Medical sociology

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book is a vital review of the impact of austerity on the wellbeing of the UK. Case studies from Stockton-on-Tees, home to some of the starkest health divides, are combined with a review of the repercussions of budget cuts and welfare reforms to show the vast inequalities in health in the UK today.

Based on ethnographic research conducted over a year, this book tells the story of twelve people, each living with illness. Focusing on everyday life, it explores ideas of care, vulnerability and choice. Juxtaposing text with illustrations, the book highlights the intimacies of visual sociology and demonstrates the value of sensuous scholarship.

This edited collection brings together international academics, policy makers and practitioners to examine the social and cultural contexts of breastfeeding and looks at how policy and practice can apply this to women’s experiences.

Bringing together leading academics worldwide, this collection compares and critically examines the ways in which different countries are regulating healthcare in general, and health professions in particular, in the interest of users and the wider public.

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive perspective on health and sickness among African Americans. It shows how living in a highly racialized society affects health through multiple social contexts, including neighborhoods, personal and family relationships, and the medical system.

Clare Bambra examines the social, environmental, economic and political causes of health inequalities, how they have evolved over time and what they are like today. Revealing gaps in life expectancy of up to 25 years between places just a few miles apart, this important book demonstrates that where you live can kill you.

This topical and authoritative book examines how the regulation of doctors has been modernised by the introduction of the quality assurance process medical revalidation. In doing so, it questions if there indeed is evidence to support the argument that revalidation serves the public interest by ensuring individual doctors are fit to practice.