Humanizing Healthcare Reforms

This book looks at the current turmoil facing contemporary healthcare systems worldwide, which has resulted from relentless reorganization being imposed upon them, and argues for a return to a values-based approach to healthcare. Writing from the unique and fresh perspective of social anthropology, the author takes a highly logical approach to practice and emphasizes the importance of values such as compassion, solidarity and social justice. He stipulates that without being able to clearly identify the values and goals that unite its members, healthcare organizations are unlikely to be able to meet the demands of the constant and varied pressures they face, and explains how individuals at every level in healthcare can contribute to positive change within their organizations.

Gerald A. Arbuckle, PhD, is a Cambridge University trained anthropologist and a cultural and organisational consultant to public and private healthcare systems in the United States, Canada, and Australia. A former director of the national board of St Vincent's Health, Australia, he was appointed in 2008 by the Government of New South Wales to the Independent Panel to oversee the reform of the state's public hospital system. During 2010 he worked at Campion Hall, Oxford University, researching issues confronting the National Health Service in England. In 2011 he gave the Martin D'Arcy Memorial Lectures at Oxford University upon which this book is based. Gerald lives in Sydney, Australia.