Health Systems & Services books

Volume 19 in the "Research in Political Sociology" series is devoted to health problems, challenges and accomplishments in democratic societies. It includes papers addressing health systems, health policies, obstacles to societal healthy behaviors, and/or health conditions that are experienced in democratic societies in the world. The democratic society is understood in a broadly defined term. It includes developed Western democracies, as well as less developed or underdeveloped countries that have democratic system. According to such definition, the category "democracies" includes democratic countries that have well established democratic system and respect broad network of people rights, as well as democracies that are formally consider democratic states but de facto respect only a few rights or their governments are guided by limited democratic principles. Therefore, the collection of the 19th volume of "Research in Political Sociology" includes papers addressing these issues in a broad spectrum of countries from India, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, to Sweden, Canada and the United States.

This volume examines the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes, and the role of schools in promoting health literacy through the curriculum. The volume utilizes research, literature reviews and case studies that examine how education can support health literacy development as a vital 21st century citizenship competency. The volume specifically describes the concept of health literacy, and its crucial importance to individuals and society worldwide. It examines the role of the school in fostering health literate youth and what schools can do to provide youth with the tools to become health literate citizens. Including comments from leaders in the field as well as relevant research, and directives for practice, this volume will be of value to those interested in maximising the opportunities of youth and for conceptualising how small changes implemented in the school and across curricula over the course of the formative education period are strongly recommended. The volume aims to stress the importance of the relationship between literacy and health, health literacy and academic achievement, and health literacy and overall individual and societal well-being and citizenship. How health literacy impacts us all, as well as how the school as an educational venue can help to produce health literate citizens is specifically discussed.

This volume focuses on differences in health and health care as linked to important social factors. The first section reviews basic material on the topic. The second section on racial and ethnic factors in differences in health and health care is the largest section of the book, and includes six articles looking at racial disparities on a variety of topics such as: knowledge of hepatitis C Virus; health services received and patients' experiences in seeking health care; use of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) services; and, the role of social capital in class and race health disparities in health information seeking behaviour. Further sections include articles focused on geographic and community factors, gender and age, gender and language, and lifecourse issues such as maternal depression and hospice care. "Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Volume 28" is essential reading for medical sociologists and people working in other social science disciplines studying health-related issues. It provides vital information for health services researchers, policy analysts and public health researchers.

Low- and middle-income countries face major challenges to their health systems. These include a high burden of communicable disease and an emerging non-communicable disease burden. Coverage of effective services and interventions is inadequate and often constrained by funding availability. At the same time, the international financing environment is changing rapidly, with new funding streams becoming available in part as a response to the challenges of meeting the Millennium Development Goals. These countries have taken a diversity of approaches to health care financing policies and programs to face the old and emerging challenges. This is increasingly accompanied by conceptual and applied research which is contributing to our understanding of how different financing mechanisms can contribute to the overall objectives of a health care system. The goal of this volume is to assemble the best of this research and synthesize 'best practices' for the benefit of researchers, policy makers and high level administrators, dealing with all elements of health care financing and focusing on both middle- and low-income settings, to represent the experiences of all regions of the developing world.

The purpose of the series "Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research" is to consider all topics in health economics and the related field of health services research. Each volume is devoted to a specific topic. Most volumes consist of between ten and twelve papers, but a few may take the form of monographs by one or more authors. All areas in the field are covered including the production of and demand for health; the demand for medical care services; the financing of these services; the markets for physicians, nurses, dentists, hospitals, and drugs; the economics of substance use; health in developing countries; and, the economics of medical technology. The series is a forum for theoretical and empirical research. The latter employ data both for developing and developed countries. While most studies focus on economic issues, contributions from other social scientists are welcomed.

Research in the Sociology of Health Care covers health, health care services, and sociological concerns. Each volume addresses an issue of importance in both the US health care system and health care systems across the world.  Previously covered topics include: Research on social inequalities  Social disparities  Chronic diseases  Population health  Research on access, quality and utilization of health care services  Theoretical, qualitative and quantitative papers deal with complex understandings of macro system issues in the following areas: The impact of the patient and individual factors on health and health care  The impact of the provider and interaction between providers and patients  Gender, race and poverty as sources of inequality in modern societies Articles vary greatly in their coverage, with some focusing on the US as a whole, and others on specific sections of the US or subgroups within the population such as African American women or the elderly. Other articles focus on issues from an international or comparative perspective.   Each volume includes information that is essential reading for medical sociologists and people working in other social science disciplines studying health-related issues. The volume also provides vital information for health services researchers, policy analysts and public health researchers.

Medical technology broadly defined to include all aspects of the process of treating disease (e.g., pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and surgical procedures) is profoundly important for individual health and, consequently, also for general welfare. Advances in medical technology convey the prospect of both improved population health and increased general welfare. However, because of the extensive regulation of the markets for healthcare goods and services, the development and application of medical technologies differs fundamentally from non-medical technological advances. In this volume of the "Advances in Health Economics and Health Services Research" series we present several papers that provide theoretical and empirical evidence about the market for medical technology.