Healthcare regulations should guarantee that everybody has access to appropriate healthcare. The main goals for healthcare are: Equal access to health care for everyone; Cost-efficient production of health services and Cost-control of public expenditure for medical services. Especially cost-control seems to be a global problem. One of the key issues in the debate on how to improve healthcare is rationing. It is an important challenge to understand the various methods of rationing in medical care, to analyse the effects of rationing and the ways to harmonize the various rationing cultures in Europe. This publication gives a comprehensive overview of the perception of different population groups in an international context and it shows how the different population and occupational groups estimate the possibilities, forms and also limits rationing in the near future. Patients who are affected by rationing decisions could ask for treatment in foreign European countries. In order to limit social inequities caused by capacity problems in less rationed countries it is important in a first step to demonstrate the differences in rationing procedures between European countries.

This book describes the evolution of epidemiology, its methods, concepts and application over the last 100 years. Current and future epidemiologists will find this book a useful and insightful record of the events that have shaped this discipline.

This volume provides a comparative European overview focusing upon the main areas of social construction as it relates to health and illness. This includes an emphasis upon lay beliefs and the different way understandings of health can impact upon health behaviour. The contributors also examine health knowledge and the interaction and comparison between lay and professional knowledge systems. The book will be of particular interest to those studying, researching and working in the fields of health and the sociology of health and the body.

Significant numbers of men and women take little exercise in the course of their occupation. The computer keyboard, the rise of private transport, the world by television, household 'labour saving' devices mean that with the minimal of physical effort people work and play. This book focuses on exercise and women's health.

Winner of the 2011 Ursula Gielen Global Psychology Book Award! This award is presented by APA Division 52 to the authors or editors of a book that makes the greatest contribution to psychology as an international discipline and profession. This international volume offers new perspectives on social and psychological aspects of depression. The twenty-one contributors hailing from thirteen countries represent contexts with very different histories, political and economic structures, and gender role disparities. Authors rely on Silencing the Self theory, which details the negative psychological effects that result when individuals silence themselves in close relationships, and the importance of social context in precipitating depression. Specific patterns of thought on how to achieve closeness in relationships (self-silencing schema) are known to predict depression. This book breaks new ground by demonstrating that the link between depressive symptoms and self-silencing occurs across a range of cultures. Silencing the Self Across Cultures explains why women's depression is more widespread than men's, and why the treatment of depression lies in understanding that a person's individual psychology is inextricably related to the social world and close relationships. Several chapters describe the transformative possibilities of community-driven movements for disadvantaged women that support healing through a recovery of voice, as well as the need to counter violations of human rights as a means of reducing women's risk of depression. Bringing the work of these researchers together in one collection furthers international dialogue about critical social factors that affect the rising rates of depression around the globe.

Role Emerging Occupational Therapy: Maximising Occupation Focused Practice is written for an audience of occupational therapy practitioners, educators and students. This text offers an exploration of emerging innovative directions for the profession of occupational therapy with a focus upon the theory and application of role emerging placements. The book affords the reader an opportunity to explore how occupation focused practice can be applied to a wide variety of settings and circumstances in order to improve the health and well-being of a diverse range of people. Chapters cover relevant theory as well as offering practical guidance with examples drawn from the experiences of university educators, occupational therapists, setting/service providers and students. The book describes, explores and discusses both the potential and ramifications of role emerging practice on the occupational therapy profession and offers a vision for the future of the profession that reflects current occupational, social and health needs.

The psychological concept of burnout refers to long-term exhaustion from, and diminished interest in, the work we do. It’s a phenomenon that most of us have some understanding of, even if we haven’t always been affected directly. Many people start their working lives full of energy and enthusiasm, but far fewer are able to maintain that level of engagement. Burnout at Work: A Psychological Perspective provides a comprehensive overview of how the concept of burnout has been conceived over recent decades, as well as discussing the challenges and possible interventions that can help confront this pervasive issue. Including contributions from the most eminent researchers in this field, the book examines a range of topics including: The links between burnout and health How our individual relationships at work can affect levels of burnout The role of leadership in mediating or causing burnout The strategies that individuals can pursue to avoid burnout, as well as wider interventions. The book will be required reading for anyone studying organizational or occupational psychology, and will also interest students of business and management, and health psychology.