"The first comprehensive outline of a discipline known as the geographies of health. It will rapidly become the standard reference in the field."—Michael Dear, University of California
Description
Putting Health into Place draws together original works that collectively argue for a reinvention of medical geography. There is a growing interest worldwide in relationships between human health and the experience of place, an interest driven both by developments in sociocultural theory and observed health concerns. This
book is a resource for those wishing to explore or to teach beyond the frontiers of conventional medical geography.
As the first word of the book’s title suggests, this is an active volume, one that contributes to situating health in the simultaneously tangible, negotiated, and experienced realities of place. Robin A. Kearns and Wilbert M. Gesler argue that medical issues are a necessary but insufficient focus in developing geographies of health and healing. This contention is supported by the authors of the thirteen substantive chapters who convey research findings from the Americas, Britain, and the Pacific.
This book represents a collective commitment to exploring links between social and cultural theory, ideas about place, and discourses on health that will be of interest to readers across the social and health sciences.
About the Author
Robin A. Kearns is senior lecturer in geography at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He has published over thirty refereed journal articles on aspects of primary health care, mental health, housing policy, maternity services, and philosophy of health.
Wilbert M. Gesler is professor of geography at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The author of The Cultural Geography of Health Care, he has also written journal articles about health care.
June 1998