Health Studies: an Introduction is a comprehensive introduction to health and illness, approaches to healthcare, and the psychological, social and environmental factors that influence public and personal health. This thoroughly revised edition includes new chapters on geography & physiology, and increased coverage of global health issues.

Introduction 1. Human Biology and Health 2. History and Health 3. Epidemiology and Health 4. Health Psychology 5. Sociology and Health 6. Geography and Health 7. Cultural Studies and Anthropology 8. Politics and Health 9. Social Policy and Health 10. Organisation and Management of Health and Health Care 11. Health Economics 12. Ethics and Law

"This text informs my teaching and underpins the learning outcomes that relate to a range of 'health' modules and courses. It is a text that I shall certainly recommend to students, as it is written in a user friendly style, encourages critical thinking and focuses on developing an appreciation of knowledge that underpins practice and the application of theory to practice. I welcome the changes as a positive development and look forward to the third edition." - Pauline Lilley, Coventry University, UK "[This] text helps students to construct an accurate and unbiased view of health and social care which is helpful in facilitating critical analysis [...] provides students with a framework to be critical of the information on health that they find in other sources, predominantly more web-based information. [...]Students that do not use this text tend to present overly descriptive essays and are reliant on web based information." - Peter Stuart, University of Northampton, UK "Excellent general text on health for use by midwifery students who need to gain a broader view of health related to women, pregnancy and childbearing." - Nicola Young, UEA "This is a good background read and affords a broad interpretation of health issues. This edition engages the reader and encourages them to uncover the broader issues of health." - Faith Muir, University of Wolverhampton, UK "A very comprehensive text which will be an invaluable addition to the existing resources for my students." - Dev Jootun, University of the West of Scotland

"This text informs my teaching and underpins the learning outcomes that relate to a range of 'health' modules and courses. It is a text that I shall certainly recommend to students, as it is written in a user friendly style, encourages critical thinking and focuses on developing an appreciation of knowledge that underpins practice and the application of theory to practice. I welcome the changes as a positive development and look forward to the third edition." - Pauline Lilley, Coventry University, UK "[This] text helps students to construct an accurate and unbiased view of health and social care which is helpful in facilitating critical analysis [...] provides students with a framework to be critical of the information on health that they find in other sources, predominantly more web-based information. [...]Students that do not use this text tend to present overly descriptive essays and are reliant on web based information." - Peter Stuart, University of Northampton, UK "Excellent general text on health for use by midwifery students who need to gain a broader view of health related to women, pregnancy and childbearing." - Nicola Young, UEA "This is a good background read and affords a broad interpretation of health issues. This edition engages the reader and encourages them to uncover the broader issues of health." - Faith Muir, University of Wolverhampton, UK "A very comprehensive text which will be an invaluable addition to the existing resources for my students." - Dev Jootun, University of the West of Scotland