Health Care as Vocation? Practicing Faithfully in an Age of Disenchantment

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-265
Author(s):  
Warren A Kinghorn
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Complex State ◽  
Health Care Practitioners ◽  
The Face ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Best Offer

AbstractIn his 1917 lecture “Science as a Vocation,” Max Weber challenged current and aspiring scholars to abandon any pretense that science (Wissenschaft) bears within itself any meaning. In a disenchanted age, he argued, science could at best offer “knowledge of the techniques whereby we can control life . . . through calculation,” and any meaning or moral direction to scientific research—including religious meaning—must be imposed on it from without. Weber presciently anticipated that many present-day health care practitioners would struggle to find meaning for their work within complex “state-capitalist” health care systems, along with predictable quasi-religious responses. But how are Christian practitioners to practice faithfully in a disenchanted age? The authors of this special issue lean deeply into the loci of Christian theology and Christian practice, some challenging the views of the body and of nature that informed Weber’s theory of disenchantment, and all offering resources and paths by which practitioners might “look the fate of the age full in the face” with courage and wisdom.

scholarly journals Right to Health and the Social Determinants of Health in the Face of COVID-19. Tthe Spanish Experience after Austerity Policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 220-241
Author(s):  
Carlos Lema Añón
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
The Face ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has particularly affected Spain in 2020. Although the specific causes and Spain’s response—as well as the aspects to be improved—are yet to be evaluated, many experts agree that this crisis has magnified some of the problems of the Spanish health system, highlighting the problems derived from the cuts in the capacities of the health and public health systems. We assess the current situation from the perspective of the right to health in its twofold dimension: health care and social determinants. For this purpose, we look into the configuration of the right to health in Spain and how the economic crisis and austerity policies affected it. In particular, we consider the impact both on institutional health care systems and in terms of social determinants of health. Finally, we make several proposals for strengthening the right to health.

scholarly journals Australia’s Two-Tier Health Care System United Against COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
Bishoy Hanna ◽  
Amanda Chung
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Acute Health Care ◽  
Health Care Structure ◽  
Care Structure ◽  
The Face ◽  
Care Systems

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had and continues to have an unprecedented impact on health care systems worldwide. The Australian system has yet to be truly tested by the pandemic, as rapid implementation of public health measures has curbed infection rates. Australia’s 2-tier health care has allowed sufficient staffing, equipment, and beds to continue providing acute health care in the face of an exceptional and extreme demand. No health system is perfect and, although Australia’s has some wonderful attributes that make it the envy of many other countries, it faces a number of important challenges. This paper describes how Australia’s health care structure has adapted to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, examines the challenges involved and the lessons learned, and explores how this environmental pressure could lead to systemic adaptations.

Vulnerability and resilience of the European health care systems in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic: a framework for the comparative analysis of problematic sentinel cases

2021 ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
Guido Giarelli
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Concept Of Health ◽  
The Face ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
European Health

The main results in terms of inter-regional and intra-regional variations of the application of the concept of "health macro-region" are presented in the first part of the article in order to show how the European health care systems have differently coped with the COVID-19 outbreak. Given the high levels of intra-regional variation found, it seemed appropriate to also add an analysis by country in order to identify those "sentinel cases", given their alert value, which recorded the worst ratio between the infection rates (cases/population) and the lethality rates (deaths/cases). In order to explore the possible reasons behind the problematic coping with the pandemic of these "sentinel cases", a conceptual framework for the analysis of vulnerability, resilience and their governance in terms of sustainability of health care systems is developed in the second part, hoping its application could represent a useful contribution for best-practice solutions that could guide the management of future pandemics.

160: Cost-Effectiveness of Medical Management Strategies of Nephrolithiasis in Different Health Care Systems

2004 ◽  
Vol 171 (4S) ◽  
pp. 42-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair Latan ◽  
David M. Wilhelm ◽  
David A. Duchene ◽  
Margaret S. Pearle
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Medical Management ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Care Systems

Barriers versus promotion: Culturally sensitive healthcare for elderly Turkish migrants in Austria and Germany

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Nevin Altıntop
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Turkish Migrants ◽  
Care Givers ◽  
Individual Care ◽  
Care Systems

What is the perception of Turkish migrants in elderly care? The increasing number of elder migrants within the German and Austrian population is causing the challenge of including them in an adequate (culturally sensitive) way into the German/Austrian health care system. Here I introduce the perception of elder Turkish migrants within the predominant paradigm of intercultural opening of health care in Germany as well as within the concept of diversity management of health care in Vienna (Austria). The qualitative investigation follows a field research in different German and Austrian cities within the last four years and an analysis based on the Grounded Theory Methodology. The meaning of intercultural opening on the one hand, and diversity management on the other hand with respect to elderly care will be evaluated. Whereas the intercultural opening directly demands a reduction of barriers to access institutional elderly care the concept of diversity is hardly successful in the inclusion of migrants into elderly care assistance – concerning both, migrants as care-givers and migrants as care-receivers. Despite the similarities between the health care systems of Germany and Austria there are decisive differences in the perception and inclusion of migrants in elderly care that is largely based on an 'individual care' concept of the responsible institutions. Finally, this investigation demonstrates how elderly care in Germany and Austria prepares to encounter the demand of 'individual care' in a diverse society.

Modernization, Globalization, Trends, and Convergence in Health Expenditure in Latin America and the Caribbean

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Noy ◽  
Patricia A. McManus
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Health Care Financing ◽  
Health Spending ◽  
Modernization Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Public Private Mix

Are health care systems converging in developing nations? We use the case of health care financing in Latin America between 1995 and 2009 to assess the predictions of modernization theory, competing strands of globalization theory, and accounts of persistent cross-national differences. As predicted by modernization theory, we find convergence in overall health spending. The public share of health spending increased over this time period, with no convergence in the public-private mix. The findings indicate robust heterogeneity of national health care systems and suggest that globalization fosters human investment health policies rather than neoliberal, “race to the bottom” cutbacks in public health expenditures.

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