Medical

Across the globe, patients are no longer passive recipients of care — they are active participants, decision-makers and collaborators.

This timely volume explores the evolving landscape of patient and public involvement (PPI) in healthcare, focusing on its intersection with the healthcare professions. Drawing on international perspectives, the book examines how patients and professionals navigate changing roles, peer support networks and complex healthcare systems. It considers the sociological and practical implications of patient-centric care and its impact on clinical outcomes and resources.

This book brings fresh insight to a fast-developing field.

Recent community care changes have raised fundamental issues about the changing role of the public, voluntary and informal sectors in the provision of social care to older people. They have also raised issues about the health and social care interface, the extent to which services should be rationed and the respective roles of residential care and care at home.

From Poor Law to community care sets these debates in the context of the historical growth of welfare services from the outbreak of the Second World War through to the establishment of social services departments in 1971. Based on extensive research on primary sources, such as the Public Records Office and interviews with key actors, the book considers the changing perceptions of the needs of elderly people, the extent to which they have been a priority for resources and the possibilities for a policy which combines respect for elderly people with an avoidance of the exploitation of relatives.

This is an updated second edition of The development of welfare services for elderly people, first published by Croom Helm, 1985. It is essential reading for practitioners and policy makers interested in gerontology, policy studies, community care and postgraduate students studying and training in a range of health and social care related professions.

Foreword by Lisa Berkman, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University

How welfare states influence population health and health inequalities has long been debated but less well tested by empirical research. This book presents new empirical evidence of the effects of Swedish welfare state structures and policies on the lives of Swedish citizens.

The discussion, analysis and innovative theoretical approaches developed in the book have implications for health research and policy beyond Scandinavian borders. Drawing on a rich source of longitudinal data, the Swedish Level of Living Surveys (LNU), and other data, the authors shed light on a number of pertinent issues in health inequality research while at the same time showing how health inequalities have evolved in Sweden over several decades. Topics covered include  how structural conditions relating to family, socio-economic conditions and the welfare state are important in producing health inequalities; how health inequalities change over the lifecourse and the impact of environment on health inequalities - at home, at school, in the workplace.

Health inequalities and welfare resources will be invaluable to researchers, students and practitioners in sociology, social epidemiology, public health and social policy interested in the interplay between society and health.

The book is a much-needed revised and updated edition of Elders and the law (PEPAR Publications, 1993). It describes the legal framework for working with older people following the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 and the modernising agenda in health and social care.

Covering broadly the same ground as the first edition, the length has been considerably expanded to enable topics to be dealt with more comprehensively. It covers the range of legal issues affecting the welfare and financial security of older people in the community and residential settings, and emphasises the empowering nature of legal knowledge. It also describes and explains the application of law and policy relating to older people in the context of social work practice.

Written by a social worker and a lawyer, the book highlights the opportunities for interprofessional working and combines professional perspectives on:

· providing health and social care services in the community;

· housing needs and entering residential care;

· dealing with financial matters;

· end of life issues.

Older people and the law is aimed at all professionals working with older people, but particularly social workers. Its clarity of style means that older people themselves and carers will find it accessible.

BASW/Policy Press series

The BASW/Policy Press partnership provides the very best in accessible and practical high-quality resources for social work professionals and students.

For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.

Foreword by Lisa Berkman, Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University

How welfare states influence population health and health inequalities has long been debated but less well tested by empirical research. This book presents new empirical evidence of the effects of Swedish welfare state structures and policies on the lives of Swedish citizens.

The discussion, analysis and innovative theoretical approaches developed in the book have implications for health research and policy beyond Scandinavian borders. Drawing on a rich source of longitudinal data, the Swedish Level of Living Surveys (LNU), and other data, the authors shed light on a number of pertinent issues in health inequality research while at the same time showing how health inequalities have evolved in Sweden over several decades. Topics covered include  how structural conditions relating to family, socio-economic conditions and the welfare state are important in producing health inequalities; how health inequalities change over the lifecourse and the impact of environment on health inequalities - at home, at school, in the workplace.

Health inequalities and welfare resources will be invaluable to researchers, students and practitioners in sociology, social epidemiology, public health and social policy interested in the interplay between society and health.

This Handbook is the definitive resource for anyone wishing to quickly look up and understand key concepts and measurements relating to socioeconomic position and inequalities.

A range of key concepts is defined and measures of socioeconomic position and inequality described. Alphabetical listings, cross-referencing, graphs and worked examples, references to web and other sources of further information, all contribute to making the Handbook both engaging and accessible for a wide audience.

For students, academics and others involved in social science research it answers questions such as:

· 'What's the official government measure of poverty?'

· 'What factors make up the Townsend Index of Deprivation?'

· 'What is a gini coefficient?'

· 'I have to write a report on tackling inequalities in my area - what are the key issues I should consider before I begin?'

For practitioners, policy makers, journalists and others who must read, understand and use research in fields as diverse as health, criminology, education, the environment, transport and housing it provides a one-stop, authoritative guide to making sense of and evaluating the significance of often complex methodologies.

The authors are all eminent researchers in the field of health inequalities. They have together produced two glossaries for the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and have published a large number of books and articles in learned academic journals.

Improving health in populations in which health is poor is a complex process. This book argues that the traditional government approach of exhorting individuals to live healthier lifestyles is not enough - action to promote public health needs to take place not just through public agencies, but also by engaging community assets and resources in their broadest sense.

The book reports lessons from the experience of planning, establishing and delivering such action by the five-year Sustainable Health Action Research Programme (SHARP) in Wales. It critically examines the experience of SHARP in relation to current literature on policy; community health and health inequalities; and action research. The authors make clear how this regional development has produced opportunities for developing general concepts and theory about community-based policy developments that are relevant across national boundaries and show that complex and sustained community action, and effective local partnership, are fundamental components of the mix of factors required to address health inequalities successfully.

The book concludes by indicating the connections between SHARP and earlier traditions of community-based action, and by arguing that we need to be bolder in our approaches to community-based health improvement and more flexible in our understanding of the ways in which knowledge and inform developments in health policy.

The book will be of interest to practitioners and activists working in community-based projects; students in community development, health studies and medical sociology; professionals working in health promotion, community nursing and allied areas; and policy makers working at local, regional and national levels.

While ethics has been addressed in the health care literature, relatively little attention has been paid to the subject in the field of social care. This book redresses the balance by examining theory, research, policy and practice in both fields.

The analysis is set within the context of contemporary challenges facing health and social care, not only in Britain but internationally. Contributors from the UK, US and Australia consider ethical issues in health and social care research and governance; interprofessional and user perspectives;  ethics in relation to human rights, the law, finance, management and provision; key issues of relevance to vulnerable groups such as children and young people, those with complex disabilities, older people and those with mental health problems and lifecourse issues - ethical perspectives on a range of challenging areas from new technologies of reproduction to euthanasia.

This book is intended for academics, students and researchers in health and social care who need an up-to-date analysis of contemporary issues and debates. It will also be useful to practitioners in the public, private and voluntary sectors, including social workers, community workers, those working in the fields of disability and mental health and with older people.

Improving health in populations in which health is poor is a complex process. This book argues that the traditional government approach of exhorting individuals to live healthier lifestyles is not enough - action to promote public health needs to take place not just through public agencies, but also by engaging community assets and resources in their broadest sense.

The book reports lessons from the experience of planning, establishing and delivering such action by the five-year Sustainable Health Action Research Programme (SHARP) in Wales. It critically examines the experience of SHARP in relation to current literature on policy; community health and health inequalities; and action research. The authors make clear how this regional development has produced opportunities for developing general concepts and theory about community-based policy developments that are relevant across national boundaries and show that complex and sustained community action, and effective local partnership, are fundamental components of the mix of factors required to address health inequalities successfully.

The book concludes by indicating the connections between SHARP and earlier traditions of community-based action, and by arguing that we need to be bolder in our approaches to community-based health improvement and more flexible in our understanding of the ways in which knowledge and inform developments in health policy.

The book will be of interest to practitioners and activists working in community-based projects; students in community development, health studies and medical sociology; professionals working in health promotion, community nursing and allied areas; and policy makers working at local, regional and national levels.

This book offers a unique multi-disciplinary perspective on tackling health inequalities in a rich country, examining the New Labour policy agenda for tackling health inequalities and its inherent challenges.

The book presents an overview of progress since the publication of the seminal and ambitious 1998 Acheson Inquiry into health inequalities, and the theoretical and methodological issues underpinning health inequalities. The contributors consider the determinants of inequality - for example, early childhood experience and ethnicity - the factors that mediate the relationship between determinants and health - nutrition, housing and health behaviour - and the sectoral policy interventions in user involvement, local area partnership working and social work.

Challenging health inequalities offers a combination of broad analysis of progress from differing perspectives and will be key reading to academics, students and policy makers.

Genetic epidemiology is a very rapidly developing field that has acquired a central role in modern biomedical science. Until now there has been no comprehensive introductory text for students and academics who do not have specialised training in statistics or genetics.

This book begins with a primer in human molecular genetics and then examines standard methods in population genetics and genetic epidemiology required for an adequate grounding in the field. Among much else, the book contains discussion of the public health aspects of the new genetics, and of epidemiological methods for studying genes and environmental factors in complex diseases.

Written by leading international experts and supplemented by a glossary and in-chapter guides to further reading, this essential textbook will be widely welcomed by teachers and students on many courses internationally.

Modernising health care: Reinventing professions, the state and the public is a crucial contribution to debates about the rapid modernisation of health care systems and the dynamics of changing modes of governance and citizenship.

Structured around the role of the professions as mediators between state and citizens, and set against a background of tighter resources and growing demands for citizenship rights, Ellen Kuhlmann's book offers a much-needed comparative analysis, using the German health care system as a case study. The German system, with its strongly self-regulatory medical profession, exemplifies both the capacity of professionalism to re-make itself, and the role of the state in response, highlighting the benefits and dangers of medical self-regulation, while demonstrating the potential for change beyond marketisation and managerialism.

Kuhlmann critically reviews dominant models of provider control and user participation, and empirically investigates different sets of dynamics in health care, including tensions between global reform models and nation-specific conditions; interprofessional dynamics and changing gender arrangements; the role of the service-user as a new stakeholder in health care; and the rise of a new professionalism shaped by social inclusion.

Modernising health care provides new approaches and a wealth of new empirical data for academics and students of health policy, medical sociology and sociology of professions, and for health policy makers and managers.

Handling personal and often sensitive information is central to daily practice in social and health services. However, the increasing emphasis on multi-disciplinary and inter-agency working required for effective, joined-up services presents new challenges and dilemmas in preserving citizens' rights to privacy.

This book examines key philosophical, ethical and legal issues in the area of privacy and confidentiality and explores their implications for policy and practice. ,Offering a range of analytical frameworks the book focuses on different practice areas, including health and social care, children's services and criminal justice. The contributors from disciplines including law, philosophy, anthropology and the personal service professions bring their direct personal experience of working to create new systems and practices in a turbulent policy environment. The book provides a synoptic multi-disciplinary view of this increasingly challenging area where technological development, civil liberties, surveillance, health and welfare become inexorably intertwined.

The book will be of key interest to professionals, managers, policy makers and academics in the health and personal social services. Students of social work, probation, medicine, nursing and professions allied to medicine will find a common multidisciplinary framework for their respective professional concerns to protect the interests and promote the wellbeing of clients, their families and the wider community.

Handling personal and often sensitive information is central to daily practice in social and health services. However, the increasing emphasis on multi-disciplinary and inter-agency working required for effective, joined-up services presents new challenges and dilemmas in preserving citizens' rights to privacy.

This book examines key philosophical, ethical and legal issues in the area of privacy and confidentiality and explores their implications for policy and practice. ,Offering a range of analytical frameworks the book focuses on different practice areas, including health and social care, children's services and criminal justice. The contributors from disciplines including law, philosophy, anthropology and the personal service professions bring their direct personal experience of working to create new systems and practices in a turbulent policy environment. The book provides a synoptic multi-disciplinary view of this increasingly challenging area where technological development, civil liberties, surveillance, health and welfare become inexorably intertwined.

The book will be of key interest to professionals, managers, policy makers and academics in the health and personal social services. Students of social work, probation, medicine, nursing and professions allied to medicine will find a common multidisciplinary framework for their respective professional concerns to protect the interests and promote the wellbeing of clients, their families and the wider community.

This book's striking message is that palliative care does not deliver on its aims to value people who are dying and make death and dying a natural part of life. 

This book draws from wider social science perspectives and critically and specifically applies these perspectives to palliative care and its dominant medical model. Applying Social Role Valorisation, the author argues for the de-institutionalisation of palliative care and the development of an alternative framework to the approaches found in hospices, palliative care units and community-based palliative care services. He offers a new conceptualisation of death and loss that refines and expands modern understandings in a way that also resonates with traditional religious views concerning death.

Wide-ranging recommendations advise fundamental change in the concept of palliative care, the way support and services are organised and the day to day practice of palliative care.

Rethinking palliative care will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners in palliative care as well as those in disability, social policy, sociology, social work, religion, thanatology, nursing and other health related fields.

Genetic epidemiology is a very rapidly developing field that has acquired a central role in modern biomedical science. Until now there has been no comprehensive introductory text for students and academics who do not have specialised training in statistics or genetics.

This book begins with a primer in human molecular genetics and then examines standard methods in population genetics and genetic epidemiology required for an adequate grounding in the field. Among much else, the book contains discussion of the public health aspects of the new genetics, and of epidemiological methods for studying genes and environmental factors in complex diseases.

Written by leading international experts and supplemented by a glossary and in-chapter guides to further reading, this essential textbook will be widely welcomed by teachers and students on many courses internationally.

This original and innovative book opens up new perspectives in health policy debate, examining the emerging international trends in the governance of health professions and the significance of national contexts for the changing health workforce.

In bringing together research from a wide range of continental European countries as well as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the contributors highlight different arenas of governance, as well as the various players involved in the policy process. They expand the public debate on professional governance - hitherto mainly limited to medical self-regulation - to encompass a broad span of health care providers, from nurses and midwives to alternative therapists and health support workers.

The book provides new data and geopolitical perspectives in the debate over how to govern health care. It helps to better understand both the enabling conditions for, and the barriers to, making professionals more accountable to the interests of a changing public.

This book will be a valuable resource for students at an undergraduate and postgraduate level, particularly for health programmes, sociology of professions and comparative health policy, but also for academics, researchers and managers working in health care. 

Health care systems everywhere face multiple pressures from changing demography, the rise of non-communicable disease, the growing demand on health services, and limited resources at a time of austerity.

Focusing on the British NHS from a political science perspective, this second edition of this best-selling book offers a fresh look at how it is coping with such pressures. The book explores the complexity of health policy and health services, offering a critical perspective on concerns including integrated care, the return of public health to local government and moves to devolve health services to local level. Crucially, it offers a critique of the market-style changes introduced by the Coalition government between 2010 and 2015.

Students of health care and health policy, policy-makers and public health and health care professionals will find this lively and accessible reassessment of NHS reforms invaluable.

Anyone working, or planning to work, as an advocate for people who need help in dealing with public services will want to read this book. Advocacy is an area of increasing importance in service provision, where new ways of working have to be found that increasingly create an enabling, rather than a providing, state. Advocacy has an important part to play in this shift.

Based on the experience of real advocates, "Speaking to power" is written in a vivid, jargon-free style. As well as practical chapters on 'what advocates do', using case studies from Scotland where important developments are taking place, the book discusses how advocacy fits into the broader scheme of things. Donnison describes and discusses examples of advocacy, with chapters dealing with management, training and evaluation of the work. The book concludes with a thought-provoking discussion of various strategies which help vulnerable people speak to power on more equal terms.

"Speaking to power" will be particularly helpful to advocates working with people who have mental health or learning difficulties, for doctors, nurses and social workers involved in advocacy, and for students preparing to enter those professions. It will also be of interest to students of social policy and other readers concerned about Britain's broader social and political development.

Anyone working, or planning to work, as an advocate for people who need help in dealing with public services will want to read this book. Advocacy is an area of increasing importance in service provision, where new ways of working have to be found that increasingly create an enabling, rather than a providing, state. Advocacy has an important part to play in this shift.

Based on the experience of real advocates, "Speaking to power" is written in a vivid, jargon-free style. As well as practical chapters on 'what advocates do', using case studies from Scotland where important developments are taking place, the book discusses how advocacy fits into the broader scheme of things. Donnison describes and discusses examples of advocacy, with chapters dealing with management, training and evaluation of the work. The book concludes with a thought-provoking discussion of various strategies which help vulnerable people speak to power on more equal terms.

"Speaking to power" will be particularly helpful to advocates working with people who have mental health or learning difficulties, for doctors, nurses and social workers involved in advocacy, and for students preparing to enter those professions. It will also be of interest to students of social policy and other readers concerned about Britain's broader social and political development.

Working in teams sounds simple but the reality is often more difficult within complex health and social care systems. This revised edition of this essential book brings together cutting-edge thinking about teamworking, and considers how this can be turned into practice within the context of interagency settings. It introduces a range of theories, models and research to demonstrate the benefits – and pitfalls – inherent in teamworking in collaborative settings.

This is a practical and accessible guide focused on how inter-agency teams may be made to function more effectively, illustrated through real-life examples. Its no-nonsense approach will appeal to students, practitioners, team leaders, managers and policy-makers across the health and social care system.

Ethical dilemmas are not new in the area of health care and policy making, but in recent years, their frequency and diversity have grown considerably. All health professionals now have to consider the ethical implications of an increasing array of treatments, interventions and health promotion activities on an almost daily basis. This goes hand in hand with increasing medical knowledge, and the growth of new and innovative medical technologies and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the same technology and knowledge is increasing professional and public awareness of new potential public health threats (e.g. pandemic influenza). 

At the level of public policy, concerns over the rising costs of health care have led to a more explicit focus on 'health promotion', and the surveillance of both 'patients' and the so-called 'worried well'. Health professionals and policy makers also have to consider the implications of managing these risks, for example restricting individual liberty through enforced quarantine (in the wake of SARS and more recently swine flu) and the more general distribution of harms and benefits. Balancing the rights and responsibilities of individuals and wider populations is becoming more complex and problematic.

This book will play a key role in opening out a discussion of public health ethics. It examines the principles and values that support an ethical approach to public health practice and provides examples of some of the complex areas which those practising, analysing and planning the health of populations have to navigate. It will therefore be essential reading for current practitioners, those involved in public health research and a valuable aid for anyone interested in examining the tensions within and the development of public health.

Ethical dilemmas are not new in the area of health care and policy making, but in recent years, their frequency and diversity have grown considerably. All health professionals now have to consider the ethical implications of an increasing array of treatments, interventions and health promotion activities on an almost daily basis. This goes hand in hand with increasing medical knowledge, and the growth of new and innovative medical technologies and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the same technology and knowledge is increasing professional and public awareness of new potential public health threats (e.g. pandemic influenza). 

At the level of public policy, concerns over the rising costs of health care have led to a more explicit focus on 'health promotion', and the surveillance of both 'patients' and the so-called 'worried well'. Health professionals and policy makers also have to consider the implications of managing these risks, for example restricting individual liberty through enforced quarantine (in the wake of SARS and more recently swine flu) and the more general distribution of harms and benefits. Balancing the rights and responsibilities of individuals and wider populations is becoming more complex and problematic.

This book will play a key role in opening out a discussion of public health ethics. It examines the principles and values that support an ethical approach to public health practice and provides examples of some of the complex areas which those practising, analysing and planning the health of populations have to navigate. It will therefore be essential reading for current practitioners, those involved in public health research and a valuable aid for anyone interested in examining the tensions within and the development of public health.

This book explores the experiences of informal home carers in the different welfare systems of the former West Germany and East Germany, and Britain. It is innovative in using a biographical case study approach to compare caring situations and caring strategies in the three different societies. The detail and variety of the case studies show how particular social and welfare patterns give rise to recognisable 'cultures of care'.

The authors: 

show how the social relations of caring are structured within and outside the home environment

offer a research tool to take into account the significance of informal networks

use separate analysis of 'lived' and 'told' life stories to highlight personal processes of continuity and change in meeting the challenge of caring

link individual caring strategies to the structural features of welfare societies.

European comparative research creates opportunities for fresh thinking about social policy, showing best practice and piecing together the strengths of each system. The findings of this book underline the significance of caring within social policy agendas and the need to extend and change the parameters of comparative social policy beyond a fixation on social insurance. Cultures of care makes an important contribution to debates about the need to 'strengthen the social' and to build a creative sense of moral agency in welfare systems. It provides a valuable new resource for both academic teaching and the training of social professionals.

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.

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.

This impressive full-colour atlas, with over 100 colour-coded and accessible maps, uniquely presents the geography of death in Britain.

The first atlas published on this subject for over two decades, this book presents data from more than 14 million deaths over a 24-year period in Britain. The maps detail over 100 separate categories of cause of death, including various cancers, suicides, assault by firearms, multiple sclerosis, pneumonia, hypothermia, falls, and Parkinson's disease, and show how often these occurred in different neighbourhoods.

Accompanying each map is a detailed description and brief geographical analysis - the number of people who have died due to each cause, the average age of death and ratio of male to female deaths are listed. Taken as a whole, these provide a comprehensive overview of the geographical pattern of mortality in Britain.

This atlas will be essential reading for academics and students of social medicine, sociology of health and illness and epidemiology. It will also be valuable for anyone who wants a better understanding of patterns of mortality within Britain, including medical and healthcare practitioners, policy makers and researchers.

Health systems everywhere are experiencing rapid change in response to new threats to health, including from lifestyle diseases, risks of pandemic flu, and the global effects of climate change but health inequalities continue to widen. Such developments have profound implications for the future direction of public health policy and practice. 

The public health system in England offers a wide-ranging, provocative and accessible assessment of challenges confronting a public health system, exploring how its parameters have shifted and what the origins of dilemmas in public health practice are. The book will therefore appeal to public health professionals and students of health policy, potentially engaging them in political and social advocacy. 

This impressive full-colour atlas, with over 100 colour-coded and accessible maps, uniquely presents the geography of death in Britain.

The first atlas published on this subject for over two decades, this book presents data from more than 14 million deaths over a 24-year period in Britain. The maps detail over 100 separate categories of cause of death, including various cancers, suicides, assault by firearms, multiple sclerosis, pneumonia, hypothermia, falls, and Parkinson's disease, and show how often these occurred in different neighbourhoods.

Accompanying each map is a detailed description and brief geographical analysis - the number of people who have died due to each cause, the average age of death and ratio of male to female deaths are listed. Taken as a whole, these provide a comprehensive overview of the geographical pattern of mortality in Britain.

This atlas will be essential reading for academics and students of social medicine, sociology of health and illness and epidemiology. It will also be valuable for anyone who wants a better understanding of patterns of mortality within Britain, including medical and healthcare practitioners, policy makers and researchers.

Health systems everywhere are experiencing rapid change in response to new threats to health, including from lifestyle diseases, risks of pandemic flu, and the global effects of climate change but health inequalities continue to widen. Such developments have profound implications for the future direction of public health policy and practice. 

The public health system in England offers a wide-ranging, provocative and accessible assessment of challenges confronting a public health system, exploring how its parameters have shifted and what the origins of dilemmas in public health practice are. The book will therefore appeal to public health professionals and students of health policy, potentially engaging them in political and social advocacy. 

Despite a policy focus on involving patients in health care and increasing patient autonomy, much covert coercion of patients takes place in everyday healthcare. This book, by a leading patient activist, examines for the first time how the patient movement, which works to improve the quality of healthcare, can actually be considered an emancipation movement when led by its radical elements.

In this highly original book the author argues that radical patient groups and individual activists who repeatedly challenge or oppose some standards in healthcare, can be seen as working in the direction of freeing patients from coercion and from its associated injustice and inequality. Combining new academic theory with rich empirical evidence, the book explains how looking at healthcare from an emancipatory perspective could improve its quality as patients experience it. It will appeal to health professionals, managers, patient activists, policy makers and others concerned with the quality of healthcare.

World-leading health economist Cam Donaldson defends NHS-type systems on the same basis as their detractors: economic efficiency. However, protecting government funding of health care is not enough: scarcity has to be managed. Donaldson goes on to show how we can get more out of our systems by addressing issues of value for money. In particular, he demonstrates what has been achieved through health care reform but questions how much more this can deliver relative to getting serious about priority setting.

The issues addressed in the book have global relevance and this accessible book will therefore appeal to the public, health professionals and health policy specialists.

Despite a policy focus on involving patients in health care and increasing patient autonomy, much covert coercion of patients takes place in everyday healthcare. This book, by a leading patient activist, examines for the first time how the patient movement, which works to improve the quality of healthcare, can actually be considered an emancipation movement when led by its radical elements.

In this highly original book the author argues that radical patient groups and individual activists who repeatedly challenge or oppose some standards in healthcare, can be seen as working in the direction of freeing patients from coercion and from its associated injustice and inequality. Combining new academic theory with rich empirical evidence, the book explains how looking at healthcare from an emancipatory perspective could improve its quality as patients experience it. It will appeal to health professionals, managers, patient activists, policy makers and others concerned with the quality of healthcare.

With a foreword by Tony Benn.

Drawing on clinical experience dating from the birth of the NHS in 1948, Julian Tudor Hart, a politically active GP in a Welsh coal mining community, charts the progress of the NHS from its 19th century origins in workers' mutual aid societies, to its current forced return to the market. His starting point is a detailed analysis of how clinical decisions are made. He explores the changing social relationships in the NHS as a gift economy, how these may be affected by reducing care to commodity status, and the new directions they might take if the NHS resumed progress independently from the market.

This edition of this bestselling book has been entirely rewritten with two new chapters, and includes new material on resistance to that world-wide process. The essential principle in the book is that patients need to develop as active citizens and co-producers of health gain in a humanising society and the author's aim is to promote it wherever people recognise that pursuit of profit may be a brake on rational progress.

Commissioning is now a key task for health and social care - and yet policy aspirations often outstrip the infrastructure needed to support commissioners as they take difficult decisions about future services and to make commissioning a career of choice for future leaders. While commissioning was important under New Labour, it seems set to be even more fundamental now as commissioners think about future services in an era of austerity. 

Against this background, this is the first comprehensive text on a key area of management practice , exploring what commissioning is, where it has come from and where it might be taking us. With a wide range of leading contributors from fields including health care, social care, local government , the book takes students, practitioners and managers through key stages of the commissioning cycle as well as addressing cross-cutting themes such as the economics of commissioning, user involvement and commissioning in an era of personalisation.

It is essential reading for everyone involved in the planning and delivery of health and social care - for social policy students, health and social care practitioners, managers and policy makers alike.

World-leading health economist Cam Donaldson defends NHS-type systems on the same basis as their detractors: economic efficiency. However, protecting government funding of health care is not enough: scarcity has to be managed. Donaldson goes on to show how we can get more out of our systems by addressing issues of value for money. In particular, he demonstrates what has been achieved through health care reform but questions how much more this can deliver relative to getting serious about priority setting.

The issues addressed in the book have global relevance and this accessible book will therefore appeal to the public, health professionals and health policy specialists.

Commissioning is now a key task for health and social care - and yet policy aspirations often outstrip the infrastructure needed to support commissioners as they take difficult decisions about future services and to make commissioning a career of choice for future leaders. While commissioning was important under New Labour, it seems set to be even more fundamental now as commissioners think about future services in an era of austerity. 

Against this background, this is the first comprehensive text on a key area of management practice , exploring what commissioning is, where it has come from and where it might be taking us. With a wide range of leading contributors from fields including health care, social care, local government , the book takes students, practitioners and managers through key stages of the commissioning cycle as well as addressing cross-cutting themes such as the economics of commissioning, user involvement and commissioning in an era of personalisation.

It is essential reading for everyone involved in the planning and delivery of health and social care - for social policy students, health and social care practitioners, managers and policy makers alike.

Trust is fundamental to everyday interactions and the functioning of society. How trust develops, or fails to develop, within contexts of severe mental illness is a pertinent topic for social scientists and healthcare professionals, not simply because it is an under-researched area but because heightened uncertainty and amplified vulnerability amidst psychosis represent a crucible of the conditions where trust becomes relevant.

Grounded in research within this crucible, this book explores a number of questions which are central to contemporary theoretical debates around the nature of trust. The authors link these abstract concerns to empirical analysis, involving interviews with service-users, practitioners and managers. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the concept of trust, including social science researchers and students, as well as practitioners, managers and policy makers working with vulnerable people.

The UK has a deservedly strong reputation for work on understanding social inequalities in health, but there is some way to go in using research and other types of knowledge to reduce inequalities in child health. This revised and updated edition of an important report looks at macro public policy interventions, community interventions, and individual level interventions in a variety of settings, including infancy, early years, childhood, adolescence, and particular needs including looked after children. It considers 'what works' - or might work - in practice. There are new case studies, updated research references, and new reference to cost effectiveness - all relevant for doing the right thing in a climate of austerity.

Drawing on evidence from the UK and beyond, the book presents these in an accessible form, not just for those who make decisions now, but also for the students of today who are the decision makers of tomorrow.

The book is supported by a companion website, containing additional materials for both students and lecturers, which is available from the link above.

Domestic violence and health is one of the first indepth studies within Britain to explore the issue of healthcare professionals' attitudes towards women who are victims of domestic violence. There is a growing interest by healthcare professionals and researchers about the role of healthcare professionals in relation to domestic violence.

This book looks at the health experiences of women who are victims of domestic violence and the responses to such injuries by healthcare professionals. The author presents the results of an indepth qualitative study, conducted within Britain, examining domestic violence and health. Women who are treated medically without any acknowledgement of the social, personal and psychological aspects of their condition, are likely to re-present with domestic violence-related injuries.

The book includes chapters that look at:

current interest both nationally and internationally;

why women access health services;

an examination of the physical and non-physical effects of domestic violence;

the range of treatment options currently favoured by healthcare professionals and the response of patients to them;

differentiations in practice between different health professionals;

the impact of domestic violence as a social issue on trends in medical training.

These issues are considered in light of debates about medicalisation, the function of the sick role, and both biomedical/wound-led, and holistic/person-led approaches to health provision. Key findings are highlighted, and the author provides recommendations for good practice.

Domestic violence and health is essential reading for public health administrators and policy makers, healthcare professionals and feminist researchers, activists and advocates.

The UK government’s reforms of the NHS and public health system require partnerships if they are to succeed. Those partnerships concerned with public health are especially important and are deemed to be a ’good thing’ which add, rather than consume, value. Yet the significant emphasis on partnership working to secure effective policy and service delivery exists despite the evidence testifying to how difficult it is to make partnerships work or achieve results.

Partnership working in public health presents the findings from a detailed study of public health partnerships in England. The lessons from the research are used to explore the government’s changes in public health now being implemented, most of which centre on new partnerships called Health and Wellbeing Boards that have been established to work differently from their predecessors.The book assesses their likely impact and the implications for the future of public health partnerships. Drawing on systems thinking, it argues that partnerships can only succeed if they work in quite different ways. The book will therefore appeal to the public health community and students of health policy.

Health inequalities are the most important inequalities of all. In the US and the UK these inequalities have now reached an extent not seen for over a century. Most people's health is much better now than then, but the gaps in life expectancy between regions, between cities, and between neighbourhoods within cities now surpass the worst measures over the last hundred years. In almost all other affluent countries, inequalities in health are lower and people live longer.

In his new book, academic and writer Danny Dorling describes the current extent of inequalities in health as the scandal of our times. He provides nine new chapters and updates a wide selection of his highly influential writings on health, including international-peer reviewed studies, annotated lectures, newspaper articles, and interview transcripts, to create an accessible collection that is both contemporary and authoritative. As a whole the book shows conclusively that inequalities in health are the scandal of our times in the most unequal of rich nations and calls for immediate action to reduce these inequalities in the near future.

Health inequalities are the most important inequalities of all. In the US and the UK these inequalities have now reached an extent not seen for over a century. Most people's health is much better now than then, but the gaps in life expectancy between regions, between cities, and between neighbourhoods within cities now surpass the worst measures over the last hundred years. In almost all other affluent countries, inequalities in health are lower and people live longer.

In his new book, academic and writer Danny Dorling describes the current extent of inequalities in health as the scandal of our times. He provides nine new chapters and updates a wide selection of his highly influential writings on health, including international-peer reviewed studies, annotated lectures, newspaper articles, and interview transcripts, to create an accessible collection that is both contemporary and authoritative. As a whole the book shows conclusively that inequalities in health are the scandal of our times in the most unequal of rich nations and calls for immediate action to reduce these inequalities in the near future.

The UK government’s reforms of the NHS and public health system require partnerships if they are to succeed. Those partnerships concerned with public health are especially important and are deemed to be a ’good thing’ which add, rather than consume, value. Yet the significant emphasis on partnership working to secure effective policy and service delivery exists despite the evidence testifying to how difficult it is to make partnerships work or achieve results.

Partnership working in public health presents the findings from a detailed study of public health partnerships in England. The lessons from the research are used to explore the government’s changes in public health now being implemented, most of which centre on new partnerships called Health and Wellbeing Boards that have been established to work differently from their predecessors.The book assesses their likely impact and the implications for the future of public health partnerships. Drawing on systems thinking, it argues that partnerships can only succeed if they work in quite different ways. The book will therefore appeal to the public health community and students of health policy.

New public health governance arrangements under the coalition government have wide reaching implications for the delivery of health inequality interventions.

Through the framework of understanding health inequalities as a 'wicked problem' the book develops an applied approach to researching, understanding and addressing these by drawing on complexity theory. Case studies illuminate the text, illustrating and discussing the issues in real life terms and enabling public health, health promotion and health policy students at postgraduate level to fully understand and address the complexities of health inequalities.

The book is a valuable resource on current UK public health practice for academics, researchers and public health practitioners.

Chinese older people living in the UK suffer from a number of disadvantages compounded by exclusion from both their own community and the mainstream community. Not only do Chinese older people find it difficult to access social and public services, but their own community is also not strong enough to provide them with the necessary care and support. This dual exclusion undermines their quality of life.

Through interviews with 100 Chinese older people, focus groups and discussion with those working with older people in the community, Chinese older people looks at:

specific issues for women and middle-aged men;

retirement and self-esteem;

culture and traditional values;

the social networks used by Chinese older people;

lifelong learning;

participation.

The report concludes with suggestions for good policy and practice for promoting Chinese older people's inclusion in both communities.

Chinese older people is essential reading for anyone working with or providing services to older people and excluded ethnic minority groups, as well as policy makers and researchers interested in older people or the dynamics of ethnic communities.

New public health governance arrangements under the coalition government have wide reaching implications for the delivery of health inequality interventions.

Through the framework of understanding health inequalities as a 'wicked problem' the book develops an applied approach to researching, understanding and addressing these by drawing on complexity theory. Case studies illuminate the text, illustrating and discussing the issues in real life terms and enabling public health, health promotion and health policy students at postgraduate level to fully understand and address the complexities of health inequalities.

The book is a valuable resource on current UK public health practice for academics, researchers and public health practitioners.

For years the NHS has been the most trusted of public institutions and the envy of many around the world. But today there is turmoil. Painful shortcomings in clinical care and patient experience, together with funding cuts, threaten to dig deep into service levels and standards. Seventy years of technically advanced medicine provided free to the population has produced a widespread perception of patients as passive consumers of health care.

This book explores how we may renew for our times the collective compact that created our public services in the 1940s. Voices from service users and service providers show how this can be done. They offer testimony of what goes wrong and what can be put right when working together becomes the norm. Sections explore new ways of living and working with long-term conditions, more meaningful and effective approaches to service redesign, use of information technology, leadership, co-production and creating and accounting for quality. Accessible to a wide range of readers, with short, accessible contributions, this is a book to provoke and inspire.

Developing reflective practice is an invaluable resource, employing a unique 'bottom-up' approach to learning. Vivid examples of social work practice with children and families are presented, providing real life illustrations of the dilemmas and challenges facing practitioners.

Educators and practitioners provide analytic commentaries on course work submitted by social workers studying on a post-qualifying programme, indicating what went well, what didn't go well, and where improvements might have been made.

Implications for policy and practice from the perspective of the middle manager are provided, along with a list of learning points.

Developing reflective practice is essential reading for students (on how to realise practice in a course work context), teachers (on how to assess course work and enhance practice performance), practitioners (on how to approach specific pieces of work) and managers/supervisors (on how to promote best practice), providing standards for both training and practice rooted in the reality of the workplace.

For years the NHS has been the most trusted of public institutions and the envy of many around the world. But today there is turmoil. Painful shortcomings in clinical care and patient experience, together with funding cuts, threaten to dig deep into service levels and standards. Seventy years of technically advanced medicine provided free to the population has produced a widespread perception of patients as passive consumers of health care.

This book explores how we may renew for our times the collective compact that created our public services in the 1940s. Voices from service users and service providers show how this can be done. They offer testimony of what goes wrong and what can be put right when working together becomes the norm. Sections explore new ways of living and working with long-term conditions, more meaningful and effective approaches to service redesign, use of information technology, leadership, co-production and creating and accounting for quality. Accessible to a wide range of readers, with short, accessible contributions, this is a book to provoke and inspire.

In the context of the 'cross-cutting' policy ambitions of the current Labour government, Working together or pulling apart? examines the contribution of the NHS to the multi-agency and inter-professional child protection process. Applying the insights of policy network and inter-organisational analysis, the text:

provides detailed information on the current role played by a range of health professionals within child protection;

investigates the nature and operation of the central policy community and local provider networks;

considers the tensions arising from differences of professional power and knowledge, organisational cultures and agendas, and governance and regulation;

examines the impact of wider socio-political changes on the operation of the child protection process, at both central and local levels.

Working together or pulling apart? will be essential reading for all those working in child protection, at both strategic and frontline levels, within the NHS and other agencies. In addition, it will be of interest to staff and students on undergraduate or postgraduate courses in health, social work, public and social policy.

Personal health budgets are an important new tool to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions and disabilities by giving them greater choice and control over their healthcare.This is the first step-by-step guide to their implementation.

Using current evidence and best practice identified by pilot sites, Delivering personal health budgets contains everything there is to know about the purpose and history of personal health budgets, the evidence for their effectiveness and the challenges they pose to traditional healthcare systems. It describes the essential infrastructure needed for personal health budgets and includes implementation checklists.The book focuses on how personal health budgets can be implemented to achieve the best possible outcomes for individuals, while real life stories from personal health budget holders bring their potential vividly to life.

Delivering personal health budgets is essential reading for commissioners, healthcare providers, clinicians and policy makers who are looking for an informative and authoritative guide.

Personal health budgets are an important new tool to improve the lives of people living with long-term conditions and disabilities by giving them greater choice and control over their healthcare.This is the first step-by-step guide to their implementation.

Using current evidence and best practice identified by pilot sites, Delivering personal health budgets contains everything there is to know about the purpose and history of personal health budgets, the evidence for their effectiveness and the challenges they pose to traditional healthcare systems. It describes the essential infrastructure needed for personal health budgets and includes implementation checklists.The book focuses on how personal health budgets can be implemented to achieve the best possible outcomes for individuals, while real life stories from personal health budget holders bring their potential vividly to life.

Delivering personal health budgets is essential reading for commissioners, healthcare providers, clinicians and policy makers who are looking for an informative and authoritative guide.

How much does the condition of our housing affect our health? This timely new study looks in detail at the impact poor housing has on health, using data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS). It provides important information to inform the current debate on Our Healthier Nation and to strengthen arguments for health, housing and social care agencies to work together.

It focuses on three main areas:

if, and when, housing deprivation impacts on overall health;

the link between overcrowding and respiratory and infectious disease;

housing deprivation and health in the context of other possible influences on health.

The study uses the innovative approach of creating indices for both the severity of ill-health and housing deprivation. These indices are incorporated into an analysis of the impact over time of housing deprivation upon health. The authors conclude that housing plays a significant role in health outcomes and hence provides support for the argument that addressing housing deprivation should be central to thinking about health improvement.

Home Sweet Home? is essential reading for researchers and students in housing, public health, urban renewal, and social policy as well as professionals working in these areas.

The government's NHS Plan emphasises the importance of services based on users' views.

This highly topical report provides practical guidance on how to ensure that older people's views are heard and acted on, and their views monitored, in relation to service quality.

Quality at home for older people:

provides new information on the definition of quality in home care services by service users both under and over 80 years of age;

identifies users' priorities for the first time;

shows the differences and similarities in the perceptions of quality between white and minority ethnic service users;

compares different methods of obtaining service users' views;

 makes recommendations for ways of ensuring that listening to older people's views on quality becomes part of the mainstream process of purchasing and providing quality home care services.

This report will be invaluable for policy makers, home care service managers and providers, and service users and voluntary organisations concerned with ensuring that service users' voices are listened to. It will also be of interest to academics and students on nursing, social care, social work and social policy courses.

Communication and cultural diversity have become key focus areas as the health service engages with goals of health improvement and equity.

This timely and unique book provides a rigorous and challenging review of recent research, with a particular focus on health communication interventions concerning service users who may lack fluency in English. The book shows that meeting the needs of all health service users, including disadvantaged groups, depends on both structures and processes of communication.

This book will prove invaluable to healthcare professionals and medical students, academics, practitioners, service managers and policy makers concerned with improving health services for minority ethnic groups.

Numerous books have been written about Victorian child care pioneers, but few biographical studies have been published about more recent child care and welfare giants. In the revised edition of this classic book, Bob Holman, a champion for children in his own right, looks at the lives of six inspirational individuals who have made significant contributions to the well-being of disadvantaged children. Each of the six discussed - Eleanor Rathbone, Lady Marjory Allen, Clare Winnicott, John Stroud, Barbara Kahan and Peter Townsend - has been important in establishing present systems of child care and welfare, and in stimulating debate around issues which remain high on policy and practitioner agendas.

Champions for children is essential reading for childhood and youth studies, sociology of the family, social work, social welfare, academics and students with an interest in child care and welfare issues.

The NHS and Community Care Act (1990) specifically emphasises the health and social care needs of disabled people from minority ethnic communities, urging local authorities to be culturally sensitive to individual needs. This report examines what a culturally sensitive service looks like from the users' perspective.

The study focuses on three main areas:

Asian disabled people's views of their quality of life;

Asian disabled people's views on services;

service providers' views of the service provision to Asian disabled people.

The report will be of interest to service providers, practitioners and policy makers in the social care field, as well as researchers and students in social science. The report makes important recommendations on promoting a culturally sensitive service that is better for all.

The Acheson Inquiry was the most important government-backed examination into inequalities in health in the past 20 years. However, much of the detailed evidence presented to the Inquiry has not been published - until now.

This book presents 17 chapters of evidence commissioned by the Acheson Inquiry to inform their work. It provides a 'state of the art' review, by leading experts, into aspects of inequalities in health among:

Mothers/families/children

Youth

Adults of working age

Older people

Housing

Social environment

Poverty and income

The NHS

Nutrition

Education

Areas

Ethnicity

Transport/pollution/material environment

Gender

Mental health

Health-related behaviours

Oral health

· 

Inequalities in health: The evidence is important reading for academics in the social and medical sciences, students, medical professionals and people working within the fields of health and community care.

Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series

Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research.

Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available.

For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.

What is true advocacy? How can advocacy be evaluated? Should there be practice standards in advocacy?

As advocacy moves into the mainstream of health and social care provision, and the prospect of a legal right to advocacy inches closer, so the need to scrutinise key values and practices in advocacy becomes urgent. Although advocacy is widely acclaimed as a 'good thing', there is little agreement as to how it should be implemented, funded or evaluated.

A right result?:

reviews the range of third party advocacy provision and practice in the UK;

addresses key issues facing the contemporary advocacy movement, such as the need for independence, developing quality standards and security of funding;

suggests viable ways forward;

moves beyond the partisan tendency to champion one kind of advocacy to offer an inclusive account of different styles.

Through this inclusive approach, the book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the benefits of advocacy.

A right result? is required reading for anyone with an interest in advocacy and the rights of disempowered people, particularly individuals and agencies with a stake in the promotion and development of advocacy services and schemes in the UK.

This study reflects a growing recognition of the contribution that studies of the post-war 'welfare state' can make to contemporary debates about the restructuring of welfare. Drawing on the community care debates from 1971 to 1993, it illuminates contemporary concerns about such key issues as rationing care, the health and social care divide, the changing role of residential care and the growing emphasis on provider competition.

From community care to market care focuses on the interpretation and development of national policy at local authority level in four contrasting local authorities. The results of the study will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the community care provision of older people.

Invisible families:

highlights the inappropriate nature of many services currently available to black young people and their families;

provides a critical analysis of relevant key studies;

utilises a black perspective to explore black young people's experiences: young black people were fully engaged in the research process;

identifies areas of development and good practice in the light of Quality Protects and Best Value initiatives;

celebrates the diversity, resources and strength of black young families.

The report should be read by all professionals working with families affected by disability, as well as caseworkers, health professionals and those working in education. The findings are also relevant to families from other communities.

This study reflects a growing recognition of the contribution that studies of the post-war 'welfare state' can make to contemporary debates about the restructuring of welfare. Drawing on the community care debates from 1971 to 1993, it illuminates contemporary concerns about such key issues as rationing care, the health and social care divide, the changing role of residential care and the growing emphasis on provider competition.

From community care to market care focuses on the interpretation and development of national policy at local authority level in four contrasting local authorities. The results of the study will make a significant contribution to our understanding of the community care provision of older people.

The 1996 Community Care (Direct Payments) Act came into force in 1 April 1997, empowering social services departments to make cash payments to some service users in lieu of direct service provision. Social work and direct payments guides readers through the issues at stake in this fundamental area of practice.

The book summarises and builds on current knowledge and research about direct payments in the UK and considers developments in other European countries. It identifies good practice in the area and explores the implications of direct payments, both for service users and for social work staff.

Drawing on key research, government policies and real-life case studies, the book assists health and social care professionals to work more effectively together in order to improve services for users and carers.

The health and social care divide:

explains why partnerships are important and what helps/hinders partnership working;

reviews the legal and policy framework, providing a chronological overview and placing current initiatives in their historical and social policy context;

summarises existing research findings with regard to key health and social care policy debates;

uses case studies to explore the implications of this research for health and social care practitioners;

provides good practice guidance for both students and front-line practitioners.

Drawing on key research, government policies and real-life case studies, the book assists health and social care professionals to work more effectively together in order to improve services for users and carers.

The health and social care divide:

explains why partnerships are important and what helps/hinders partnership working;

reviews the legal and policy framework, providing a chronological overview and placing current initiatives in their historical and social policy context;

summarises existing research findings with regard to key health and social care policy debates;

uses case studies to explore the implications of this research for health and social care practitioners;

provides good practice guidance for both students and front-line practitioners.

Despite increased awareness of the needs, circumstances and experiences of families with a disabled child, and the acknowledgement of the need to tackle inequalities and barriers to access in recent NHS reforms, there has been little gain in health or improved access to services for minority ethnic groups.

This report presents the findings of the first ever national survey in the UK, in which nearly 600 parents took part, which looked at the needs and circumstances of minority ethnic families caring for a severely disabled child. The quantitative survey was then compared with data on the circumstances and experiences of white families from an earlier survey.

The authors highlight the key implications for services to help parents and their children - reducing social exclusion; meeting language, communication and information needs; and bridging and improving informal and formal support.

On the edge will inform and influence managers and practitioners within health, education, social services and the voluntary sector about the particular needs and circumstances of minority ethnic families who are caring for a severely disabled child. It will also be a key resource for researchers and students in the fields of disability studies, social policy, social work, ethnic relations, health services research and related fields.

This book contends that attempts to reform the NHS can only be understood by reference to both the wider social and political context, and to the organisational and ideational legacies present within the NHS itself. It aims to take students beyond a basic understanding of the historical development of health policy in the UK, to one that demonstrates an appreciation of the interactions between health policy, organisation and society.

Continuity and change in the NHS:

· acts as a crucial bridge between conventional textbooks on the NHS and contemporary health policy research;

· provides a theoretically rigorous but accessible account of the development of policy and organisational change not found elsewhere;

· presents new scholarship in the political economy of welfare in a clear format.

The book is aimed at third year and post-graduate students of politics, public management and health studies. It provides a theoretically inspired account of the development of health policy and organisation in the UK which will also be of interest to academics and researchers in the field.

This topical report explores risk assessment and risk management for people being discharged from psychiatric hospital into the community. It breaks new ground by asking service users about their views on, and experiences of, posing a former or potential risk to other people. The report also includes information about the harm that service users experienced and explores the perspectives of mental health workers, relatives and friends about risks and their management.

The report makes recommendations for improving policy and practice which will be valuable to service users, their relatives and friends, mental health workers, managers and those responsible for mental health policy development and training.

Richard Titmuss was one of the 20th century's foremost social policy theorists. This accessible Reader is the first compendium of his work on public health, health promotion and health inequalities.

Most of Titmuss's work has been out of print for many years. This volume, like its predecessor, Welfare and wellbeing (The Policy Press, 2001), is important in bringing the work of this highly influential thinker to the attention of a new generation of social policy students and policy makers. It also enhances current debates about how complex societies can best provide for the health of all their citizens.

In recent years, tackling health inequalities has become a key policy objective in the UK. However, doubts remain about how best to translate broad policy recommendations into practice. One key area of uncertainty concerns the role of local level initiatives.

This book identifies the key targets for intervention through a detailed exploration of the pathways and processes that give rise to health inequalities across the lifecourse. It sets this against an examination of both local practice and the national policy context, to establish what works in health inequalities policy, how and why. Authoritative yet accessible, the book provides a comprehensive account of theory, policy and practice. It spans the lifecourse from the early years to old age and explores the links between biological, psychological, social, educational and economic factors and a range of health outcomes. In addition it describes key policy initiatives, assesses research evidence of 'what works' and examines the limitations of the existing evidence base and highlights key areas of debate.

What works in tackling health inequalities? is essential reading for academics and students in medical sociology, social psychology, social policy and public health, and for policy makers and practitioners working in public health and social exclusion.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Health literacy addresses a range of social dimensions of health, including knowledge, navigation and communication, as well as individual and organizational skills for accessing, understanding, evaluating and using information. Particularly over the past decade, health literacy has globally become a major public health concern as an asset for promoting health, wellbeing and sustainable development.

This comprehensive handbook provides an invaluable overview of current international thinking about health literacy, highlighting cutting edge research, policy and practice in the field. With a diverse team of contributors, the book addresses health literacy across the life-span and offers insights from different populations and settings. Providing a wide range of major findings, the book outlines current discourse in the field and examines necessary future dialogues and new perspectives.

Self-organised user groups of social and health care services are playing an increasingly significant part within systems of local governance.

Based on detailed empirical work looking at the user and 'official' perspective, this report includes studies of user groups and officials in two policy areas - mental health and disability. The authors examine both the strategies user groups adopt to seek their objectives, and explore conceptual issues relating to notions of consumerism and citizenship. Unequal partners thus contributes to our understanding of the role of user self-organisation in empowering people as consumers, and in enabling excluded people to become 'active' citizens.

The authors discuss the way in which self-organisation may be supported without being controlled by officials in statutory agencies, highlighting the need to understand and distinguish between user self-organisation and user involvement.

The report concludes that if policy makers are genuinely committed to greater user involvement in design, planning and delivery of services, then user self-organisation needs to be both encouraged and supported materially, without being 'captured' or incorporated into management. The research points to the significance of 'user groups' in challenging the exclusion of disabled citizens from all aspects of social, economic, political and cultural life.

Unequal partners is essential reading for health and social care policy makers and practitioners, lobby and pressure groups, students and academics in health and social policy and local government studies, and users.

The publication of the Inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence emphasised the institutionally racist nature of British society. Public bodies and welfare institutions are having to face the consequences of racism within their organisations. This task should draw on the earlier experience of the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work's (CCETSW) anti-racist agenda, whose initiative came under attack from government ministers, media commentators and sections of the social work profession.

This book describes and analyses the development of anti-racist social work education and training and moves on to a broader debate:

it critically assesses the concept of 'race', the historical development and maintenance of racism in contemporary British society, exploring 'race-related' legislation and its theoretical underpinnings;

it offers an historical exploration of the role of social work and its relationship with, and response to, the needs of deprived and marginalised communities;

it provides an assessment of the backlash against CCETSW's anti-racist developments from politicians, the media and sections of the social work profession, incorporating a debate regarding charges of political correctness.

Issues such as 'political correctness' and 'identity politics' are critically explored, and the implications of these political processes on the anti-racist policy agenda are assessed. The analysis reflects on both the possibilities and limitations placed on establishing anti-racist policies.

Tackling institutional racism will be of particular interest to Diploma in Social Work students, social work practitioners and academics, social policy undergraduates and postgraduates. It should also be read by professionals at different levels in the policy-making process, particularly those working directly with, acting on behalf of, or pursuing, the interests of the black community. 

This book contends that attempts to reform the NHS can only be understood by reference to both the wider social and political context, and to the organisational and ideational legacies present within the NHS itself. It aims to take students beyond a basic understanding of the historical development of health policy in the UK, to one that demonstrates an appreciation of the interactions between health policy, organisation and society.

Continuity and change in the NHS:

· acts as a crucial bridge between conventional textbooks on the NHS and contemporary health policy research;

· provides a theoretically rigorous but accessible account of the development of policy and organisational change not found elsewhere;

· presents new scholarship in the political economy of welfare in a clear format.

The book is aimed at third year and post-graduate students of politics, public management and health studies. It provides a theoretically inspired account of the development of health policy and organisation in the UK which will also be of interest to academics and researchers in the field.

Where people live matters to their health. Health improvement strategies often target where people live, but do they work? Placing health tackles this question through an examination of England's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy and its health targets. It evaluates the evidence base for the strategy, compares experiences from the United States and elsewhere in Europe, and illustrates the relevance of complexity theory to area-based health improvement work.

The book brings together these topical issues with a social science analysis of current programmes based on the methods and concepts of complexity thinking. It concludes by setting out how local action based on these ideas offers a new approach to area-based health improvement work.

Placing health is aimed at researchers, academics and students in the social and health sciences with an interest in area-based health improvement work, as well as practitioners in health services, local government and voluntary agencies working on neighbourhood renewal and health projects.

Relentlessly, the wide health gap between different groups of people living in Britain continues to get even wider. This book presents new evidence (which was not available to the government's Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health) on the size of the gap, and the extent to which the gap is widening. In particular, new geographical data are presented and displayed in striking graphical form.

It challenges whether the government is concerned enough about reducing inequalities and highlights the living conditions of the million people living in the least healthy areas in Britain. It presents explanations for the widening health gap, and addresses the implications of this major social problem. In the light of this evidence the authors put forward social policies which will reduce the health gap in the future.

The widening gap synthesises all the information available to date and should be read alongside the report of the evidence presented to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (Inequalities in health, The Policy Press, 1999) and by all those concerned with reducing health inequalities.

Studies in poverty, inequality and social exclusion series

Series Editor: David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research.

Poverty, inequality and social exclusion remain the most fundamental problems that humanity faces in the 21st century. This exciting series, published in association with the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at the University of Bristol, aims to make cutting-edge poverty related research more widely available.

For other titles in this series, please follow the series link from the main catalogue page.