Open University Press, 1985, Hardcover (Original Cloth), Book Condition: Near Fine, Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine, First

"How should health care be evaluated? In this book Gilbert Smith and Caroline Cantley argue that existing methods of evaluating the effectiveness of health and welfare services are based on unrealistic conceptions of how the institutions which provide these services function. The authors propose a radically new approach, pluralistic evaluation, which puts a premium on understanding the variety of different objectives pursued in health care services. The value of pluralistic evaluation is then demonstrated in a detailed examination of a new day hospital for the elderly mentally infirm. The authors illustrate how different constituent groups in or relating to the hospital - psychiatrists, nurses, general practitioners, social workers, patients' relatives - have different conceptions of what constitutes 'successful' treatment. They examine how the interests and strategies of the different groups are interwoven in the provision of hospital care for the elderly." Size: Octavo (standard book size). 195 pages. Gilt titles spine. blue cloth. Includes index. Quantity Available: 1. Category: Medicine & Health; Sociology & Culture; Psychology & Psychiatry. ISBN: 0335150721. ISBN/EAN: 9780335150724. Inventory No: MDC00041.