Summary
Contents
Subject index
This is the first international and inter-disciplinary social science Handbook on health and medicine. Five years in the making, and building on the insights and advice of an international editorial board, the book brings together world-class figures to provide an indispensable, comprehensive resource book on social science, health and medicine. Pinpointing the focal issues of research and debate in one volume, the material is organized into three sections: social and cultural frameworks of analysis; the experience of health and illness; and health care systems and practices. Each section consists of specially commissioned chapters designed to examine the vital conceptual and methodological practice and policy issues.
Experiencing Chronic Illness
Experiencing Chronic Illness
Introduction
Social scientific research on experiencing chronic illness focuses directly on pivotal players in health care – people who are sick. Health researchers, practitioners, and policy makers may claim to represent patients' concerns. However, they seldom obtain systematic ‘in-depth’ views of patients' experience of health care, much less of what it means to live with continued illness. The research on experiencing chronic illness emphasizes how people come to view themselves as chronically ill, and how illness affects their lives. Hence, this literature provides a significant corrective to knowledge about health and illness: it delineates patients' perspectives instead of practitioners' views that dominate both the institution of medicine and social scientific research (Mishler 1994). Understanding patients' perspectives brings fresh insights to three ...
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