This innovative collection offers a fresh look at health, healing, and illness--providing a "bridge" between human experience and social policies and practices. The book brings people with illness into the foreground; it goes beyond patient's roles and into their lives--emphasizing the gap between the acute care model and the needs of the chronically ill.

The readings link personal accounts with structural problems, inviting students to identify with these authors and to see the social issues within their stories. Selections are accessible and edited for succinctness. Section and chapter...