Health care policy in contemporary America

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Paul Weindling

This is a collection of original studies on the new international health and welfare organisations between the First and the Second World Wars. The diversity of such organisations and their many-sided activities make this a rich and complex area of historical investigation which has direct relevance to current issues in international health. Multilateral organisations such as the League of Nations and a variety of types of non-governmental organisations are discussed. The role of scientific and professional factors, as well as the priorities of women's employment, eugenics and pronatalism are also considered. Together, the various chapters present a cohesive and integrated view of a hitherto neglected area of study. The book also complements comparative studies of welfare states by emphasising the importance of international interactions between expert groups in a broader political and social context.

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John P. Geyman

"This pragmatic, objective approach to the complex issues surrounding the U.S. health care system successfully bridges the world of health economists/health analysts/policy makers with that of clinicians. Focusing on the main problems-escalating costs, limitations of access, and a wide variety of quallity care-this unique book helps you better understand the rapidly changing and complex world of health care"--Back cover.

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Jeff Kane, MD

Not long ago, "bedside manner" was a physician's most potent medicine. Now that skill has dwindled to bland, generic amiability, and has been all but lost behind today's compelling healthcare technology. The bedside manner's shrinkage would be tolerable if medical high tech could cure everything, but these amazing tools are alarmingly cost-ineffective in treating most patients--those who suffer from chronic, incurable illnesses and the effects of detrimental lifestyles. Paying far too much for too little return, Americans are understandably demanding healthcare reform, which we're told lies in rearranging national finances. But beyond financial adjustment, authentic reform will have to come from reinstating ancient, intimate healing relationships between patient and doctor. Healing the Heart of Healthcare describes how we arrived at this sorry impasse and where we need to go with a system that is as damaging to its doctors as it is to patients. Dr. Jeff Kane pinpoints and examines America's love affair with medical technology, insistence on evading death at any cost, and practice of enabling unhealthy lifestyles. At its heart, Healing the Heart of Healthcare shows that healing can begin only once doctors see patients clearly as individuals, and that through intimate contact, suffering can be productively treated.

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Kevin Dew

"In contemporary manifestations of public health rituals and events, people are being increasingly united around what they hold in common--their material being and humanity. As a cult of humanity, public health provides a moral force in society that replaces 'traditional' religions in times of great diversity or heterogeneity of peoples, activities and desires. This is in contrast to public health's foundation in science, particularly the science of epidemiology. The rigid rules of 'scientific evidence' used to determine the cause of illness and disease can work against the most vulnerable in society by putting sectors of the population, such as underrepresented workers, at a disadvantage. This study focuses on this tension between traditional science and the changing vision articulated within public health (and across many disciplines) that calls for a collective response to uncontrolled capitalism and unremitting globalization, and to the way in which health inequalities and their association with social inequalities provides a political rhetoric that calls for a new redistributive social programme. Drawing on decades of research, the author argues that public health is both a cult and a science of contemporary society."--pub. desc.