Society, Culture and Health, 2nd Edition introduces sociology to students studying nursing, providing framework from which to consider issues such as chronic illness and disability, health in the media, and changing illness patterns in Australian society.

This book traces the history of formative, enduring concepts, foundational in the development of the health disciplines. It explores existing literature, and subsequent contested applications. Feminist legacies are discussed with a clear message that early sociological and anthropological theories and debates remain valuable to scholars today. Chapters cover historical events and cultural practices from the standpoint of ‘difference’; formulate theories about the emergence of social issues and problems and discuss health and illness in light of cultural values and practices, social conditions, embodiment and emotions. This collection will be of great value to scholars of biomedicine, health and gender.

Many serious public health problems confront the world in the new millennium. Anthropology and Public Health examines the critical role of anthropology in four crucial public health domains: (1) anthropological understandings of public health problems such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes; (2) anthropological design of public health interventions in areas such as tobacco control and elder care; (3) anthropological evaluations of public health initiatives such as Safe Motherhood and polio eradication; and (4) anthropological critiques of public health policies, including neoliberal health care reforms. As the volume demonstrates, anthropologists provide crucial understandings of public health problems from the perspectives of the populations in which the problems occur. On the basis of such understandings, anthropologists may develop and implement interventions to address particular public health problems, often working in collaboration with local participants. Anthropologists also work as evaluators, examining the activities of public health institutions and the successes and failures of public health programs. Anthropological critiques may focus on major international public health agencies and their workings, as well as public health responses to the threats of infectious disease and other disasters. Through twenty-four compelling case studies from around the world, the volume provides a powerful argument for the imperative of anthropological perspectives, methods, information, and collaboration in the understanding and practice of public health. Written in plain English, with significant attention to anthropological methodology, the book should be required reading for public health practitioners, medical anthropologists, and health policy makers. It should also be of interest to those in the behavioral and allied health sciences, as well as programs of public health administration, planning, and management. As the single most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of anthropology's role in public health, this volume will inform debates about how to solve the world's most pressing public health problems at a critical moment in human history.

Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals, Second edition discusses the fundamentals of medical anthropology. The book is comprised of 12 chapters that present both the theoretical framework and case histories relevant to the topic. The coverage of the text includes the relationship of culture to various health related concepts, such as pain, pharmacology, stress, and epidemiology. The book also discusses the doctor-patient relation, the various sectors of health care, and the scope of medical anthropology. The text will be of great use to professionals in health related fields. Researchers and practitioners of anthropology, sociology, and psychology will also benefit from this book.

Lupton′s newest edition of Medicine as Culture is more relevant than ever. Trudy Rudge, Professor of Nursing, University of Sydney A welcome update of a text that has become a mainstay of the medical sociologist′s library. Alan Radley, Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology, Loughborough University Medicine as Culture introduces students to a broad range of cross-disciplinary theoretical perspectives, using examples that emphasize bodies and visual images. Lupton′s core contrast between lay perspectives on illness and medical power is a useful beginning point for courses teaching health and illness from a socio-cultural perspective. Arthur Frank, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary Medicine as Culture is unlike any other sociological text on health and medicine. It combines perspectives drawn from a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, social history, cultural geography, and media and cultural studies. The book explores the ways in which medicine and health care are sociocultural constructions, ranging from popular media and elite cultural representations of illness to the power dynamics of the doctor-patient relationship. The Third Edition has been updated to cover new areas of interest, including: - studies of space and place in relation to the body - actor-network theory as it is applied in research related to medicine - The internet and social media and how they contribute to lay health knowledge and patient support - complementary and alternative medicine - obesity and fat politics. Contextualising introductions and discussion points in every chapter makes Medicine as Culture, Third Edition a rigorous yet accessible text for students. Deborah Lupton is an independent sociologist and Honorary Associate in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney.

Culture, Health and Illness: An Introduction for Health Professionals covers basic ideas and research in medical anthropology. The book starts by discussing the scope of medical anthropology and the cultural definitions of anatomy and physiology, including the body structure and its functions. The text describes the clinical significance of food in diet and nutrition, social and cultural aspects of medical pluralism and health care. Doctor-patient interactions; social, psychological and cultural factors associated with pain; and non-pharmacological influences of medication, in relation to placebos, psychotropic and narcotic drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are also considered. The book then covers the type of rituals that relate to health and illness and the management of misfortune. The text also encompasses transcultural psychiatry, the cultural aspects of stress, and cultural factors in epidemiology. The selection is useful to health professions (doctors, nurses, midwives, health visitors, medical social workers, and nutritionists); those involved in health education or foreign medical aid; undergraduate students taking up these disciplines; and those studying anthropology or sociology.

Anthropologists also work as evaluators, examining the activities of public health institutions and the successes and failures of public health programs.