This book addresses the global need for more comparative studies on health policy and health care systems, given the rise in recent decades of societal aging, modern mass diseases, economic globalization, and resulting permanent fiscal austerity of governments which have fundamentally altered the status quo of health care systems.The book examines the healthcare experiences of the most developed countries in Asia (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore) and compares these with fo...

For the last two decades, major Asian economies have successfully kept their economic growth momentum going. Now, as these economies are entering a new phase of economic growth, more attention is being paid to their respective states of social development, especially the provision and the expansion of social security and, in particular, health care. Academic study of the development of health care in developing countries has been for the most part neglected by the literature, and in-depth ...

Information and the technology that supports its collection, communication and analysis is a core concern of modern government, making e-government (meaning electronically enabled government) fundamental to the ongoing "reinvention" of public administration. But the quest for e-government opens up a range of issues - whether to take a "big bang" or an incremental approach to computerization, how to deal with security and privacy concerns, how to reconfigure the machinery of government to f...

This book investigates the experiences of older people who remain at home with care. It examines the transition points for the important life changes faced by family members who take on a greater care-giving role.The book draws on demographic analyses and qualitative fieldwork to explore the shift from independence to increasing dependence, and suggests that this transition constitutes movement into a new stage of life, that of an Age of Supported Independence. Applying the anthrop...

Health Care in Canada examines the challenges faced by the Canadian health care system, a subject of much public debate. In this book Katherine Fierlbeck provides an in-depth discussion of how health care decisions are shaped by politics and why there is so much disagreement over how to fix the system.Many Canadians point to health care as a source of national pride; others are highly critical of the system's shortcomings and call for major reform. Yet meaningful debate ca...

This book provides a multi-disciplinary framework for developing and analyzing health sector reforms, based on the authors' extensive international experience. It offers practical guidance - useful to policymakers, consultants, academics, and students alike - and stresses the need to take account of each country's economic, administrative, and political circumstances. The authors explain how to design effective government interventions in five areas - financing, payment, organization, regu...

Upon signing the Millennium Declaration in 2000, the international community committed itself to eight development goals with timebound targets and measurable indicators. The third of these eight goals was to "promote gender equality and empower women". The third Millennium Development Goal (MDG3) in the Millennium Declaration has spurred national and international efforts to improve women's situation around the globe. Equality for Women: Where Do We Stand on Millennium Goal 3? tracks co...

Starting with more general issues of healthcare policy and governance in a global perspective and using the lens of national case studies of healthcare reform, this handbook addresses key themes in the debates over changing healthcare policy.

This book assesses current developments in China’s demography, and discusses the changes which should be implemented to bring policy into line with the current demographic situation. It argues that population planning, which was introduced in the early years of the People’s Republic alongside economic planning, including "the one child policy", is no longer appropriate. It considers the results of the 2010 census, which showed the very significant shifts that are occurring , including a de...

This volume provides a timely collection of the most germane studies and commentaries on the complex links between recent changes in national economies, welfare regimes, social inequalities, and population health. Drs. Vicente Navarro and Carles Muntaner have selected 24 representative articles, organized around six themes, from the widely read pages of the International Journal of Health Services (2006-2013) - articles that not only challenge conventional approaches to population health b...

"This book is exemplary in amassing demographic, policy, and sociopsychological data from around the world to refute both premises: that countriesí aging is not occurring in developing nations and that aging of the population presents intractable predicaments. The content of the book is rich with current information seldom accumulated into one source. For a scholar of aging studies, the topics are comprehensive, including demographics, political systems, health and long-term care provision...

What can psychology offer inclusive education? Traditionally, special education has looked to psychology for many of its theoretical resources and practical strategies. While those seeking to promote more inclusive education have tended to see psychology and psychologists as part of the problem by providing a rationale for segregation. However, in practice many psychologists today are developing inclusive ways of working, and are paying attention to psychological theories that underpin inc...