Citizens and Health Care

Citizens and Health Care: Participation and Planning for Social Change considers the citizen participation in health care planning. This book is organized into three parts encompassing 18 chapters that specifically discuss the leading policy problems, planning issues, and prospects for change of public health care.

The first part deals first with the analysis of the imbalanced political arenas in which planning and participation operate. This part then explains the role of consumer participation on health planning boards in effective participation. This part also describes alternative health movements that have arisen in response to perceived social shortcomings. These movements, including holistic health care, self-care, and prevention, tend to oppose the disease orientation of scientific medicine, emphasize continuous care, make use of nonphysician practitioners, and have a serious commitment to changing life-styles.

The second part describes health planning agencies that have employed innovative methods of citizen participation and the case of a health planning agency that uses community organization to ensure participation and build constituencies to overcome resistance and implement plans. This part also examines political strategies for health planning agencies. The third part introduces the so-called "public health movement", which grows from recognition of the environmental, occupational, and social causes of illness. This part also looks into the expansion of vision of social change beyond existing health policy and planning, as well as the unrealistic expectations and irreconcilable alternatives between imperfections of the bureaucracy and imperfections of the marketplace.

This book is of great value to health care workers and planners and the general public.

Contenu

Preface
Chapter 1 Citizens And Health Care In Perspective: An Introduction
Part I - Problems And Issues
2 Representing Consumer Interests: The Case Of American Health Planning
3 Participation Is Not Enough
4 Urban Hospital Closings: Solution Or Signal?
5 Alternative Health Movements: Challenges To Health Planning
Part II - Planning For Change
Chapter 6 Toward Democratic Health Planning: Political Power, Agenda-Setting, And Planning Practice
7 Innovative Citizen Participation In Health Planning Agencies
8 Community Organization Approach To Health Planning
9 Political Strategies For Health Planning Agencies
10 Technical Assistance And Consultation For Consumers
11 An Educational Approach To Health Planning
12 The Consumer Health Advocacy Training Project
13 Citizen Action In Health Planning
14 Health Costs, Consumer Constituencies, And Community Change
Part III - Future Prospects
15 Can Competition Serve Consumers?
16 Planning And Organizing For A New Public Health Movement
Chapter 17 Health Planning And Social Change: Critique And Alternatives
18 Reflections On The American Health Care Condition
Index
About The Contributors