Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: By Rob Baggott, Judith Allsop and Kathryn Jones . Palgrave Macmillan , 2005 , HB £55.00 , 349 pp . , 0-333-96829-X . PB £18.99 , 349 pp , ISBN 0-333-96828-8 Drawing on substantial research undertaken at De Montfort University, Leicester, conducted between 1999 and 2003, this text explores and discusses health consumer groups involved in the policy process at the national level in the United Kingdom. The research, funded by the UK Economic and Research Council, ‘is aimed to investigate the characteristics of health consumer groups and their internal and external relationships’. The second aim of the book is to consider health consumer groups’‘implications for government policies related to patient and public involvement in health; the voluntary sector; the representation of interests in health care politics and the workings of the policy process’ . These are very ambitious aims for a book of any length. The introduction describes in detail the context of the research, as well as some of the difficult definitional and conceptual issues regarding the roles of patients, consumers and the consumer moment as they operate within the policy and political constraints of the National Health Services (NHS); this is vital to an understanding of the book and the conclusions it reaches. While this book might be viewed by some as most useful to those working and living under the NHS or in countries with similar forms of national health insurance, it is also extremely valuable to readers of at least all western countries, regardless of the nature and structure (or non-structure) of its health system. For those who live and work in the UK this is a ‘must’ on the reading list, as it makes a major contribution on a timely and emerging topic which it treats in a careful manner. All healthcare professionals and those concerned with health policy, regardless of their specific country, must understand the impact of consumerism in its many forms, notwithstanding the variation and constraints placed by national context and related health policies. The book is easy to read and well worth the time for any healthcare professional or policymaker, and indeed even politicians interested in health. The book is well outlined and proceeds in a straightforward and logical manner, with an excellent summary of each chapter and what it presents found in the introduction. The ‘categorization of health consumer groups’ based on the research presents an important and needed contribution to the literature on health-care consumerism. Indeed, it would provide an excellent conceptual framework for future studies as well as for simply understanding the various forms consumer groups may take (at least based on this study and the UK context). Chapter 3 tackles the very difficult concept of communicating probabilities clearly, concisely and with examples that may easily be used in the classroom as well as in patient education. It challenges the traditional approach of communicating percentages in an effort to assist patients to understand risk. Further, it presents ways to overcome these issues. The following chapters logically proceed from the policy context to an understanding of the disease-specific groups studied (which would be an approach taken in most western countries). From there the following chapters explore each of the consumer groups identified in the study in a thorough manner. Another unique aspect of the book is the five chapters that deal with ‘Collaboration with health professionals’, ‘The pharmaceutical industry’, ‘Working with government’, ‘Working with parliament’ and ‘Working with the media’. These chapters add a more thorough and needed treatment of how consumer groups interface with major players and stakeholders in the health-care system. These chapters add great depth to the book and an understanding of the complexities any type of consumer group faces in the real world of health policy; conversely, these chapters provide useful information on how consumer groups work to influence these major players. The appendix provides an outline of the methodology employed. However, the authors never really address the generalizability of the groups that agreed to participate in the study; this is disappointing. However, the book appears to have excellent ‘face validity’ to this reviewer, who does not work within the NHS, that one may conclude that the lessons presented here are important lessons regardless. Perhaps this is because of the importance of consumerism in healthcare in all countries where increasingly patients, relatives, advocates and interested citizens are demanding an active voice regardless of the national or political constraints of any single country.
Source: Health Expectations
Author: Daniel R. Longo
Institution: University of Missouri
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1972710183