ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Social policy as a field of study may or may not mean something to you. You might feel you have little knowledge of it or that it is remote to you and your life experiences. But chances are it does have significance for you in that social policies will have the potential to shape your choices whenever you need health care, housing, employment, child care or many other services. Social policies are dynamic, they affect lives and will affect both the providers and the users of a range of health and social care services. This chapter introduces you to social policies. These may or may not be familiar to you but as a student of, or even a worker in, health and social care services it is vital to be acquainted with them. We need, therefore, to explore what they are and to show their significance.
