ABSTRACT

This book contains a forword by Ron Pust, Professor of Family Medicine, University of Arizona, USA. Written by a practicing physician with 30 years experience both in America and Africa, "Suffering and Healing in America" takes a critical look at Western health care and examines its weaknesses. With a thought provoking rather than prescriptive approach, this extraordinary book offers a new reasoning in health care: learning from history and traditional cultures. "Suffering and Healing in America" will be of great interest to all health care professionals and researchers with an interest in public health. Religious and spiritual leaders will find this book a source of inspiration, and policy makers and shapers worldwide will find plenty to inform and guide their thoughts on the future of health care in America and beyond. 'It doesn't matter whether you are a provider or a consumer of health care, whether in the USA or outside, this book continues to draw keenly reflective cultural insights to challenge us all. America has money and science, but we may have abandoned the spiritual and social context of our lives and deaths. In Africa, and in many other places on our planet, it is quite the opposite. I invite you to explore these contrasts with Ray Downing. This book's lessons have much to teach us.' - Ron Pust, in the Foreword.

chapter One|6 pages

Introduction

part |2 pages

Health

chapter Two|6 pages

Health

chapter Three|8 pages

Paradigms

chapter Four|6 pages

Hubris

chapter Five|6 pages

Ethics

part |2 pages

Suffering

chapter Six|8 pages

Suffering

chapter Seven|6 pages

Chronic disease – 1

chapter Eight|4 pages

Chronic disease – 2

part |2 pages

Healing

chapter Nine|6 pages

Treatment

chapter Ten|8 pages

Healing

chapter Eleven|7 pages

Family medicine

part |2 pages

Prevention

chapter Twelve|4 pages

Prevention – 1

chapter Theirteen|6 pages

Prevention – 2

part |2 pages

Culture

chapter Fourteen|8 pages

Culture

chapter Fifteen|6 pages

Learning

chapter Sixteen|8 pages

Poverty