The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine

The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine

Author: Shigehisa Kuriyama

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2023-10-17

Total Pages: 159

ISBN-13: 0942299930

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An illuminating account of how early medicine in Greece and China perceived the human body Winner of the William H. Welch Medal, American Association for the History of Medicine The true structure and workings of the human body are, we casually assume, everywhere the same, a universal reality. But when we look into the past, our sense of reality wavers: accounts of the body in diverse medical traditions often seem to describe mutually alien, almost unrelated worlds. How can perceptions of something as basic and intimate as the body differ so? In this book, Shigehisa Kuriyama explores this fundamental question, elucidating the fascinating contrasts between the human body described in classical Greek medicine and the body as envisaged by physicians in ancient China. Revealing how perceptions of the body and conceptions of personhood are intimately linked, his comparative inquiry invites us, indeed compels us, to reassess our own habits of feeling and perceiving.


Book Synopsis The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine by : Shigehisa Kuriyama

Download or read book The Expressiveness of the Body and the Divergence of Greek and Chinese Medicine written by Shigehisa Kuriyama and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2023-10-17 with total page 159 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An illuminating account of how early medicine in Greece and China perceived the human body Winner of the William H. Welch Medal, American Association for the History of Medicine The true structure and workings of the human body are, we casually assume, everywhere the same, a universal reality. But when we look into the past, our sense of reality wavers: accounts of the body in diverse medical traditions often seem to describe mutually alien, almost unrelated worlds. How can perceptions of something as basic and intimate as the body differ so? In this book, Shigehisa Kuriyama explores this fundamental question, elucidating the fascinating contrasts between the human body described in classical Greek medicine and the body as envisaged by physicians in ancient China. Revealing how perceptions of the body and conceptions of personhood are intimately linked, his comparative inquiry invites us, indeed compels us, to reassess our own habits of feeling and perceiving.


Medicine as Culture

Medicine as Culture

Author: Deborah Lupton

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2012-03-22

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1446258637

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Lupton′s newest edition of Medicine as Culture is more relevant than ever. Trudy Rudge, Professor of Nursing, University of Sydney A welcome update of a text that has become a mainstay of the medical sociologist′s library. Alan Radley, Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology, Loughborough University Medicine as Culture introduces students to a broad range of cross-disciplinary theoretical perspectives, using examples that emphasize bodies and visual images. Lupton′s core contrast between lay perspectives on illness and medical power is a useful beginning point for courses teaching health and illness from a socio-cultural perspective. Arthur Frank, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary Medicine as Culture is unlike any other sociological text on health and medicine. It combines perspectives drawn from a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, social history, cultural geography, and media and cultural studies. The book explores the ways in which medicine and health care are sociocultural constructions, ranging from popular media and elite cultural representations of illness to the power dynamics of the doctor-patient relationship. The Third Edition has been updated to cover new areas of interest, including: - studies of space and place in relation to the body - actor-network theory as it is applied in research related to medicine - The internet and social media and how they contribute to lay health knowledge and patient support - complementary and alternative medicine - obesity and fat politics. Contextualising introductions and discussion points in every chapter makes Medicine as Culture, Third Edition a rigorous yet accessible text for students. Deborah Lupton is an independent sociologist and Honorary Associate in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney.


Book Synopsis Medicine as Culture by : Deborah Lupton

Download or read book Medicine as Culture written by Deborah Lupton and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lupton′s newest edition of Medicine as Culture is more relevant than ever. Trudy Rudge, Professor of Nursing, University of Sydney A welcome update of a text that has become a mainstay of the medical sociologist′s library. Alan Radley, Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology, Loughborough University Medicine as Culture introduces students to a broad range of cross-disciplinary theoretical perspectives, using examples that emphasize bodies and visual images. Lupton′s core contrast between lay perspectives on illness and medical power is a useful beginning point for courses teaching health and illness from a socio-cultural perspective. Arthur Frank, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary Medicine as Culture is unlike any other sociological text on health and medicine. It combines perspectives drawn from a wide variety of disciplines including sociology, anthropology, social history, cultural geography, and media and cultural studies. The book explores the ways in which medicine and health care are sociocultural constructions, ranging from popular media and elite cultural representations of illness to the power dynamics of the doctor-patient relationship. The Third Edition has been updated to cover new areas of interest, including: - studies of space and place in relation to the body - actor-network theory as it is applied in research related to medicine - The internet and social media and how they contribute to lay health knowledge and patient support - complementary and alternative medicine - obesity and fat politics. Contextualising introductions and discussion points in every chapter makes Medicine as Culture, Third Edition a rigorous yet accessible text for students. Deborah Lupton is an independent sociologist and Honorary Associate in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney.


Body of Health

Body of Health

Author: Francesca McCartney

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2010-11-22

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1577317181

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physical, and mental. The techniques covered here are designed to help readers increase their understanding of intuition, color, the chakra system, meditation, and other theories and methods as they work in healing. The author has developed these techniques over many years of helping nurses, doctors, and other medical practitioners discover the sources of pain and disease and guiding patients to more effective healing therapies. The areas covered in this wide-ranging yet accessible book include aura, color, meditation, and affirmations and their role in healing. Each chapter examines one energy practice and offers examples, stories, and simple techniques that readers can use to test the concept. Included are descriptive charts, journal writing exercises, success stories, and step-by-step meditations.


Book Synopsis Body of Health by : Francesca McCartney

Download or read book Body of Health written by Francesca McCartney and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2010-11-22 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: physical, and mental. The techniques covered here are designed to help readers increase their understanding of intuition, color, the chakra system, meditation, and other theories and methods as they work in healing. The author has developed these techniques over many years of helping nurses, doctors, and other medical practitioners discover the sources of pain and disease and guiding patients to more effective healing therapies. The areas covered in this wide-ranging yet accessible book include aura, color, meditation, and affirmations and their role in healing. Each chapter examines one energy practice and offers examples, stories, and simple techniques that readers can use to test the concept. Included are descriptive charts, journal writing exercises, success stories, and step-by-step meditations.


Medicine, Religion, and Health

Medicine, Religion, and Health

Author: Harold G Koenig

Publisher: Templeton Foundation Press

Published: 2008-09-01

Total Pages: 246

ISBN-13: 1599471418

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Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet will be the first title published in the new Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this, the series' maiden volume, Dr. Harold G. Koenig, provides an overview of the relationship between health care and religion that manages to be comprehensive yet concise, factual yet inspirational, and technical yet easily accessible to nonspecialists and general readers. Focusing on the scientific basis for integrating spirituality into medicine, Koenig carefully summarizes major trends, controversies, and the latest research from various disciplines and provides plausible and compelling theoretical explanations for what has thus far emerged in this relatively young field of study. Medicine, Religion, and Health begins by defining the principal terms and then moves on to a brief history of religion's role in medicine before delving into the current state of research. Koenig devotes several chapters to exploring the outcomes of specific studies in fields such as mental health, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. The book concludes with a review of the clinical applications derived from the research. Koenig also supplies several detailed appendices to aid readers of all levels looking for further information. Medicine, Religion, and Health will shed new light on critical contemporary issues. They will whet readers' appetites for more information on this fascinating, complex, and controversial area of research, clinical activity, and widespread discussion. It will find a welcome home on the bookshelves of students, researchers, clinicians, and other health professionals in a variety of disciplines.


Book Synopsis Medicine, Religion, and Health by : Harold G Koenig

Download or read book Medicine, Religion, and Health written by Harold G Koenig and published by Templeton Foundation Press. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet will be the first title published in the new Templeton Science and Religion Series, in which scientists from a wide range of fields distill their experience and knowledge into brief tours of their respective specialties. In this, the series' maiden volume, Dr. Harold G. Koenig, provides an overview of the relationship between health care and religion that manages to be comprehensive yet concise, factual yet inspirational, and technical yet easily accessible to nonspecialists and general readers. Focusing on the scientific basis for integrating spirituality into medicine, Koenig carefully summarizes major trends, controversies, and the latest research from various disciplines and provides plausible and compelling theoretical explanations for what has thus far emerged in this relatively young field of study. Medicine, Religion, and Health begins by defining the principal terms and then moves on to a brief history of religion's role in medicine before delving into the current state of research. Koenig devotes several chapters to exploring the outcomes of specific studies in fields such as mental health, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. The book concludes with a review of the clinical applications derived from the research. Koenig also supplies several detailed appendices to aid readers of all levels looking for further information. Medicine, Religion, and Health will shed new light on critical contemporary issues. They will whet readers' appetites for more information on this fascinating, complex, and controversial area of research, clinical activity, and widespread discussion. It will find a welcome home on the bookshelves of students, researchers, clinicians, and other health professionals in a variety of disciplines.


Mind Body Medicine

Mind Body Medicine

Author: Daniel Goleman

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 9780890438404

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Practical, thought-provoking, and authoritative, Mind Body Medicine gives you the most up-to-date information on what is now known about the vital role of the mind in health.


Book Synopsis Mind Body Medicine by : Daniel Goleman

Download or read book Mind Body Medicine written by Daniel Goleman and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Practical, thought-provoking, and authoritative, Mind Body Medicine gives you the most up-to-date information on what is now known about the vital role of the mind in health.


To Err Is Human

To Err Is Human

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2000-03-01

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 0309068371

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Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDSâ€"three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems. To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequenceâ€"but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agendaâ€"with state and local implicationsâ€"for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system. This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes. Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errorsâ€"which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?" Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care. To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health careâ€"it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocatesâ€"as well as patients themselves. First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine


Book Synopsis To Err Is Human by : Institute of Medicine

Download or read book To Err Is Human written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-03-01 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDSâ€"three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems. To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequenceâ€"but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agendaâ€"with state and local implicationsâ€"for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system. This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes. Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errorsâ€"which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?" Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care. To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health careâ€"it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocatesâ€"as well as patients themselves. First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine


Less Medicine, More Health

Less Medicine, More Health

Author: Dr. H. Gilbert Welch

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 0807077585

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A nationally recognized expert describes seven widespread assumptions that encourage excessive, ineffective, and sometimes harmful medical care—for readers of Overdiagnosed and Malcolm Gladwell You might think the biggest problem in medical care is that it costs too much. Or that health insurance is too expensive, too uneven, too complicated—and gives you too many forms to fill out. But the central problem is that too much medical care has too little value. Dr. H. Gilbert Welch is worried about too much medical care. He doesn’t deny that some people get too little medical care—rather that the conventional concern about “too little” needs to be balanced with a concern about “too much”: too many people being made to worry about diseases they don’t have and are at only average risk to get; too many people being tested and exposed to the harmful effects of the testing process; too many people being subjected to treatments they don’t need or can’t benefit from. The American public has been sold the idea that seeking medical care is one of the most important steps to maintain wellness. Surprisingly, medical care is not, in fact, well correlated with good health. More medicine does not equal more health; in reality the opposite may be true. In Less Medicine, More Health, Dr. Welch pushes against established wisdom and suggests that medical care can be too aggressive. Drawing on his twenty-five years of medical practice and research, he notes that while economics and lawyers contribute to the excesses of American medicine, the problem is essentially created when the general public clings to these powerful assumptions about the value of tests and treatments—a number of which are just plain wrong. By telling fascinating (and occasionally amusing) stories backed by reliable data, Dr. Welch challenges patients and the health-care establishment to rethink some very fundamental practices. His provocative prescriptions hold the potential to save money and, more important, improve health outcomes for us all.


Book Synopsis Less Medicine, More Health by : Dr. H. Gilbert Welch

Download or read book Less Medicine, More Health written by Dr. H. Gilbert Welch and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A nationally recognized expert describes seven widespread assumptions that encourage excessive, ineffective, and sometimes harmful medical care—for readers of Overdiagnosed and Malcolm Gladwell You might think the biggest problem in medical care is that it costs too much. Or that health insurance is too expensive, too uneven, too complicated—and gives you too many forms to fill out. But the central problem is that too much medical care has too little value. Dr. H. Gilbert Welch is worried about too much medical care. He doesn’t deny that some people get too little medical care—rather that the conventional concern about “too little” needs to be balanced with a concern about “too much”: too many people being made to worry about diseases they don’t have and are at only average risk to get; too many people being tested and exposed to the harmful effects of the testing process; too many people being subjected to treatments they don’t need or can’t benefit from. The American public has been sold the idea that seeking medical care is one of the most important steps to maintain wellness. Surprisingly, medical care is not, in fact, well correlated with good health. More medicine does not equal more health; in reality the opposite may be true. In Less Medicine, More Health, Dr. Welch pushes against established wisdom and suggests that medical care can be too aggressive. Drawing on his twenty-five years of medical practice and research, he notes that while economics and lawyers contribute to the excesses of American medicine, the problem is essentially created when the general public clings to these powerful assumptions about the value of tests and treatments—a number of which are just plain wrong. By telling fascinating (and occasionally amusing) stories backed by reliable data, Dr. Welch challenges patients and the health-care establishment to rethink some very fundamental practices. His provocative prescriptions hold the potential to save money and, more important, improve health outcomes for us all.


The Female Body in Medicine and Literature

The Female Body in Medicine and Literature

Author: Andrew Mangham

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2011-02-08

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1781386544

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The Female Body in Medicine and Literature features essays that explore literary texts in relation to the history of gynaecology and women’s surgery. Gender studies and feminist approaches to literature have become busy and enlightening fields of enquiry in recent times, yet there remains no single work that fully analyses the impact of women’s surgery on literary production or, conversely, ways in which literary trends have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of women’s medicine. This book will demonstrate how fiction and medicine have a long-established tradition of looking towards each other for inspiration and elucidation in questions of gender. Medical textbooks and pamphlets have consistently cited fictional plots and characterisations as a way of communicating complex or ‘sensitive’ ideas. Essays explore historical accounts of clinical procedures, the relationship between gynaecology and psychology, and cultural conceptions of motherhood, fertility, and the female organisation through a broad range of texts including Henry More’s Pre-Existency of the Soul (1659), Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1855), and Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues (1998). The Female Body in Medicine and Literature raises important theoretical questions on the relationship between popular culture, literature, and the growth of women’s medicine and will be required reading for scholars in gender studies, literary studies and the history of medicine. This collection explores the complex intersections between literature and the medical treatment of women between 1600 and 2000. Employing a range of methodologies, it furthers our understanding of the development of women’s medicine and comments on its wider cultural ramifications. Although there has been an increase in critical studies of women’s medicine in recent years, this collection is a key contributor to that field because it draws together essays on a wide range of new topics from varying disciplines. It features, for instance, studies of motherhood, fertility, clinical procedure, and the relationship between gynaecology and psychology. Besides offering essays on subjects that have received a lack of critical attention, the essays presented here are truly interdisciplinary; they explore the complex links between gynaecology, art, language, and philosophy, and underscore how popular art forms have served an important function in the formation of ‘women’s science’ prior to the twenty-first century. This book also demonstrates how a number of high-profile controversies were taken up and reworked by novelists, philosophers, and historians. Focusing on the vexed and convoluted story of women’s medicine, this volume offers new ways of thinking about gender, science, and the Western imagination. List of contributors: Janice Allan, Madeleine K. Davies, Greta Depledge, Laurie Garrison, Joanna Grant, Lori Schroeder Haslem, Dominic Janes, Emma L. Jones, Karín Lesnik-Oberstein, Pam Lieske, Andrew Mangham, Emma L. E. Rees, Sheena Sommers, Susan C. Staub, and Carolyn D.Williams.


Book Synopsis The Female Body in Medicine and Literature by : Andrew Mangham

Download or read book The Female Body in Medicine and Literature written by Andrew Mangham and published by Liverpool University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-08 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Female Body in Medicine and Literature features essays that explore literary texts in relation to the history of gynaecology and women’s surgery. Gender studies and feminist approaches to literature have become busy and enlightening fields of enquiry in recent times, yet there remains no single work that fully analyses the impact of women’s surgery on literary production or, conversely, ways in which literary trends have shaped the course of gynaecology and other branches of women’s medicine. This book will demonstrate how fiction and medicine have a long-established tradition of looking towards each other for inspiration and elucidation in questions of gender. Medical textbooks and pamphlets have consistently cited fictional plots and characterisations as a way of communicating complex or ‘sensitive’ ideas. Essays explore historical accounts of clinical procedures, the relationship between gynaecology and psychology, and cultural conceptions of motherhood, fertility, and the female organisation through a broad range of texts including Henry More’s Pre-Existency of the Soul (1659), Charlotte Brontë’s Villette (1855), and Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues (1998). The Female Body in Medicine and Literature raises important theoretical questions on the relationship between popular culture, literature, and the growth of women’s medicine and will be required reading for scholars in gender studies, literary studies and the history of medicine. This collection explores the complex intersections between literature and the medical treatment of women between 1600 and 2000. Employing a range of methodologies, it furthers our understanding of the development of women’s medicine and comments on its wider cultural ramifications. Although there has been an increase in critical studies of women’s medicine in recent years, this collection is a key contributor to that field because it draws together essays on a wide range of new topics from varying disciplines. It features, for instance, studies of motherhood, fertility, clinical procedure, and the relationship between gynaecology and psychology. Besides offering essays on subjects that have received a lack of critical attention, the essays presented here are truly interdisciplinary; they explore the complex links between gynaecology, art, language, and philosophy, and underscore how popular art forms have served an important function in the formation of ‘women’s science’ prior to the twenty-first century. This book also demonstrates how a number of high-profile controversies were taken up and reworked by novelists, philosophers, and historians. Focusing on the vexed and convoluted story of women’s medicine, this volume offers new ways of thinking about gender, science, and the Western imagination. List of contributors: Janice Allan, Madeleine K. Davies, Greta Depledge, Laurie Garrison, Joanna Grant, Lori Schroeder Haslem, Dominic Janes, Emma L. Jones, Karín Lesnik-Oberstein, Pam Lieske, Andrew Mangham, Emma L. E. Rees, Sheena Sommers, Susan C. Staub, and Carolyn D.Williams.


Reclaiming the Body

Reclaiming the Body

Author: Joel James Shuman

Publisher: Brazos Press

Published: 2006-02

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1587431270

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A doctor and a theologian explore the relationship between Christian faith and medicine, encouraging a more biblical view of health and health care by individuals and churches


Book Synopsis Reclaiming the Body by : Joel James Shuman

Download or read book Reclaiming the Body written by Joel James Shuman and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2006-02 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A doctor and a theologian explore the relationship between Christian faith and medicine, encouraging a more biblical view of health and health care by individuals and churches


Finding What Works in Health Care

Finding What Works in Health Care

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-07-20

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 0309164257

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Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.


Book Synopsis Finding What Works in Health Care by : Institute of Medicine

Download or read book Finding What Works in Health Care written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.