Textbook

• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Consumers act rationally by


  Maximising their utility
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits
• Workers act rationally by


  Balancing welfare at work with consideration of both pay and benefits
• Governments act rationally by


  Placing the interests of the people they serve first in order to maximise their welfare
• Rationality in classical economic theory is a flawed assumption as people usually don't act rationally
• Marginal utility


  The additional utility (satisfaction) gained from the consumption of an additional product
• If you add up marginal utility for each unit you get total utility
• Types of health care facilities

  • Hospital
  • Nursing Homes
  • Board and Care Homes
  • Assisted Living Facilities
  • Hospices
• Nursing Homes


  Residential facilities that provide care for the elderly or disabled who need assistance with daily living activities
• Who uses Nursing Homes

  • Elderly
  • Disabled
• Financing Nursing Home Care


  Paying for the costs of care in a nursing home
• Working in Nursing Homes

  Employment in nursing home facilities
• Life in Nursing Homes

  The daily experiences and activities of residents in nursing home facilities
• Board and Care Homes


  Residential facilities that provide room, board, and some assistance with daily living activities
• Assisted Living Facilities


  Residential facilities that provide housing, meals, and assistance with some daily living activities for elderly or disabled residents
• Hospices


  Facilities that provide palliative care and support for terminally ill patients and their families
• The beginnings and history of the hospice movement

  Origins of Hospice
• The Hospice Philosophy


  The core principles and approach of hospice care
• Ethical Debate: A Right to Die?
• The Cooptation of Hospice

  How hospice care has been changed and influenced by external factors
• Making a Difference: The Human Service Alliance by W.Bradford Swift with Kimberly Ridley
• Use of Hospice


  How hospice services are utilized
• Costs and Financing


  The financial aspects of hospice care
• Home Care


  Health care services provided in a patient's home
• The Nature of Family Caregiving


  The experiences and responsibilities of family members who provide care for ill or disabled loved ones
• Easing the Burdens of Caregiving


  Ways to support and assist family caregivers
• Health Care Technologies


  Medical technologies and their impacts
• The Nature of Technology


  The fundamental characteristics of health care technologies
• The Social Construction of Technology

  How social factors shape the development and use of health technologies
• Sociologists study diverse topics related to health, illness, and health care
• Sociologists find it more useful to explore whether social forces can explain social problems, rather than just focusing on individual therapy
• Sociologists focus on social patterns rather than individual behaviors, unlike psychologists, medical anthropologists, public health workers, and others
• Sociological perspective


  Framing problems as public issues, rather than simply personal troubles
• The sociological perspective departs from the popular American belief that individuals create their own fates and that anyone can succeed if they try hard enough
• The sociological perspective can help identify critical research questions that might otherwise go unasked
• Power


  The ability to get others to do what one wants, whether willingly or unwillingly