In the context of global ageing societies, there are few challenges to the underlying assumption that policies should promote functional health and independence in older people and contain the costs of care. This important book offers such a challenge. It provides a critical analysis of the limitations of contemporary policies and calls for a fuller understanding of the relationship between health and care throughout the life-course. Located within the tradition of the feminist ethic of care, the book provides a fresh insight into global policy debates and the impact that these have on people’s experiences of ageing. Including international evidence on health inequalities, health promotion and health care, this book will be of interest to a range of social scientists, particularly specialists in gerontology and social policy.
The rapid economic growth of the past few decades has radically transformed India’s labour market, bringing millions of former agricultural workers into manufacturing industries, and, more recently, the expanding service industries, such as call centres and IT companies.
Alongside this employment shift has come a change in health and health problems, as communicable diseases have become less common, while non-communicable diseases, like cardiovascular problems, and mental health issues such as stress, have increased.
This interdisciplinary work connects those two trends to offer an analysis of the impact of working conditions on the health of Indian workers that is unprecedented in scope and depth.
Evidence of widening inequalities in later life raises concerns about the ways in which older adults might experience forms of social exclusion. Such concerns are evident in all societies as they seek to come to terms with the unprecedented ageing of their populations. Taking a broad international perspective, this highly topical book casts light on patterns and processes that either place groups of older adults at risk of exclusion or are conducive to their inclusion.
Leading international experts challenge traditional understandings of exclusion in relation to ageing in From Exclusion to Inclusion in Old Age. They also present new evidence of the interplay between social institutions, policy processes, personal resources and the contexts within which ageing individuals live to show how this shapes inclusion or exclusion in later life. Dealing with topics such as globalisation, age discrimination and human rights, intergenerational relationships, poverty, and migration, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in ageing issues.
What ‘kind’ of community is demanded by a problem like dementia?
As aspects of care continue to transition from institutional to community and home settings, this book considers the implications for people living with dementia and their carers.
Drawing on extensive fieldwork and case studies from Canada, this book analyses the intersections of formal dementia strategies and the experiences of families and others on the frontlines of care.
Considering the strains placed on care systems by the COVID-19 pandemic, this book looks afresh at what makes home-based care possible or impossible and how these considerations can help establish a deeper understanding necessary for good policy and practice.
There are significant variations in how healthcare systems and health professionals are regulated globally. One feature that they increasingly have in common is an emphasis on the value of including members of the public in quality assurance processes. While many argue that this will help better serve the public interest, others question how far the changing regulatory reform agenda is still dominated by medical interests.
Bringing together leading academics worldwide, this collection compares and critically examines the ways in which different countries are regulating healthcare in general, and health professions in particular, in the interest of users and the wider public. It is the first book in the Sociology of Health Professions series.
Public health in the early 21st century increasingly considers how social inequalities impact on individual health, moving away from the focus on how disease relates to the individual person. This ‘new public health’ identifies how social, economic and political factors affect the level and distribution of individual health, through their effects on individual behaviours, the social groups people belong to, the character of relationships to others and the characteristics of the societies in which people live. The rising social inequalities that can be seen in nearly every country in the world today present not just a moral danger, but a mortal danger as well.
“Social inequality and public health” brings together the latest research findings from some of the most respected medical and social scientists in the world. It surveys four pathways to understanding the social determinants of health: differences in individual health behaviours; group advantage and disadvantage; psychosocial factors in individual health; and healthy and unhealthy societies, shedding light on the costs and consequences of today’s high-inequality social models.
This exciting book brings together leaders in the field discussing their latest research and is a must-read for anyone interested in public health and social inequalities internationally.
witnessed a no-less-dramatic change in the patterns of morbidity and mortality in India. As Chapters 6 and 7 show, India is passing through a period of epidemiological transition as the main causes of poor health and death shift from communicable diseases such as tuberculosis to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease. As with the economic changes, these epidemiological changes are reminiscent of those that characterised the development of the western industrial 239 Lessons and future research directions from work environment research in India
citizens (patients) in producing public services together with public organisations (Pestoff, 2012). Arguably, some level of co-production has always been part of health care delivery. Rehabilitation necessarily involves the active involvement of patients. Diagnosing and treating patients has always required some degree of interactive dialogue. Yet the combination of demographic and epidemiological changes with growing numbers of citizens with chronic care needs, resource constraints and new technology has led to a growing interest in other new types of co
systems. Adequate support for family carers is thus considered essential to minimize risks to their health, to prevent premature institutionalization or poor care for those living with dementia, as well as to sustain the effective functioning of health and social care systems (CIHI, 2010 ). This is one story, and it is a powerful one that demands attention as well as action. Demographic and epidemiological changes have led to what is often described as a crisis: burgeoning care needs, constrained public resources and insufficient support for families collide as frail
challenge in a number of societies in the region (Access Economics, 2006, 2009). Assuming responsibility for care may well no longer be possible for many families and older adults, with some forms of mental and physical health problems, such as advanced dementias, almost inevitably requiring institutional care. The combination of demographic and epidemiological changes effectively means that health and social care policies will increasingly have to focus on the older cohorts while at the same time attempting to care for other age groups with finite resources and
