Mike Saks (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781447352105
- eISBN:
- 9781447352143
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447352105.001.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
This edited text is the second in the series entitled the Sociology of Health Professions: Future International Directions, published by Policy Press. It consists of eleven chapters covering several ...
More
This edited text is the second in the series entitled the Sociology of Health Professions: Future International Directions, published by Policy Press. It consists of eleven chapters covering several different aspects of support work and its relationship to the health professions, illustrated with reference to a wide range of different countries. Its importance is underlined by the relative lack of attention given to date to the diverse span of health support workers, in light of their growing significance in harness with the health professions in providing care to an increasingly ageing population in the modern world. The special significance of this collection, introduced by Mike Saks as editor, is that the various expert international contributions are brought together in the first social science book produced on the part played by support workers in conjunction with health professions in providing health care to users and their carers. This has crucial ramifications for well being in all modern societies. The support workforce and its place in the health care division of labour have too often been invisible in the past. However, this book, written from a neo-Weberian perspective, enhances our academic understanding of the role of support workers and helps to inform policy making in this critical field.Less
This edited text is the second in the series entitled the Sociology of Health Professions: Future International Directions, published by Policy Press. It consists of eleven chapters covering several different aspects of support work and its relationship to the health professions, illustrated with reference to a wide range of different countries. Its importance is underlined by the relative lack of attention given to date to the diverse span of health support workers, in light of their growing significance in harness with the health professions in providing care to an increasingly ageing population in the modern world. The special significance of this collection, introduced by Mike Saks as editor, is that the various expert international contributions are brought together in the first social science book produced on the part played by support workers in conjunction with health professions in providing health care to users and their carers. This has crucial ramifications for well being in all modern societies. The support workforce and its place in the health care division of labour have too often been invisible in the past. However, this book, written from a neo-Weberian perspective, enhances our academic understanding of the role of support workers and helps to inform policy making in this critical field.
Mike Saks
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781447352105
- eISBN:
- 9781447352143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447352105.003.0001
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
The introduction highlights the growing global importance of support workers and the need for further social scientific analysis of their developing role in relation to health professions, especially ...
More
The introduction highlights the growing global importance of support workers and the need for further social scientific analysis of their developing role in relation to health professions, especially in neo-liberal societies. In so doing, it provides a brief overview of the constituent chapters of the book and how they hang together, including the neo-Weberian theoretical frame of reference. This overview underlines the need for further policy consideration internationally in this area, encompassing both the public and private sector as support workers are increasingly involved in health care, in association with professionalised groups such as doctors, midwives and nurses. In this light, the introduction asks what specific regulatory policy reforms might occur to provide a higher quality support worker labour force that will enhance the protection of clients and the public and foster positive work conditions in Western societies – based on an appropriate skill mix and interface with the health professions. In so doing, it builds on the empirical research on which this collection is based within the neo-Weberian theoretical framework that binds this book together.Less
The introduction highlights the growing global importance of support workers and the need for further social scientific analysis of their developing role in relation to health professions, especially in neo-liberal societies. In so doing, it provides a brief overview of the constituent chapters of the book and how they hang together, including the neo-Weberian theoretical frame of reference. This overview underlines the need for further policy consideration internationally in this area, encompassing both the public and private sector as support workers are increasingly involved in health care, in association with professionalised groups such as doctors, midwives and nurses. In this light, the introduction asks what specific regulatory policy reforms might occur to provide a higher quality support worker labour force that will enhance the protection of clients and the public and foster positive work conditions in Western societies – based on an appropriate skill mix and interface with the health professions. In so doing, it builds on the empirical research on which this collection is based within the neo-Weberian theoretical framework that binds this book together.
Mike Saks and Katherine Zagrodney
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781447352105
- eISBN:
- 9781447352143
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447352105.003.0002
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health
Following a neo-Weberian theoretical perspective, with reference to neo-Marxist analyses, this chapter considers the position of health support workers in the market in neo-liberal societies – with a ...
More
Following a neo-Weberian theoretical perspective, with reference to neo-Marxist analyses, this chapter considers the position of health support workers in the market in neo-liberal societies – with a particular focus empirically on a cross-country comparison between the United Kingdom and Canada. It discusses the role of health support workers holistically in the context of the wider range of health professionals with whom they work. Health professions themselves have been claimed in recent years to have been deprofessionalised or proletarianised. However, it is argued here that such trends are overstated and there is still typically a large gulf between the working conditions of this group of health professional occupations and those of health support workers. The latter are critically considered in terms of the recent interest in depicting such groups as the new precariat. It is argued that there is little doubt that in the United Kingdom and Canada most health support workers can be described as operating in precarious conditions. Nonetheless, doubts are raised as to whether this group will become the self-conscious and cohesive class as envisaged in neo-Marxist theory. The conclusion to the chapter highlights the policy implications of the analysis in light of current debates.Less
Following a neo-Weberian theoretical perspective, with reference to neo-Marxist analyses, this chapter considers the position of health support workers in the market in neo-liberal societies – with a particular focus empirically on a cross-country comparison between the United Kingdom and Canada. It discusses the role of health support workers holistically in the context of the wider range of health professionals with whom they work. Health professions themselves have been claimed in recent years to have been deprofessionalised or proletarianised. However, it is argued here that such trends are overstated and there is still typically a large gulf between the working conditions of this group of health professional occupations and those of health support workers. The latter are critically considered in terms of the recent interest in depicting such groups as the new precariat. It is argued that there is little doubt that in the United Kingdom and Canada most health support workers can be described as operating in precarious conditions. Nonetheless, doubts are raised as to whether this group will become the self-conscious and cohesive class as envisaged in neo-Marxist theory. The conclusion to the chapter highlights the policy implications of the analysis in light of current debates.
