Health, Relationships and Personal development Books

Book SynopsisAchieve the relief you need All of us deal with stress in our daily lives, but the good news is that we can actually do something about it. This book of easy-to-follow tips gives you the tools and techniques you need to understand what’s stressing you and reshape the way you respond. Find out how to: Handle the pressures of your workplace Bring greater balance to your home life Fine-tune your diet to increase your resilience Boost your well-being through exercise Feel calmer by using relaxation techniques

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Book SynopsisDo you feel stressed? Does your anxiety get in the way of life? Are you ready for change? It's time to transform yourself from a worrier to a warrior! This no-nonsense guide will help you explore what is actually causing you stress and reprogramme your brain to cope positively and rationally with what life throws at you. Packed with easy-to-follow advice, useful tips and empowering statements, this essential stress-busting toolkit will help you master your own thoughts and confidently give stress the middle finger.

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Book SynopsisPhotography is ubiquitous. The visual image is the predominant form of communication. Arguably it is a very democratic medium, since billions of people all over the planet take photographs on their phones, and digital storage means that expensive printing is not necessary and therefore the practice is not prohibitive. Photography is important to political and social movements and connects people in emotionally meaningful relationships. This book explores the myriad ways in which photographs can be used: to document events, places or things; to consolidate personal identity; to pose a challenge to an idea or regime; to animate the inanimate (in other words, to breathe life into objects); to capture the fleeting and transitory; to create stories; to reveal what may be taken for granted, including seeing social practices; to enhance our perception and allow us to notice previously unnoticed details; to consolidate relationships; to represent the overlooked or marginalised; to commemorate; to authenticate; to tantalise. All these modes of photography have different possibilities, different intentions and different effects.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. A Brief Summary of the History & Development of Photography Chapter 3. How Are Photographs Distinctive? Chapter 4. Photographic Practice for Health & Wellbeing Chapter 5. Photography in Research (Summary of Photographic Research Methods;Photo-documentation, Photo-elicitation; Semiotic Analysis; Content Analysis) Chapter 6. An Introduction to Re-enactment Phototherapy Chapter 7. Therapeutic Photography Chapter 8. Suggestions for Further Reading

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Book SynopsisThe Medellin Wellness Protocol shows you how to prevent and eliminate adverse health symptoms and even eradicate or reverse disease. From the average person looking to live a longer, healthier life to those facing chronic conditions, Busch s Medellin Protocol contains vital information for everyone looking to improve their health, increase their longevity, and look and feel their best. The book confronts many mainstream myths and widely held beliefs about human health that are incredibly outdated or simply not true.  The Medellin Wellness Protocol dives deep into Five Fundamental Factors to combat the misinformation in modern healthcare with a comprehensive yet fully accessible approach. By following the Medellin Protocol, you will create the conditions needed in the human body to regain or retain ultimate health and wellbeing.

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Book SynopsisCan reading literature really help our mental health? This book shows how and why - not by instruction or prescription but by emotion and exploration. Offering case histories of individual readers and reading groups based on the work of The Reader, a charity dedicated to bringing serious literature to neglected communities, the authors showcase how a whole new demographic might get into reading, and in doing so unlock the emotional intelligence and benefits to health and wellbeing which come from our access to written human stories and imagined situations.Trade Review'I read Reading:Arts for Health with deep interest and pleasure, as will anyone who believes in sustaining a culture which recognises the indispensability of serious reading. There is no piety or nostalgia or wishful thinking in the authors' analysis. They provide expert practical advice as to how to engage, transformationally, new readers in situations that others might regard as irretrievably disadvantaged. The combination of passion and practicality in this book will appeal both to the general reader and to the professional.' -- Rt Hon Lord Alan Howarth of Newport, founder and Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and WellbeingTable of ContentsChapter 1. Why Reading? Chapter 2. What Helps? Chapter 3. Who Can Benefit? Chapter 4. How to Engage with Reading? Chapter 5. What Can Professionals Do to Help? Chapter 6. What are the Challenges and How to Overcome Them Chapter 7. Useful Links and Further Reading

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Book SynopsisOur world is inundated by film. Our best stories are told on movie screens, on televisions, on smartphones and laptops. Film argues that on-screen storytelling is the most ubiquitous format for art to intersect with health and well-being, offering a way for us to appreciate, understand and even celebrate the most nuanced and complex notions of what it means to be healthy through the stories that we watch unfolding. Clinicians use film to better understand their patients, and individuals use film to better understand themselves and each other. Using case histories and based on academic research from a range of disciplines, this book explores how film can be used by clinicians and healthcare practitioners to better understand patients; by individuals to better understand themselves and others; and – perhaps most important of all – by societies as a tool in the fight against the stigma of illness. This book not only makes the case that film keeps us healthy, but also tells us how. After all, nothing quite moves us like the movies.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Film? Chapter 1. Depictions of Illness in Modern Cinema and Television; Chapter 2. Vignettes Describing the Therapeutic Utility of On-Screen Entertainment; Chapter 3. Health Benefits of Community Engagement in Film; Chapter 4. Health Benefits of Individual Engagement with Film; Chapter 5. Techniques for Health Care Professionals to Utilize Film; Chapter 6. Solutions to the Lack of Access to Film; Chapter 7. The Potential for Cinema to Unexpectedly Reduce the Stigma of Illness; Chapter 8. Future Directions and Conclusions

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Book SynopsisAre you looking for simple ways to improve your mental and physical health and well-being, and bring back the hurray to your day? The Book of Health Hacks is a compendium of easy strategies and practices for you to add to your daily routine. They don't take too muchtime to do, and most won't cost a penny! Plus, each health hack has been tried and tested, some of them for thousands of years, andmany are backed by science. Kerry Sanson is a movement and massage therapist, a personal trainer, and a student of Eastern philosophies including Yoga and Oigong.She has helped many clients to make simple improvements to their fitness, nutrition and lifestyle, producing successful and long-lasting benefits. You can choose to add one or several health hacks to your day - perhaps you'll practice Face Yoga every morning, or drink YinYang water with lunch, or add Torso Bouncing to your breaktime. These hacks can help you be more mindful and give you more energy to win your day, one hack at a time! There are 40 health hacks tochoose from, you can mix them up or create a daily routine. Each hack is described in step-by-step guide or linked by QR code to aYouTube demonstration video. The Book of Health Hacks can help you change your lifestyle in simple ways that suit you. "I have worked with Kerry over a number of disciplines for 5 years now, and her impact on me has been huge. She really has collected some effective and beautiful practices from her deep delves into all things health and wellbeing. Her thirst for learning is boundless and we get to reap the rewards of her diligent curiosity This book is practical and powerful, a perfect gift for those looking for gentle self-work in a brash and busy world." Charlotte Church

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Book Synopsis‘Tomorrow I will be leaving the delights of beautiful, snowy Ramsbury and setting off on my adventure to Ghana ...’ The inspirational true story of one woman, two villages, infinite optimism and thousands of lives transformed – TO LAWRA WITH LOVE is the funny, heart-warming, hard-hitting memoir of charity founder Sarah Gardner. It’s 2012, and Sarah is leaving her too-safe life in leafy England and heading to Ghana, Africa, with a suitcase full of cream-coloured linen and the romantic dream of ‘having an adventure and saving the world’. But the last thing the people of far-away, impoverished Lawra need is another white saviour. Which is just as well, because Sarah – hopelessly out of her depth and very, very sweaty – is not saving anyone. She can barely look after herself. Then, a terrible tragedy changes everything. Sarah begins breaking rules and building relationships – one in particular – bringing together her English village and his Ghanaian one on a mission to transform thousands of lives … including her own. A behind-the-scenes of international development as you’ve never read it before. A heart-wrenchingly honest account of work and love across cultures and continents. A testament to what listening, kindness, community and optimism can achieve. Totally relatable to anyone who cares about the world and the state of their hair.

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Book SynopsisIn making love, one is elevated beyond the carnal desires it satisfies. For the religious, it is Divine; for those who are not religiously inclined, it is still a spiritual experience, one of seamless solidarity, a unity of two as one that defies mere orgasmic stimulation. You don't have to make love to have sex. Even strangers can be sexually attracted and have an orgasmic escapade. But in the act of making love, there is symbolic meaning that is felt through-and-through the sex act. Two in love are joined, in life, and the sexual expression of this unison is deeply felt in the sex act itself. This is sexual intimacy, the making of love, the likes of which is rarely, if ever, seen outside a loving relationship. There is no escape from the philosophical dimensions of such a loving relationship. It is as abstract as it is concrete in the ideals that ground it. There is a mystery about it, a kind of transcendent experience that defies translation into words. Making and being in love are thus joined at the hip. Loving relationships make the bed in which true lovers sleep.Unfortunately, many relationships flounder or never get off the ground. Just having sex may ease the tension, but it then becomes a means, not truly an end-in-itself. The moment the sex act ends, the couple may retreat and fall into discord. It is an oasis in a barren desert that provides temporary relief, a titillating, temporary escape from reality. This book can help you to overcome the obstacles, the unlovable habits that encumber your relationship, both inside and outside the bedroom. It can help to create the harmonic balance between your sex life and other aspects of your personal and interpersonal relationships, which are preludes to making and being in love.To accomplish this, it applies a five-step method based on Logic-Based Therapy & Consultation (LBTC), a popular form of evidence-based, philosophical counseling modality. First, it introduces you to six types of unlovable ways of thinking and acting and helps you to identify the ones that may be sabotaging your own relationship. Second, it shows you how to counter these self-defeating habits with certain lovable goals (virtues of love). Third, it helps you to identify and embrace a personal love philosophy that empowers you to reach for your lovable goals. Fourth, it provides core philosophical ideas that are key to any successful quest for romantic love. Fifth, it helps you construct a behavioral plan that applies your philosophies to making constructive changes in your relationship. The latter may require making changes both inside and outside your relationship. Thus, this book also shows you how the problems you are having in one area of your life (at work, in your social life, etc.) can affect the quality of your relationship, inside and outside the bedroom, and it offers guidance, including self-improvement exercises, to overcome these impediments and attain enduring love and sexual intimacy.

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Book SynopsisExclusion has come to hold a prominent place in the political discourse of all governments in the European Union and in the European Commission itself. As such, it figures importantly in various research agencies’ funding priorities attracting academics to develop and conduct major research programmes. But what does it mean? This book analyzes the different meanings the term exclusion has come to convey and surveys a wide variety of actual applications in different European countries.Trade Review’This book’s rich mix of theoretical discussion, critical literature review and conceptual development...will make it the key text for those wishing to understand what social exclusion in Europe means. In short, this is a fascinating and timely book which will deserve a wide readership.’ Robert McDonald, University of Teeside, UK ’This interesting and varied collection is a useful addition to the growing literature on social exclusion.’ Dr Angus Erskine, University of Stirling, UK ’An important and clarifying sociological discussion...’ Gunnar Olofsson, University of Vaxjo, Sweden ’This book will not only assist the reader in understanding several sources and dimensions of social exclusion: it offers thoughtful ideas of what can be done to combat contemporary forms of social inequality effectively.’ Godfried Engbersen, Erasmus University, The Netherlands ’...sharp, thoughtful and informed sociological work...’ European SocietiesTable of ContentsContents: Identifying social exclusion: some problems of meaning, Paul Littlewood and Sebastian Herkommer; The end of the full employment society: changing the basis for inclusion and exclusion, Georg Vobruba; Social exclusion and the flexibility of labour: a theoretical exploration, Gerrit van Kooten; Paid work - a crucial link between individuals and society?: some conclusions on the meaning of work for social integration, Ignace Glorieux; The underclass - a misleading concept and a scientific myth?: poverty and social exclusion as challenges to theories of class and social structure, Sebastian Herkommer and Max Koch; Women, work and welfare, Ingrid Jönsson; Ideas of social justice in the welfare state in Germany and The Netherlands, Roswitha Pioch; Stigma and non-take up in social policy: re-emerging properties of declining welfare state programmes?, Staffan Blomberg and Jan Petersson; Schooling, exclusion and self-exclusion, Paul Littlewood; Citizenship and exclusion in the European Union, Mike McGuinness; The socio-cultural exclusion and self-exclusion of foreigners in Finland: the case of Joensuu, M'hammed Sabour; Index.

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Book SynopsisSelected for inclusion in this volume are the most significant and influential articles analyzing the key issues surrounding children, medicine and the law today. Issues examined include: the implications of assisted reproduction for children, neonatal intensive care, health care, HIV testing of new-born children, choosing sexual orientation and adolescents and life-and-death decisions.Trade Review'...a welcome contribution...shines light on many of the ethical dilemmas that arise when treating children.' The Journal of Legal MedicineTable of ContentsContents: Assisted Reproduction: Its Implications for Children: Market inalienability, Jane Radin; Give me children or I shall die! New reproductive technologies and harm to children, Cynthia B. Cohen; Human cloning and child welfare, Justine Burley and John Harris; The best interests of the child in assisted human reproduction: the interplay between the state, professionals and parents, Ken R. Daniels, Eric Blyth, Darrel Hall and Kathy M. Hanson. Sex Selection: Book review of Gendercide: the Implications of Sex Selection, by Mary Anne Warren, Helen Bequaert Holmes; A reply to Holmes on Gendercide, Mary Anne Warren; Preconception gender selection, John A. Robertson. Choosing the Sexual Orientation of Children: Choosing the sexual orientation of children, Edward Stein; Prenatal diagnosis: whose right?, David Heyd. Wrongful Life and Death: Moral obligations to the not-yet-born: the fetus as patient, Thomas H. Murray; Wrongful life and the counterfactual element in harming, Joel Feinberg; The wrong of wrongful life, John Harris; When is birth unfair to the child?, Bonnie Steinbock and Ron McClamrock; Prenatal wrongful death, Bonnie Steinbock; Genetic dilemmas and the child's right to an open future, Dena S. Davis. The Newborn's Status: Delivering hydrocephalic fetuses, Carson Strong. Defective Newborn Children: Deciding for imperilled newborns: medical authority or parental autonomy? Hazel E. McHaffie, Ian A. Lang, Michael Parker and John McMillan; Moral and ethical dilemmas in the special-care nursery, Raymond S. Duff and A.G.M. Campbell; Neonatal viability in the 1990s: held hostage by technology, Jonathan Muraskas, Patricia A. Marshall, Paul Tomich, Thomas F. Myers, John G. Gianopoulos and David C. Thomasma. Neonatal Intensive Care: Neonatal intensive care: parents' role in ethical decision making, Helen Harrison; Interdependence and reintegrative social control: labeling and reforming 'inappropriate' parents in neonatal intensive care, Carol A. Heimer and Lisa R. Staffen. HIV Testing of Newborn Children: An argument for universal paediatric HIV testing, counseling and treatment, Colin Crawford; Mandatory screening of newborns for HIV: and idea whose time has not yet come, Nina Loewenstein. Children as Donors: Should foetuses or infants be utilized as organ donors?, Arthur L. Caplan; Justice for children: the child as organ donor, Lianie Friedman Ross; Rethinking transplantation between siblings, James Dwyer and Elizabeth Vig; Role of a child advocate in the selection of donors for pediatric bone marrow transplantation, Frederic T. Serota, Charles S. August, Alice Tuohy O'Shea and William T. Woodward Jr and Penelope A. Koch; Procreation for donation: the moral and political permissibility of 'having a child to save a child', Mark P. Aulisio, Thomas May and Geoffrey D. Block. Conjoined Twins: The ethics of caring for conjoined twins: the Lakeberg twins, David C. Thomasma, Jonathan Muraskas, Patricia A. Marshall, Thomas Myers, Paul Tomich and James A. O'Neill Jr.; Human beings, persons and conjoined twins: an ethical analysis of the judgment in Re A, John Harris. Decisions about Health Care: The best interests standard as threshold, ideal and standard of reasonableness, Loretta M. Kopelman; Everyday and medical life choices: decision making among 8- to 15-year-old school students, Priscilla Anderson; Coercion or caring: analysing adolescent autonomy, Margaret Brazier and Caroline Bridge; Health care decision making by children: is it in their best interests?, Lianie Friedman Ross; Disclosure and consent problems in pediatrics, Angela R. Holder; When adolescents 'mismanage' their chronic medical conditions: an ethical exploration, Insoo Hyun. The Competence of Children: What do you say to a child with AIDS?, Michael Lipson; The competency of children and adolescents to make informed treatment decisions, Lois A. Wiethorn and Susan B. Campbell; Reasoning about illness in ill and healthy children and adolescents: cognitive and emotional developmental aspects, Elizabeth J. Susman, Lorah D. Dorn and John C. Fletcher; In the genes or in the stars? Children's competence to consent, Priscilla Alderson. Adolescents and life or Death Decisions: Affirming the decisions adolescents make about life and death, Robert F. Wier and Charles Peters. Children as Subjects of Research: Research with children, Leonard H. Glantz; Children's concepts of research hospitalization, A. Herbert Schwartz; The enforcement of morals: nontherapeutic research on children, Paul Ramsey; Prophylactic interventions on children: balancing human rights with public health, F.M. Hodges, J.S. Svoboda and R.S. van Howe; Is it in a neonate's best interest to enter a randomized controlled trial?, Peter Allmark, Su Mason, A.S. Bryan Gill and Christopher Megone. Genetic Testing of Children: Testing children for genetic predispositions: is it in their best interest?, Diane E. Hoffman and Eric A. Wulfsberg. Children's Rights to Health Care: Do children's right

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Book SynopsisThe number of the millions of blind in the world continues to grow, causing needless social and economic deprivation. Most of these blind can be cured, and much of the remainder prevented if all people had access to the simple and effective interventions that already exist. In this newly revised fourth edition of ‘Eye Care in Developing Nations’, the author describes in practical detail, what these interventions consist of and how they can be readily implemented. This is the handyman’s guide to delivering eye services to low-resource populations, whether they are pockets of poverty in otherwise affluent countries or broadly deprived populations living in the developing world.Demand for the first three editions from around the world has proved this book’s value. In this expanded and updated edition all chapters have been revised to reflect developments in public health and in medical and surgical treatments and techniques. The book’s value is further enhanced in the fourth edition by the greater emphasis given to clinical ophthalmology and the provision for the first time of colour photos and diagrams throughout.Table of ContentsIntroduction to Public Health Ophthalmology: Public Health, Preventative Care, Eye Care Delivery, Evaluation and Sustainability. Eye Care in Developing Nations: Cataract. Trachoma. Blinding Malnutrition. Glaucoma. Ocular Trauma. Onchocerciasis. Leprosy. External Disease. Other Blinding Disorders. Appropriate Technology. Refractive Errors. Low Vision. Ophthalmology Backgrounder: Anatomy and Physiology. The Eye Examination.

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Book SynopsisYoga is a restorative, mindful and gentle practice that can strengthen your body while helping you centre yourself in the moment.Use yoga to relax, improve your flexibility, focus your mind and connect with your spiritual side just by gently easing your body into poses that boost your physical and mental wellbeing. With 50 poses to choose from and guidance on how to select the poses that suit your needs and how to move between them smoothly, the Little Book of Yoga teaches you how to wake up feeling energised, calm an anxious mind, sleep better and feel inspired.Whether you want to include a pose or two in your morning routine or want to combine the poses into a custom flow that''s uniquely yours, the Little Book of Yoga will help you find the poses you need to stretch your body and support your spirit. Ideal for everyone from total beginners to more experienced yogis, this beautifully illustrated book includes everything you''ll need to live a more balanced, grounded life. Begin today and reap the benefits for the rest of your life!Chapters include:- Warm-up- Warrior- Standing Balance- Seated- Backbend- Closing- Transition

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Book SynopsisMental health care needs vary in different groups of people, but many healthcare professionals have a poor understanding of exactly how. From ethnicity to sexuality, family to religion, "Mental Health Care for People of Diverse Backgrounds" is a unique examination of how cultures can, and should, influence psychological services. It presents both theoretical and practical information regarding assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Concentrating on empirically based treatments, the book fuses clinical experience and research to give a wide-ranging overview. It also features many illuminating case studies. It is an invaluable reference for all mental healthcare professionals including psychologists, psychiatrists, doctors, social workers, nurses and counsellors, as well as students and academics with an interest in mental healthcare. "The information contained in these chapters is intended for individuals with many levels of clinical training and is therefore appropriate for trainees in psychology and psychiatry, as well as experienced mental health providers. The chapters in this book contain information relevant to assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals from diverse populations." - Julia D Buckner, Yezzennya Castro, Jill M Holm-Denoma and Thomas E Joiner Jr.Table of ContentsIntroduction to empirically informed mental health services for diverse populations. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of Hispanic/Latino clients. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of African American clients. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of religiously diverse clients. The assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children and families from diverse backgrounds. Assessing, diagnosing, and treating individuals with a dual diagnosis: the co-occurrence of developmental disorders and psychiatric disorders. The delivery of mental health services for clients of diverse backgrounds. Summary and future directions.

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Book SynopsisThis work includes a foreword by Jeffrey Koplan, Vice President, Academic Health Affairs, Emory University, Atlanta, Formerly Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This groundbreaking new book blows apart the myths about who is at risk of getting AIDS and shows how these myths are driven by moral and political pressures. It provides an objective, logical, clear, epidemiologically based analysis on the current situation and situates itself firmly at marked variance with the politically correct position of UNAIDS and most AIDS activists. "The AIDS Pandemic" argues that the story of HIV has been distorted by UNAIDS and AIDS activists in order to support the myth of the high potential risk of HIV epidemics spreading into the general population. In the past, most policy makers and members of the public have uncritically accepted UNAIDS' high prevalence estimates and projections when in fact lower HIV prevalence estimates are more accurate. Time, money and resources are being wasted worldwide. This book is full of fresh analysis for all people working in any capacity in HIV/AIDS programmes. It will be invaluable to undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare students, health and social care professionals and the international media. Policy makers and shapers will find the pioneering information crucial to the future of the AIDS strategy. 'For close to a half century, my work as a public health epidemiologist has involved field research, program management, and teaching, mostly on public health surveillance and prevention and control of communicable diseases. [Since 1981] I have been involved virtually full time with the international response to the AIDS pandemic which is without question one of the most severe infectious disease pandemics in modern times. During my public health career that began in the early 1960s, I have always been considered a part of conventional or mainstream medical science. However, since the mid-1990s, I have found myself swimming upstream against mainstream AIDS organisations. I have, during this period, gradually come to the realisation that AIDS programs developed by international agencies and faith based organizations have been and continue to be more socially, politically, and moralistically correct than epidemiologically accurate.' - James Chin, in the Preface. 'Controversy and differing opinions have been hallmarks of the AIDS epidemic since its onset. The scope of the problem, how to identify high risk groups without increasing the burden of stigma, the safety of blood products, the best balance between prevention and treatment, have all been hot issues sometimes dividing the public health community. The passion and conflicts about how to consider and address the AIDS pandemic reflect the huge impact this disease has had globally and its interplay with macro economic, legal, social, political, national security and ethical domains. Vital, provocative, thoughtful, direct, passionate, rational and willing to challenge conventional wisdom. "The AIDS Pandemic" is filled with information, rational arguments and opinions, often intermingled. It is a rare book on epidemiology that puts so much of the author's personality and viewpoints, along with his knowledge and experience, before the reader. The result is a thought-provoking, likely-to-be-controversial, contribution to the AIDS literature that should engage and stimulate the reader.' - Jeffrey Koplan, in the Foreword.Table of ContentsPersonal and professional background. The most probable origin and initial global spread of HIV. A basic primer on HIV infections and AIDS cases (HIV/AIDS). HIV epidemiology and transmission dynamics. Calculation of the reproductive number of HIV and the probability of acquiring an HIV infection in female sex workers and in their male clients in the Philippines. Describing the analogy between factors needed for a forest fire and an HIV epidemic. Understanding HIV/AIDS numbers. EPIMODEL. How credible are HIV/AIDS estimates? HIV/AIDS prevention. Dispelling 'Glorious' HIV/AIDS myths and misconceptions. The most probable past, present, and future of the AIDS pandemic. The International response to the AIDS pandemic.

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Book SynopsisThis pioneering work addresses a key issue that confronts all industrialised nations: How do we organise healthcare services in accordance with fundamental human rights, whilst competing with scientific and technological advances, powerful commercial interests and widespread public ignorance? "The Nature of Health" presents a coherent, affordable and logical way to build a healthcare system. It argues against a health system fixated on the pursuit of longevity and suggests an alternative where the ability of an individual to function in worthwhile relationships is a better, more human goal. By reviewing the etymology, sociology and anthropology of health, this controversial guide examines the meaning of health, and proves how a community-centred healthcare system improves local economy, creates social capital and is affordable, rational, personal, and just. "This is badly needed nourishment for a medical system glutted on technology, individualism, profit and the pursuit of longevity. Read and be fed." - Christopher Koller, Health Insurance Commissioner, The State of Rhode Island, USA. "Unique. Surprising. A real eye-opener. Just about everyone who doesn't have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo will agree that U.S. healthcare is badly broken. [This book] is making it possible for us to refocus from how to provide healthcare to how to achieve health. Their description of health as successful functioning in community, rather than as a measure of longevity is a definition that can make a reader feel healthier as they take gradually appreciate the power of the concept. On this foundation, it is not as hard as one might think to outline a healthcare system that is equitable, affordable and achievable." - Alexander Blount EdD, Professor of Family Medicine, University of Massacusetts Medical Center.Trade Review'Compelling [...] raises important questions about the goals of health- care spending.' AGEING AND SOCIETYTable of ContentsWhat health is not: demented and contracted. The health we have. The health we buy. What we measure is not health. Medications are not health. Medicine is not health either. Science is business, not health. Hancock County. What went wrong and why? The happy victim. The human tsunami. The reductive trap. The trap is sprung. How longevity kidnapped health. Medical services and communities. The zero sum game. Three people, three aortas. What health is. A fib. What Webster thinks. Old villages, new lives. Toward a social definition of health. Health and community together. Health and fairness. Amish boy. What's next? Who gets what? How should it look? How should we pay for it? Which doctors?

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Book Synopsis'In the light of impending environmental catastrophe, people all over the world, in all walks of life, are becoming more aware of the pressing need to act globally. The need to base our decisions and actions less on parochial national advantage, sequestered in hate and suspicion of other nation's playing the same game of Russian roulette, have to give way to a new appreciation of the fact that our global village is indeed so very small and perilously frail. We depend upon one another as never before and, unless we insure the health and human rights of all, we shall surely each perish individually...' In "Health, Human Rights and the United Nations", Theodore H MacDonald carefully analyses the origin, development and structure of the United Nations (UN) and its key agencies, and considers its capacity to mediate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He takes a detailed look into human rights abuses in Sudan's Darfur province, Burma, Liberia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the United Kingdom. By investigating the development of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the pressures being brought to bear upon it, MacDonald exposes contradictions in the aims of both the WHO and the UN. Does the current global political scene and its neoliberal policies nullify the work of both? Is the UN fit for purpose? Can drastic reforms result in equitable solutions? Can a new trans-national body be developed, to arbitrate global trade, health, human rights and fiscal issues? This remarkable book is ideal for anyone interested in international law, human rights, global health, public health and health promotion. Public health and health promotion professionals, including international healthcare organisations, care agencies, and international charities will find the analysis enlightening. It is also of great interest to policy makers and shapers in communities and government, political activists and all those with an interest in equality and globalisation.Trade Review'Professor MacDonald provides a well-argued critique of the activities of the United Nations and the provision of primary health care throughout the world[...] Relevant to anyone working in, or with an interest in, global medicine.' MEDICAL PROTECTION SOCIETY CASEBOOKTable of ContentsOur partially paralysed United Nations. The UN and human rights. The Darfur crisis. The well-hidden regime of Myanmar. Human rights in the context of conflict. The Palestinians. Human rights violations in Great Britain. WHO mediates the global right to health? Can the UN promote WHO's objectives? Transnational advocacy and mediation.

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, global healthcare professionals and organisations have formed a wide, evidence-based consensus that breastfeeding is usually the best option for both mother and baby. However, women and professionals alike often face a sea of shifting attitudes and values, and complex social, cultural, political and economic factors that may influence women's feeding decisions. This book examines the global evidence, and the factors that affect women's decisions around initiating breastfeeding and maintaining it through the first year of their children's lives. It outlines potential areas for development and policy change at practitioner and strategic levels, and shows how health professionals can effectively communicate and provide information to help women make unpressured but informed decisions. Breastfeeding - Contemporary Issues in Practice and Policy is essential reading for healthcare professionals, policy movers and shapers, and all those with an interest in breastfeeding who wish to influence the development of related policies, practices and healthcare services.Table of ContentsIntroduction. Exploring the Politics and Practices of Breastfeeding. The Promotion of Breastfeeding: A Time and a Need to Change. Initiating Breastfeeding: a Time for Change - Listening to the Experiences of Mothers. Supporting the Continuation of Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and Nutrition. Towards Evidence-Based Practice. Concluding Remarks.

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Book SynopsisWhat can we read in the fast-moving events of recent times? Is there a theme - a spiritual signature - that should be recognized and understood? Following on from the book of essays Perspectives and Initiatives in the Times of Coronavirus, key figures from the School of Spiritual Science at the Goetheanum assess critical societal issues in a series of striking lectures. In the context of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, the speakers address questions such as: 'Are we making a religion out of science?', 'How is our behaviour mirrored in the ecosystem?' and 'What effects do inner work and meditation have on the healing powers of the human being?' Offering scientific, artistic, historic and sociological viewpoints, their research is based on expert knowledge and practice in various disciplines such as medicine, agriculture and education. Uppermost in their analysis, however, is the spiritual dimension of the human being. The book also deals with misrepresentations and misinterpretations of anthroposophy. The School of Spiritual Science, with its centre in Dornach, Switzerland, has eleven sections that are active internationally in research, development, teaching and practical implementation of findings. The work of each of the School's sections seeks to develop anthroposophy - as founded by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) - in a contemporary context through the core disciplines of general anthroposophy, medicine, agriculture, pedagogy, natural science, mathematics and astronomy, literary and visual arts and humanities, performing arts and youth work.

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Book SynopsisCan justice be achieved in voluntary cases - or is it purely a matter for courts to determine? Using a multi-disciplinary framework, which has at its centre a philosophical/anthropological view of social work as a moral practice, the author explores the notion of justice in public child care. The problem of parents’ and children’s rights is addressed, first of all in the legal context of care proceedings and then in the social work setting of voluntary care. Forty-six difficult cases are examined to see how decisions are made and implemented. In the final analysis the dimensions of social and legal justice are charted in a way which may contribute to general understanding of these issues and some suggestions are offered about how social work may move forward in response to legitimate criticism.Trade Review’...food for thought about the moral basis of practice together with practical suggestions about what might or might not be achieved by moving in certain directions.’ Professor R.A. Parker, Social Policy & Social Planning, University of Bristol, UKTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; Parents’ and children’s rights in a court setting: the notion of justice in care proceedings; Parents’ and children’s rights in a social work setting: voluntary care; Social work and legal justice; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisSocial research plays an important part in the social sciences and in the planning and implementation of personal social services. Whilst considerable attention has been paid to the methods used to undertake social research, little has been done to explore the processes under which it is carried out. This volume explores the process of social research from an anti-discriminatory perspective. Contributors address themes connected to every aspect of social research from its design, through fieldwork to implementation of findings. Papers adopt critical perspectives to explore issues to do with many aspects of power and 'difference' in research including the power of black feminist research, issues in collaborative research, anti-discriminatory methodologies, quality of life in people with learning difficulties and participatory research. The book addresses many key issues which have been at the centre of current social debate and offers a unique contribution to the literature on research methodology. As such, it is likely to have a wide readership with both academic audiences and practice based welfare professions.Trade Review’...provides practical direction for any researcher who seeks to actively work for change against all forms of discrimination and oppression.’ Professor Donna M. Mertens, Gallaudet University, USA ’This book offers a wealth of insights...If the goal of social work research is to offer guidance to social work practitioners and policy makers, then this book is a must read for those undertaking and teaching social work research.’ Mary Valentich, The University of Calgary, Canada ’...an important book. It should be read by administrators and field staff in health and human service agencies, researchers, social action groups, and academics responsible for research education of students in the helping and healing professions.’ James Gripton, Emeritus Professor, The University of Calgary, Canada ’This collection of much needed articles provides an excellent way to generate discussion on research within welfare provision. This is a book that will be very valuable to students, academics, welfare practitioners and administrators.’ Kum-Kum Bhavnani, University of California, USATable of ContentsContents: Rethinking social research: research in an unequal world; Feminist challenges to traditional research: have they gone far enough?; Black children in the public care system: some issues for anti-discriminatory research; Exploring ways of giving a voice to people with learning disabilities; Lost in a straight reality: lesbians and gay men in social research; Critical life histories: key anti-oppressive research methods and processes; Developing a feminist participative research framework: evaluating the process; Doing service based research: some lessons from the all-Wales strategy; Anti-discriminatory practitioner social work research: some basic problems and possible remedies; Empowerment and social research: elements for an analytic framework; Index.

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The authors argue in this book that social theory can usefully be conceived in terms of four broad paradigms, based upon different sets of meta-theoretical assumptions with regard to the nature of social science and the nature of society. The four paradigms - Functionalist, Interpretive, Radical Humanist and Radical Structuralist - derive from quite distinct intellectual traditions, and present four mutually exclusive views of the social work. Each stands in its own right, and generates its own distinctive approach to the analysis of social life. The authors provide extensive reviews of the four paradigms, tracing the evolution and inter-relationships between the various sociological schools of thought within each. They then proceed to relate theories of organisation to this wider background. This book covers a great range of intellectual territory. It makes a number of important contributions to our understanding of sociology and organisational analysis, and will prove an invaluable guide to theorists, researchers and students in a variety of social science disciplines. It stands as a discourse in social theory, drawing upon the general area of organisation studies - industrial sociology, organisation theory, organisational psychology, and industrial relations - as a means of illustrating more general sociological themes. In addition to reviewing and evaluating existing work, it provides a framework for appraising future developments in the area of organisational analysis, and suggests the form which some of these developments are likely to take.

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Book SynopsisSocial workers need to recognize the critical role that theory plays both in the way they make sense of what is going on and in the way they order their work. Such recognition clarifies practice for both the worker and the client. David Howe's classic text provides a framework to help social workers develop an understanding of the theories which inescapably underpin their thoughts and actions. This edition contains a new preface by the author, written in 2008, in which he examines the continuing value of his framework, concluding that it remains an effective tool for making sense of the profession's most current ideas. The book covers a range of theoretical approaches, demonstrating through examples that different theories necessarily lead to very different practices. It offers a stimulating guide to social work theory which is proven to help social workers both to understand their practices and to practise in a disciplined and imaginative way.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction; The consumer reports; Making sense; Sorting out social work theories; The world of objects and subjects; Order and conflict in society; A taxonomy of social work theories; The fixers; The psychoanalytic tradition in social work; Behavioural social work; The seekers after meaning; Client-centred approaches; The raisers of consciousness; Radical practice; The revolutionaries; Marxist social work; Theories for social work and theories of social work; Bibliography; Subject index; Name index.

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Book SynopsisThe assessment of needs and the process of planning care are central issues in modern social work practice. Skilled assessment of client needs and strengths is essential to effective planning and efficient provision of quality social work services including both counselling and personal care. The focus of this book is on the development of the skills required at each stage of the social work process: assessment, care planning, implementation and evaluation. Throughout the book a balance is maintained between the focus on client involvement and the role of the social worker in an agency. The latter part of the book addresses practical issues in developing new approaches to assessment and care planning: primary workers, individual support and managing change. Social work practitioners, managers and trainers and students on qualifying and pre-qualifying training will find this an invaluable aid to the development of sound and yet creative practice.Trade Review'...written clearly, is free of jargon and contains a wealth of information and thoughtful discussion. The theoretical content is skilfully related to examples of practice and I felt I was being gently lead through concepts which were sometimes complex and profound.' June Neill, Researcher, National Institute for Social Work, UK 'The authors have achieved a consolidation of current social work theory and practice concisely.' Community CareTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; Basic Principles: The basic helping cycle; Social work skills and values. Assessment: Purpose of assessment; Sources of information; Observation skills; Preparation for interviews; Interviewing skills; Organising information: schedules; Theory for practice; Strengths and needs. Care Planning: Contracting; Aims and objectives; Decision making; Planning: an overview. Implementation: Being helped; Strategies for action; Approaches to helping; Monitoring and recording. Evaluation: Principles of evaluation; Measuring effectiveness; Worker skills. Managing the Work: Primary worker systems; Supervision; Managing change; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book is aimed at employers, managers and staff in social work agencies. Historically there has been a slowness to acknowledge the risks which social workers routinely face and some employers have adopted a re-active approach, waiting for incidents to occur before taking action. They are thus placed in the position of having to make policy 'on the hoof' and at a time of crisis. Support to staff who have been attacked has been patchy, and in some instances sadly lacking. The absence of agreed procedures for dealing with violent attacks can leave the staff concerned, feeling unsupported, anxious and stressed. Social work staff, in their turn, may have experienced feelings of guilt when they have been unable to prevent aggression or assault; at best they may lack confidence in the level of understanding and support their line managers will show, and at worst they may feel that they will be blamed for the incident. As a result there is a tendency towards under reporting violent acts. For these reasons a joint approach to the problem is urged which involves social workers, support staff and managers. Personal Safety for Social Workers examines the special issues which social workers, and their employers, need to address. Part 1 reviews some of the information now available about violence in social work settings and within the context of violence in society at large. The respective roles and responsibilities of employers and employees are discussed, and guidance offered on developing a workplace personal safety policy and on the steps which will need to be taken for effective implementation. Advice is given on developing procedures for reporting violent incidents and for providing after-care to staff who have been on the receiving end of violence. This section of the book also looks at the ways in which the design and management of the workplace can enhance personal safety and provides guidelines to social workers on the issues to consider when working away from the normal work base. Part 2 contains detailed personal safety guidelines for use by individual social workers in a variety of work situations. Part 3 addresses training issues and provides a number of sample training programmes. A Reference Section gives information about further reading, training materials and sources of further help, advice and information. The message of this book is that proper attention to risk can reduce both the incidence of aggression and its development into violent acts. Preventive action can have the dual effect of protecting staff, and also of providing quality services in a more sensitive way to social work clients.Trade Review’There is a profusion of good advice, with checklists frequently used. Readers will gain a good overall grasp of the issues involved in this increasingly important field, and an expanded set of ideas on how to keep themselves safe.’ Professional Social WorkTable of ContentsContents: Background: Violence at work; The risks in perspective; Violence against social workers; Defining violence and aggression; Employer and employee roles; Safety in the social work setting; Developing a policy; Implementing a policy; Reporting violent incidents; The workplace; Residential and day care settings; Away from the workplace; After-care. Guidelines for Social Workers: Interviewing techniques; Non-verbal communication; Coping with violence; Developing assertiveness; Travel guidelines. Training for Safety: Guidelines for trainers; Select bibliography; Useful organizations; Index.

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Book SynopsisSince the International Year of the Child in 1979, advocacy for children has intensified. The Convention on the Rights of the Child has propelled this advocacy decisively into the midst of the political debate over human rights. Attempts to construct and support the theoretical and empirical underpinnings for a fresh approach to children and childhood are also intensifying. Nonetheless, policies targeted at children continue to suffer from pervasive theoretical weaknesses. This is persistently constraining appropriate action. This book argues that for both theoretical and practical reasons children need to be understood in their own right. It asks fundamental questions about the perceptions we have of children and childhood and about the ways these perceptions emerge to influence and shape our assumptions, preferences and choices concerning children. It tries to deepen understanding and interest by clarifying the theoretical, ethical and pragmatic reasons for transforming the political neglect of children into recognition and action. The book is divided into two parts. The first part examines cultural and social variations in perceptions concerning children and the second part draws conclusions from the analysis. It concludes by proposing practical lessons which may be learned from the debate about children.Trade Review’This is a compelling book which unravels and conceptualises the many contradictions in the children’s rights debate...It is a salvo in the ideological battle which will greatly appeal to the converted and provides us with, in Knutssen’s words, tools for a better understanding.’ Social Work Review ’This book is an articulate, engaging and purposeful blend of hard facts and even harder polemic.’ International Social WorkTable of ContentsContents: The Nature and the Location of the Debate: The many environments of the child; Different times, different children; Commonalities and variations in perceptions about children; The nature and the location of the debate; The debate in practice: the case of UNICEF; Learning From the Debate: the Need for Change: Tools for a better understanding; The need to rethink development; Recognizing the citizen child; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisDiscrimination? Isn't there enough talk about discrimination? Yes, indeed. That is why we have to begin countering discrimination. We need strategies that will make it inoperative or at least limit its scope. But first, we need to think how discrimination works and identify it where it works. It concerns far more than mere procedural hitches for which a few legal provisions will do. Countering Discrimination (Volume 1998 of International Perspectives in Social Work yearbook) brings papers that analyse mechanisms of social discrimination in a variety of such locations and bring proposals for counter-strategies. This is essential in social work if causes, rather than manifestations, of the problems it is concerned with are to be addressed. But it is also essential that everybody who opposes discrimination recognise its subtle and dispersed ways of operation in the human services, regardless of their own basic field of work. In this respect, the book will be useful to a very wide audience.Trade Review’As British society lurches between progress and backlash, this unfussy edition should be bought by every social work agency so that its best chapters can be available to practitioners and policy makers...well balanced and relevant to management and practice.’ Community Care ’...a valuable contribution to the theory and practice of countering discrimination.’ Social Work in Europe ’...useful for facilitating greater understanding of the discrimination of marginalized groups as well as suggesting ways for combating such practices...the book provides a helpful tool to social workers and social work students wishing to grapple with issues of power and ally themselves with the powerless.’ European Journal of Social Work ’Countering Discrimination in Social Work makes an important international contribution to the field of social work. Social work educators may wish to use this book as a required text in courses on human behaviour.’ International Social WorkTable of ContentsContents: Introduction; Poverty and deprivation; Globalization and gender relations in social work; Affirmative action: a counter to racial discrimination?; Social work and independent living; Facing our futures: discrimination in later life; Lesbians and gay men: social work and discrimination; Intellectual disability, oppression and difference; Strategies of empowerment: taking account of protests by people; Towards a theory of emancipatory practice.

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Book SynopsisOne day you will feel better… Eyes without Sparkle is a powerful medical autobiography describing the journey followed by the author into, through, and out of puerperal psychosis, the most severe form of postnatal depression. With vivid and intimate descriptions of events and the author’s feelings, this is the only book offering a single first-hand account of postnatal illness. The book serves as an inspiration for anyone suffering from or involved with a depressive illness. For health and social care professionals it is a reflective guide to learning from patients’ experiences, and the examples of positive and negative aspects of treatment can inform mental health services and policies.Table of ContentsIntroduction. My life becoming a 'Hanzak'. Nick and I. The birth. First days on the ward. Coming home. Another display stay. We're going to the Lake District. A holiday. Dominic's in hospital! Pressure, pressure. Losing it! Downhill. The final descent. A refuge. Become institutionalized. Looking up and outwards. Discharge day! He's almost alone. Another summer. Back to school. Springtime! Back to reality. Spreading the word. Making a difference. And so to London.

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Book SynopsisBased on the popular courses run by the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford, and written by leading figures working in the field of evidence-based medicine, this workbook provides papers appropriate for the study of mental health.Trade Review"'This book provides a timely and welcome addition to the public health literature. It's approach demonstrates the ways in which the development of public health practice and delivery have evolved to ensure we have high-quality health improvement and health protection services through a period of dynamic change. It recognises the enormous contribution of our specialist workforce in providing leadership, direction and working with others to improve people's health. I believe that the public health system, in its broadest sense, will find this a useful resource to develop their links into the specialist workforce and their thinking on their own, and colleagues', potential roles in taking forward our challenging public health agenda.' Fiona Adshead, in the Foreword"Table of ContentsIntroduction. What, who and where. Developing a modernised and multidisciplinary public health specialist workforce. Public health specialist practice in community settings: primary care and local government. Health protection. Public health in the acute setting. Tools for specialist practice. Looking to the future.

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Book SynopsisKate Tomas, one of the world''s leading crystal therapists, presents her remarkable meditation-based healing techniques for personal empowerment. Working with a particular crystal for each chakra, you will discover powerful visualizations to enable you to connect with crystal resonance and create the right conditions for self-healing.The energy of crystals is phenomenal. Now you can experience it for yourself. The crystals included are: Black Obsidian Base chakra Carnelian Sacral chakra Yellow Jasper Solar Plexus chakra Green Quartz Heart chakra Blue Quartz Throat chakra Sodalite Brow chakra Clear Quartz Crown chakra

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Book SynopsisYouth homelessness increased rapidly during the late 1980s and early 1990s, at a time when street homelessness in particular became increasingly associated in the popular mind with dangerousness and criminality. This book analyzes the construction of homelessness as a social and legal 'problem' and documents young people’s own experiences of homelessness, crime and danger. Drawing on the authors’ own field work in a range of urban and rural locations, the book addresses themes of home and homelessness, of exclusion and marginality and of risk and urban incivilities.Trade Review’This book is important reading for anyone interested in homelessness, in the representation of the underclass, in criminology, particularly studies of victimization, or in inner-city ecology. Reading this book would also be very useful for research students in sociology, geography and social policy in order for them to get the feel of how research is conducted and written up...This is an important contribution offering a distinct historical approach to the analysis of social attitude.’ Urban Studies ’...an engaging and informative book...a rich investigation and analysis of the multifaceted nature of the homeless experience...particularly informative to academics, practitioners and students...’ Youth Justice '...provides an insight into the historical basis for more contemporary attitudes towards the homeless. It is a descriptive, thorough, historical, literary, and legislative account of the relationship of crime to homelessness.' Youth and PolicyTable of ContentsContents: Researching homelessness; From vagabond age to homelessness; Representing homelessness and crime; The unaccommodated woman; Homelessness and victimization; Regulating homeless spaces; Epilogue; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

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