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| About the book |
No single discipline can provide a full account of how and why health care is the way it is. This book provides you with a series of conceptual frameworks which help to unravel the apparent complexity that confronts the inexperienced observer. It demonstrates the need for contributions from medicine, sociology, economics, history and epidemiology. It also shows the necessity to consider health care at three key levels: individual patients and their experiences; health care organisations such as health centres and hospitals; and regional and national institutions such as governments and health insurance bodies. The book examines:
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| Table of contents |
Overview of the book Section 1: Introduction A systems approach to health services Challenges facing health services Formal and lay care Section 2: Inputs to health care Diseases and medical knowledge Medical paradigms Staff: the challenge of professionalism Funding health care Section 3: Processes of health care The need and demand for health care The relationship between need and use Staff'patient interactions Public as consumers and policy makers Section 4: Outcome of health care Outcomes Section 5: Organization of services Analysing health systems Why are health systems the way they are? Low and middle income countries: from colonial inheritance to primary care Low and middle income countries: from comprehensive primary care to global initiatives Health services in high income countries Section 6: Quality improvement De'ning good quality health services Performance assessment Improving quality of care Glossary Index |
