Social Dimensions of Health

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Social dimensions of health and well-being: an overview of research trends/Ajit K. Dalal and Subha Ray. I. Health, illness and well-being: 2. A critical review of well-being measures/A. Sharma, N.R. Sharma and A. Yadava. 3. The common conceptualization of mental health: a qualitative investigation of categories of meaning/Shikha Dixit. 4. Religiosity and sense of well-being: spiritual dimensions of health/K. Ramakrishna Rao. 5. Perspectives on health, illness and well-being: an agenda for future research/A.K. Sharma. II. Indigenous health care practices: 6. Demographic structure and health care practices of Dhodia tribal population of district Valsad, Gujarat/Gautam K. Kshatriya and A.K. Kapoor. 7. A study of ethnomedicine among the Bhotias of Chamoli (Uttaranchal)/Sameera Maiti. 8. Koya perception of health and illness: an ethnomedical analysis/Nanda Kishore Kannuri. 9. Anthropological perspective of health/Rajat Kanti Das. III. Social psychology of health: 10. Psychosocial correlates of health: a review/N.R. Sharma, A. Sharma and A. Yadava. 11. Socialization, personal control and psychosocial competence in relation to subjective well-being of educated Indian women/Ruchika Varma and Nisha Dhawan. 12. Sociology of health and disease/S.P.K. Jena. 13. Role strain of mothers of physically disabled daughters/Nishi Tripathi and Deepa Punetha. IV. Indian health scenario: 14. Social virus of female foeticide more dangerous than HIV/AIDS/Ashish Bose. 15. Future status of elderly in India/Abdul Majeed Khan. 16. Influence of community living and environmental stressors on health and well-being: a study/Dinesh Nagar and Ashutosh Sharma. V. Community health and intervention: 17. Health and environment in changing times: some observations from the Eastern Himalayan Populations/Barun Mukhopadhyay. 18. Morbidity vis-a-vis health behaviour among the tea labourers in Assam/R.K. Kar. 19. Methodological issues of participatory health care management: a case study of maternal anaemia among the urban poor of Tamil Nadu/V. Sudarsen, S. Sumathi and P.I. Prabhakar. 20. Going beyond tertiary prevention of cervical cancer: expanding the role of behavioural scientists/Neena Kohli. Author index. Subject index.

"Improving health status of people is a daunting challenge not only for the health practitioners but also for social scientists and activists. Economists, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and demographers have made significant contributions to understand health in its holistic sense and to develop better health care programmes. This edited volume provides a comprehensive understanding of health issues from socio-cultural perspectives. The articles in this volume, contributed by eminent social scientists, present rich source material on theoretical, empirical and interdisciplinary studies done in India, suggestive of the new ways of health care planning. The book should be a useful reading for those who are engaged in health research and action programmes." (jacket)