Focusing on health and social care, this book shows how important the body can be to a range of issues such as disability, old age, sexuality, consumption, food and public space. Twigg illustrates how constructions of the body affect how we see different social groups and explores the significance of it in the provision and delivery of care.

The first book to fully explore the multiple ways in which body work features in health and social care and the meanings of this work both for those employed to do it and those on whose bodies they work. Explores the commonalities between different sectors of work, including those outside health and social care Contributions come from an international range of experts Draws on perspectives from across the medical, therapeutic, and care fields Incorporates a variety of methodological approaches, from life history analysis to ethnographic studies and first person accounts

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Focusing on health and social care, this book shows how important the body can be to a range of issues such as disability, old age, sexuality, consumption, food and public space. Twigg illustrates how constructions of the body affect how we see different social groups and explores the significance of it in the provision and delivery of care.

For undergraduate courses in Sociology of Health and Illness, Medical Sociology, Medical Anthropology, Urban Studies, Social Medicine, and Nursing, this text presents a critical, holistic interpretation of health, illness, and human bodies that emphasizes power as a key social-structural factor in health and in societal responses to illness.

The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.

This student textbook matches the mandatory units and key skills of the GNVQ in Health and Social Care qualification, advanced level. This revised edition contains information on key areas. Chapters and sub-chapters match the headings in the AVCE specifications, to ensure students find their way easily through the book. Every chapter contains case studies about real organizations, so that students can see how the theory they are learning is used every day in the real world.