Applying Health Social Science. Best Practice in the Developing World

291 s, İngilizce.

Health social science is an area of research and practice that has evolved rapidly since the late 1980s. As this volume shows, it has grown out of a desire to forge partnerships across the social science and health fields in order to advance the relevance of social science to health and to increase equity in health and health care. Health social science is essentially transdisciplinary in its perspective, seeking to synthesise diverse fields of knowledge in pursuit of understanding and solving complex health problems. This volume presents ten case studies which exemplify some of the best practice in health social science in developing countries. The action research studies are drawn from Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific. Each addresses the critical question of how social/behavioural science approaches can make a difference in improving significant health problems. These problems range across such diverse issues as AIDS, people's reliance on traditional healers, their use of both indigenous and modern types of medicine, STDs, smoking, heart disease, and pyschological stress. The cases were selected by an international panel of judges drawn from the International Forum for Social Science and Health. The initial and concluding chapters, written by the editors, provide an overview of the evolving role of health social science research in addressing human health problems. They examine some of the most promising health social perspectives illustrated by the case studies -- in particular, those around the knowledge-behaviour gap, transdisciplinary research, and community participation. The editors also reflect on future challenges and potential groundbreaking innovations in health social science research. This book will be a valuable resource for policymakers, planners and foundations supporting international health development, as well as scholars and public health practitioners.