ABSTRACT
In a review of the sociology of chronic illness, Bury called for a recognition not only of the problems people face but of the positive actions people take to ‘mobilise resources and maximise favourable outcomes’ (Bury 1991:462). Bury argued that the way in which people respond to the disruptive effects of chronic illness involves a ‘greater degree of consciousness and calculation in everyday life, whether at home or work, than is normally experienced’: to define such actions as merely ‘coping strategies’ is to underestimate the extent to which people engage in the ‘strategic management’ of their illness (Bury 1991:462).
