Critical to Care: The Invisible Women in Health Services - Softcover

Armstrong, Pat; Armstrong, Hugh; Scott-Dixon, Krista

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802096085 ISBN 13: 9780802096081

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2008

Synopsis

Who counts as a health care worker? The question of where we draw the line between health care workers and non-health care workers is not merely a matter of academic nicety or a debate without consequences for care. It is a central issue for policy development because the definition often results in a division among workers in ways that undermine care. Critical to Care uses a wide range of evidence to reveal the contributions that those who provide personal care, who cook, clean, keep records, and do laundry make to health services. As a result of current reforms, these workers are increasingly treated as peripheral even though the research on what determines health demonstrates that their work is essential. The authors stress the invisibility and undervaluing of 'women's work' as well as the importance of context in understanding how this work is defined and treated. Through a gendered analysis, Critical to Care establishes a basis for discussing research, policy, and other actions in relation to the work of thousands of marginalized women and men every day.

About this title

About the Author:

Pat Armstrong is a Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at York University and co-author of Critical to Care: The Invisible Woman in Health Services. Hugh Armstrong is a professor in the School of Social Work and the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University Krista Scott-Dixon is a research associate at the Institute for Work and Health in Toronto.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0802096085
• ISBN 13: 9780802096081
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 242