Six More than a matter of choice? Consumerism and the modernisation of health care
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Janet Newman
Abstract
This chapter explores some of the ways in which the ‘consumer’ is situated in New Labour’s narrative of modernisation. It examines how health care organisations are responding to the consumerist imperative, paying particular attention to how they attempt to resolve some of the political and policy tensions that arise. It examines the new relationships and patterns of identification that are configured in the interface between health services and their publics. The chapter is based on the results from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)/Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB)-funded project entitled ‘Creating Citizen-Consumers: Changing Relationships and Identifications’. It focuses on the potential relationship between shifts in policy discourse and a reconfiguration of relationships and identifications. It draws on data from the analysis of policy documents; from interviews with senior health service managers; and from front-line staff and service users.
Abstract
This chapter explores some of the ways in which the ‘consumer’ is situated in New Labour’s narrative of modernisation. It examines how health care organisations are responding to the consumerist imperative, paying particular attention to how they attempt to resolve some of the political and policy tensions that arise. It examines the new relationships and patterns of identification that are configured in the interface between health services and their publics. The chapter is based on the results from an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)/Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB)-funded project entitled ‘Creating Citizen-Consumers: Changing Relationships and Identifications’. It focuses on the potential relationship between shifts in policy discourse and a reconfiguration of relationships and identifications. It draws on data from the analysis of policy documents; from interviews with senior health service managers; and from front-line staff and service users.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- List of contributors vi
- Introduction 1
-
Key areas of social policy
- Personal social services: developments in adult social care 15
- Creating a patient-led NHS: empowering ‘consumers’ or shrinking the state? 33
- A ‘pivotal moment’? Education policy in England, 2005 49
- Strategic pragmatism? The state of British housing policy 65
- Social security policies in 2005 83
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Health and well-being
- More than a matter of choice? Consumerism and the modernisation of health care 101
- Being well and well-being: the value of community and professional concepts in understanding positive health 121
- Happiness and social policy: barking up the right tree in the wrong neck of the woods 145
- Using health and subjective wellbeing for quality of life measurement: a review 165
- Community well-being strategy and the legacies of new institutionalism and New Public Management in third way New Zealand 193
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Ageing and employment
- Extending working life: problems and prospects for social and public policy 221
- Age discrimination in history 249
- Training and learning in the workplace: can we legislate against age discriminatory practices? 269
- Ageing and employment: looking back, looking forward 293
- Index 313
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and tables v
- List of contributors vi
- Introduction 1
-
Key areas of social policy
- Personal social services: developments in adult social care 15
- Creating a patient-led NHS: empowering ‘consumers’ or shrinking the state? 33
- A ‘pivotal moment’? Education policy in England, 2005 49
- Strategic pragmatism? The state of British housing policy 65
- Social security policies in 2005 83
-
Health and well-being
- More than a matter of choice? Consumerism and the modernisation of health care 101
- Being well and well-being: the value of community and professional concepts in understanding positive health 121
- Happiness and social policy: barking up the right tree in the wrong neck of the woods 145
- Using health and subjective wellbeing for quality of life measurement: a review 165
- Community well-being strategy and the legacies of new institutionalism and New Public Management in third way New Zealand 193
-
Ageing and employment
- Extending working life: problems and prospects for social and public policy 221
- Age discrimination in history 249
- Training and learning in the workplace: can we legislate against age discriminatory practices? 269
- Ageing and employment: looking back, looking forward 293
- Index 313
