Health Policy

This important new textbook provides comparative and critical analysis of health care policy from high-income countries in Europe to low-income developing countries in the Global South. It integrates conceptual themes drawn from the fields of sociology, policy analysis, and political science to offer a unique combination of theory, historical background, and wider social commentary. The book is divided into three sections: - Section I establishes the conceptual basis for the analysis of the health policymaking process, including implementation. - Section II provides an introduction to the key elements of conducting a comparative health system's analysis, including chapters that provide examples of performance analysis in both high- and low-income developing countries. - Section III examines key challenges now facing health policy-makers that include long-term social care provision, widening the scope of public health to address social inequalities in health outcome, the integration of genomic medicine within a health care system, and the establishment of an effective national pharmaceutical policy. Each chapter includes case studies, historical-institutional contexts, and summaries of key health policies. Detailed and clearly written, it is the ideal text for health and social science students in this expanding area of analysis.

Iain Crinson has been teaching, researching, and publishing in the field of the sociology of health and health policy for over three decades. For much of this time, he has been based at St Georges, University of London.

0.General Introduction. Section One.Conceptualising and Contextualising Health Policy. 1.Globalisation and the Changing Role of the State. 2.The Process of Public Policy-Making. 3.The Governance of Health Care Systems. 4 .Financing and Funding of Health Care Systems. Section Two.Conceiving & Comparing Health Care Systems. 5.Comparing Health Systems Outcomes. 6.Ghana and Kenya: A Comparative Analysis of Health Systems in Low Income Developing Countries. 7.Germany and the U.K: A Comparative Analysis of Health Systems in High Income Countries. Section Three.Future Challenges for Health Policy and Health Systems. 8.The Challenge of Integrating Health and Long-Term Care Provision. 9.The Challenge of Widening the Scope of Public Health Policy. 10.The Challenge of Constructing a Pharmaceutical Policy. 11.Conclusion: Brief Reflections on the Study of Health Policy.