Future Challenges

The current climate of fiscal austerity poses significant challenges for the health of populations across Europe, and deteriorating social conditions make some groups of individuals especially vulnerable to illness and have the potential to exacerbate existing inequalities in health and in access to healthcare. These challenges are occurring alongside other significant trends: the health system reforms, which are shifting the emphasis of healthcare from public provision towards a public/private mix, the integration of health and social services, nudging as a new approach to health promotion, the redefinition of the service user as a consumer, a growing emphasis on individual responsibility for health and lifestyles and on biological citizenship, the pharmaceuticalisation of everyday life and the increasing deterioration in the mental health of people in contemporary societies. The work of healthcare professionals is also undergoing significant changes, as their work comes under increased surveillance and monitoring, raising implications for the relations with patients, for the kind of care that is provided, and for the experience of patients. In different ways, and based on different cases, this book deals with challenges for health and healthcare in a European context now and in the future. This includes challenges on an individual level, such as individual views and behaviour, and on a societal level, such as inequality. The book applies to students, researchers, healthcare professionals and decision makers within health and healthcare in a national or international context.