Queering Health

Dr Laetitia Zeeman has a clinical and academic background in mental health, narrative therapy and clinical governance, gained in South Africa and England. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Science at the University of Brighton. Kay Aranda is a Principal Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Applied Social Science at the University of Brighton in the UK. Dr Alec Grant is Reader in Narrative Mental Health in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Brighton. He is widely published in the fields of ethnography, autoethnography, clinical supervision, cognitive behavioural psychotherapy, and communication and interpersonal skills. His current and developing research and scholarly interests coalesce in the area of narrative inquiry and demedicalizing mental health.

This engaging, troubling, and beautifully-written book dives into the assumptions and paradoxes that shape our experiences of health care. It challenges systems of classification that attempt to reduce human complexity to a label by recognizing the fluid, hybrid nature of contemporary identities. Thus, it expands our understanding of queer theory and queer practice that aims to "undo normativity". The integration of theory and narrative is masterful, and the book's messages are both timely and timeless. Queer Health insists (despite the hegemony of the market) that kindness, dignity, and compassion are more relevant today than ever. Amanda Barusch, Professor of Social Work, University of Otago & University of Utah.

• Forewords Professor Gillian Bendelow and Professor Ian Parker 1. Introduction Laetitia Zeeman, Kay Aranda and Alec Grant 2. Life histories and health narratives of older British lesbians Jane Traies and Sally R Munt 3. Exploring older gay male culture and its implications for health and social care Lee Price 4. It's a gap, not an overlap: Queering bi health Kath Browne, Leela Bakshi and Georgina Voss 5. Queer challenges to evidence-based mental health care Laetitia Zeeman, Kay Aranda and Alec Grant 6. Troubling the normative mental health recovery project: The silent resistance of a disappearing doctor Alec Grant and Helen Leigh-Phippard 7. Breaking the grip: a critical insider account of representational practices in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy and mental health nursing Alec Grant 8. Narratives of the resilient subject in health and social care Kay Aranda and Laetitia Zeeman 9. The body queered in health and healthcare Kay Aranda 10. Queer teeth Olu Jenzen