration given to the ethics of the research task.

In recent years, there has been extensive analysis of the health effects of menopause and the safety and efficacy of the various "treatments". There has also been rising concern about the appropriation and pathologization of menopause by medicine and its effects on women. At the same time, however, there has been relatively little reflection on the social, cultural, philosophical and ethical issues raised by both menopause itself and the way it has been handled by medicine. This text brings together a number of reflections from a broad range of areas including feminism, cultural studies, clinical medicine, sociology, philosophy and political science and includes the voices and experiences of menopausal women themselves. In an innovative series of essays, current thinking about medicine, society and the body is examined critically. Particular attention is given to the medical representations of menopause, biology and ageing, the history of medical approaches to women and the tensions between bio-medical models and other explanations of menopause. The issue of hormonal therapies is explored in the context of the connections between women, medicine, representation and cultural politic

In recent years, there has been extensive analysis of the health effects of menopause and the safety and efficacy of the various "treatments". There has also been rising concern about the appropriation and pathologization of menopause by medicine and its effects on women. At the same time, however, there has been relatively little reflection on the social, cultural, philosophical and ethical issues raised by both menopause itself and the way it has been handled by medicine. This text brings together a number of reflections from a broad range of areas including feminism, cultural studies, clinical medicine, sociology, philosophy and political science and includes the voices and experiences of menopausal women themselves. In an innovative series of essays, current thinking about medicine, society and the body is examined critically. Particular attention is given to the medical representations of menopause, biology and ageing, the history of medical approaches to women and the tensions between bio-medical models and other explanations of menopause. The issue of hormonal therapies is explored in the context of the connections between women, medicine, representation and cultural politic

Health care delivery is undergoing intense scrutiny and pressure for change: people have high expectations and want value for money. Research can do much to evaluate the effectiveness of health care, but deeply rooted disciplinary preconceptions - about what should be done and how, and about what is scientific - have hampered relevant research. "Researching Health Care" brings together an international team of health researchers from the fields of clinical care, clinical epidemiology, bio-statistics, sociology, health economics and health policy. The problem of research method is central to the evaluation of health care, and the contributors therefore focus on the three most important methods in use at present: experimental methods, surveys and other quantitative methods, and qualitative methods. The strengths and limitations of each method are spelled out, and the contributors show how some methods are more appropriate for evaluating the technical aspects of medicine, others for social and community issues. They argue that complex health care problems can be adequately addressed only by an equally broad range of research study designs, as well as by a willingness to co-operate. Th

"This book is an informative contribution to the education of future practioners during medical school and residency training. Daly tells the story of the evolution of EBM by recounting the intellectual contributions, spanning four decades, of individuals wishing to see the best available evidence about the management of clinical conditions incorporated into the practice of medicine."--Michael Whitcomb, Senior VP and Director of Division of Medical Education at the Association of American Medical Colleges"This book is an engaging account of the evolution of evidence-based medicine, and an incisive analysis of this approach to improving healthcare. Daly's critique is a refreshing and scholarly contrast with the erection and demolition of straw men by many critics of EBM, as she poses important challenges to practitioners, policy makers, patients, researchers and others who wish to play their part in improving clinical care."--Sir Iain Chalmers, Editor at the James Lind Library "Daly's deep and wide examination reveals how bioscientific evidence has risen to fresh importance in clinical medical practice and health policy development in the past 30 years. Her account reveals why evidence-based medicine has pentrated into North America and U.K. medical practice and beyond. She uses her critical acuity as a social scientist to observe with warmth the Pilgrims who have blazed the EBM trail. This is the history of EBM that we needed."--Stephen R. Leeder, author of "A Race Against Time