Disablement and the ideological crisis in health care

Gareth H. Williams

Social Science & Medicine, 1991, vol. 32, issue 4, 517-524

Abstract: Disablement from chronic illness presents medicine with a constant reminder of the limits to its therapeutic effectiveness, and challenges the political legitimacy of Welfare States. In this regard, chronic illness forms a crucial component of the 'crisis' in health care. In this paper I look at the different ways in which disablement stimulates this crisis--for medicine, for political economy, and for disabled people themselves. In looking at responses to the crisis I detect a certain reluctance, or inability, to move away from an atomistic perspective which underpins much of our thinking on health and social policy, and much else besides. I conclude by arguing, against post-modern cynics, that a reasoned defence of the Welfare State requires a broader concept of self-sufficiency and a perspective which both acknowledges the need for help, and recognizes the extent to which the provision of help may further disempower the disadvantaged.

Keywords: disablement; health; care; crisis; ideology; Welfare; State (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
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