Health service policy and health policy have changed considerably over the past fifteen years and there is a pressing need for an up-to-date sociological analysis of health policy. Not only have policies themselves changed but new policy themes ? such as evidence-based policy and practice, an increasing focus on a primary care led health service, a growing recognition of the need to address inequalities through public health policies and a focus on the views and the voice of the user and the public? have emerged alongside some of the old.

Following up the very successful The Sociology of the Health Service, this all-new volume covers a broad range of key contemporary health services issues. It includes chapters on consumerism, technology, evidence-based practice, public health, managerialism and social care among others, and incorporates references to new developments, such as regulation and incentivization, throughout.

The New Sociology of the Health Service provides a vital new sociological framework for analyzing health policy and healthcare. It is an important read for all students and researchers of medical sociology and health policy.

Contents:
Part I - Health Beliefs and Knowledge 1. Herzlich, C. The individual, the way of life and the genesis of illness 2. Blaxter, M. Why do the victims blame themselves? 3. Davison, C., Davey Smith, G. and Frankel, S. Lay epidemiology and the prevention paradox: the implications of coronary candidacy for health promotion 4. Calnan, M. Lifestyle and its meaning 5. Brown, P. Popular epidemiology, toxic waste and social movements 6. Parsons, E. and Atkinson, P. Lay constructions of genetic risk Part II - Inequalities and Pattering of Health and Illness 7. Berkman, L.S., Glass, T., Brissette, I. and Seeman, E. From social integration to health: Durkheim in the New Millenium 8. Wilkinson, R. The epidemiological transition: from material scarcity to social disadvantage? 9. Vagero, D. and Illsley, R. Explaining health inequalities: beyond Black and Barker 10. Wadsworth, M. Health inequalities in the life course perspective 11. Nazroo, J.Y. Genetic, cultural or socio-economic vulnerability? 12. Macintyre, S., Hunt, K. and Sweeting, H. Gender differences in health: are they as simple as they seem? Part III - Professional and Patient Interactions 13. Freidson, E. The social organisation of illness 14. Annandale, E. Working on the front line: risk culture and nursing in the new NHS 15. Lupton, D. Consumerism, reflexivity and the medical encounter 16. Silverman, D. Going private: ceremonial forms in a medical oncology clinic 17. S. Cant and U. Sharma 18. Charles, c., Gafni, A. and Whelan, T. Decision making in the physician-patient encounter: revisiting the shared treatment decision-making model Part IV - Chronic Illness and Disability 19. Williams, G. The genesis of chronic illness: narrative reconstruction 20. Kelly, M. and Field, D. Medical sociology, chronic illness and the body 21. Bury, M. Defining and researching disability: challenges and responses 22. Oliver, M. Defining impairment and disabilty: the issues at stake 23. Carriciuburu, D. and Pierret J. From biographical disruption to biographical reinforcement: the case of HIV-positive men 24. Frank When bodies need voices Part V - The Sociology of Evaluation and Politics of Health Care 25. Gabe, J. Continuity and change in the British National Health Service 26. Harrison, S. The politics of evidence-based medicine in the United Kingdom 27. Light, D. and Hughes, D. A sociological perspective on rationing: power rhetoric and situated practices 28. Fitzpatrick, R. and Boulton, M. Qualitative methods for assessing health care 29. Howitt, A. and Armstrong, D. Implementing evidence-based medicine in general practice: audit and qualitative study of antithrombotic treatment for atrial fibrilation 30. Featherstone, K. and Donovan, J.L. Random allocation or allocation at random? Patients' perspectives of participation in a randomised controlled trial

Health service policy and health policy have changed considerably over the past fifteen years and there is a pressing need for an up-to-date sociological analysis of health policy. Not only have policies themselves changed but new policy themes - such as evidence-based policy and practice, an increasing focus on a primary care led health service, a growing recognition of the need to address inequalities through public health policies and a focus on the views and the voice of the user and the public- have emerged alongside some of the old. Following up the very successful The Sociology of the Health Service, this all-new volume covers a broad range of key contemporary health services issues. It includes chapters on consumerism, technology, evidence-based practice, public health, managerialism and social care among others, and incorporates references to new developments, such as regulation and incentivization, throughout. The New Sociology of the Health Service provides a vital new sociological framework for analyzing health policy and healthcare. It is an important read for all students and researchers of medical sociology and health policy.

Modern medicine is a powerful institution. With the help of highly developed drugs and surgical techniques, it promises to relieve suffering, improve the quality of life and extend the life-span. Conversely, it is expensive for the governments, insurance companies and individuals who pay for it and sometimes appears to be insensitive to the needs of those for whom it provides. And while recent restructuring of health care delivery services has provided medical practitioners with new challenges, there has been very little consideration of the range of pressures that they now face.
"Challenging Medicine" offers a lively re-appraisal of the current changes to the health service and analyses their effects on the status and practice of health professionals. It also provides original debate on the challenges posed from within medicine from nurses and managers and alternative practitioners, and from outside by self-help groups, the women's movement and the media.
Edited and written by experienced medical sociologists, "Challenging Medicine "will continue to provide a text for medical sociology students and for health care professionals in training and in practice.

Modern medicine is a powerful institution. With the help of highly developed drugs and surgical techniques, it promises to relieve suffering, improve the quality of life and extend the life-span. Conversely, it is expensive for the governments, insurance companies and individuals who pay for it and sometimes appears to be insensitive to the needs of those for whom it provides. And while recent restructuring of health care delivery services has provided medical practitioners with new challenges, there has been very little consideration of the range of pressures that they now face.
"Challenging Medicine" offers a lively re-appraisal of the current changes to the health service and analyses their effects on the status and practice of health professionals. It also provides original debate on the challenges posed from within medicine from nurses and managers and alternative practitioners, and from outside by self-help groups, the women's movement and the media.
Edited and written by experienced medical sociologists, "Challenging Medicine "will continue to provide a text for medical sociology students and for health care professionals in training and in practice.

Taking as its point of departure recent developments in health and social theory Health, Medicine and Society brings together a range of eminent, international scholars to reflect upon key issues at the turn of the century.
Contributors draw upon a range of contemporary theories, both modernist and postmodernist, to look at the following themes:
*health and social structure
*the contested nature of the body
*the salience of consumption and risk
*the challenge of emotions
Health, Medicine and Society provides a 'state-of-the-art' assessment of health related issues at the millennium and a cogent set of arguments for the centrality of health to contemporary social theory. Written in a clear, accessible style it will be ideal reading for students and researchers in health studies, public health, medical sociology, medicine and nursing.

Full Contributors:
Ellen Annandale, University of Leicester, UK, Mildred Blaxter, University of East Anglia, UK, Michael Bury, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, Helen Busby, Salford University, UK, Michael Calnan, University of Kent, UK, Simon Carter, University of Glasgow, UK, Judith Clark, University of Warwick, UK, Robert Crawford, University of Washington, Tacoma, USA, Nick Crossley, University of Sheffield, UK, Nick Fox, University of Sheffield, UK, Jonathan Gabe, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, Graham Hart, University of Glasgow, UK, Deborah Lupton, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia, Emily Martin, Princeton University, USA, Virginia Olesen, University of California, San Francisco, USA, Lindsay Prior, University of Wales, UK, Alan Prout, University of Hull, UK, Chris Smaje, University of Surrey, UK, Deborah Lynn Steinberg, University of Warwick and the Open University, UK, Gareth Williams, University of Salford, UK, Simon J. Williams, University of Warwick, UK

The Sociology of the Health Service responds directly to the need to develop a sociological analysis of current health policy. Topics covered vary from privatisation and health service management to health education and the politics of professional power. Also included is an histroical review of sociology's contributions to health policy and proposals for an agenda for sociological health policy research in the 1990s.

The Sociology of the Health Service responds directly to the need to develop a sociological analysis of current health policy. Topics covered vary from privatisation and health service management to health education and the politics of professional power. Also included is an histroical review of sociology's contributions to health policy and proposals for an agenda for sociological health policy research in the 1990s.

Health and illness in the Neoliberal Era in Europe discusses the impact of neoliberalism on public health and the social construction of health and illness in Europe, analysing case studies at a European and national level. The book focusses on three main topics: health inequity, self-responsibilisation and organisational reforms. Increasing inequity is one of the main outcomes of neoliberal policy in Europe and here the authors examine the impact of neoliberal policies on health inequality, providing a European comparative data analysis of healthy life expectancy and mental health issues in Spain. The book looks at self-responsibilisation, as part of neoliberal citizenship, through topics such as crowdsourcing medicine and citizen science. Finally, it analyses organizational reform in Europe using three case studies: Italian national health care reforms, mental health policy in Italy and maternal care in Russia. The book includes contributions from the Czech Republic, Italy, Russia and Spain and fosters the development of sociological debate in such countries within a European framework. It presents quantitative data analysis as well as ethnographic research and outlines a complex scenario affecting the everyday life of European citizens, their health and illness.

This reader provides a comprehensive collection of both classic writings and more recent articles in the sociology of health and illness. It is organised into the following sections:

* health beliefs and knowledge
* inequalities and patterning of health and illness
* professional and patient interaction
* chronic illness and disability
* evaluation and politics in health care.

Each section has an introduction, summarising the content and argument of each article in turn. The reader also has a general introduction which sets the scene for the field as a whole, contextualises each section and provides a guide to additional reading. The reader includes a number of different perspectives on health and illness, is international in scope, and will provide an invaluable resource to students across a wide range of courses in sociology and the social sciences.

How do we understand health in relation to society? What role do social processes, structures and culture play in shaping our experiences of health and illness? How do we understand medicine and healthcare within a sociological framework? Drawing on international literature and examples, this new edition of Key Concepts in Medical Sociology: * Systematically explains the concepts that have preoccupied medical sociology from its inception, and which have shaped the field as it exists today. * Includes new entries, such as pandemics and epidemics, the environment, intersectionality, pharmaceuticalization, medical tourism and sexuality. * Begins each entry with a definition of the concept then examines its origins, development, strengths and weaknesses, and concludes with suggested further reading for independent learning. Key Concepts in Medical Sociology is essential reading for students in medical sociology as well as those undertaking professional training in health-related disciplines.

How do we understand health in relation to society? What role do social processes, structures and culture play in shaping our experiences of health and illness? How do we understand medicine and healthcare within a sociological framework? Drawing on international literature and examples, this new edition of Key Concepts in Medical Sociology: * Systematically explains the concepts that have preoccupied medical sociology from its inception, and which have shaped the field as it exists today. * Includes new entries, such as pandemics and epidemics, the environment, intersectionality, pharmaceuticalization, medical tourism and sexuality. * Begins each entry with a definition of the concept then examines its origins, development, strengths and weaknesses, and concludes with suggested further reading for independent learning. Key Concepts in Medical Sociology is essential reading for students in medical sociology as well as those undertaking professional training in health-related disciplines.