Medical Humanities: Criticism and Creativity – serie

Ambitious in its forms and disciplinary insights, this is health humanities writing of real value. An accessible, rich and real range of stories tells us what it is like to experience breast cancer. This book is for patients, clinicians and people who live close to this condition and that really means all of us. (Professor Jane Macnaughton, Institute for Medical Humanities, Durham University)This is a wonderful collection of essays describing every aspect of breast cancer care, written by patients and the people who treat them. It is full of warmth, empathy and honesty, and will gently guide anyone through a diagnosis ofbreast cancer. (Dr. Liz ORiordan, author of The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer)This book offers a 360 look at breast cancer from individuals who have intimate understanding of and experience with it: patients who have lived or are living with the disease; healthcare providers whose perspectives patients and families rarely get to know; and researchers and scholars who examine breast cancer through various scientific and cultural lenses. Here you will meet 33 individuals from the UK and US who provide both factual information and personal insights in different forms: historical overview, personal essay, interview, play script, poem, interpersonal vignette, practical guidelines, comic, mixed-media photography exhibit and scholarly analysis.Breast cancer changes lives. This book is meant to be a single go-to source for people who want to understand more fully and clearly the lived experience of breast cancer what those who know it best think and do and feel.

«With Pro-vax, Samantha Vanderslott opens a whole new avenue of research. This thought-provoking book will be a landmark for years to come as the research community moves towards a richer understanding of contemporary debates surrounding vaccination.»(Dr Jeremy Ward, Chargé de Recherche, INSERM) «Vanderslott’s book, Pro-vax, sheds light on the important dimension of positive activism around vaccination, which is against the tide of a challenging environment that she also considers in her thoughtful, well-written book.»(Professor Heidi Larson, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, LSHTM) «This book tackles a distinction we have taken for granted for too long: that between anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine attitudes. Building on her longstanding expertise in the history and politics of vaccination, Samantha Vanderslott provides a compelling account of pro-vaccine movements. By shifting our attention to those who express public support for vaccination, and away from those who do not, this book represents a unique intervention in both scholarly and political discourse. With its use of historical sources, images, and accessible language, the book will be invaluable for scholars of vaccination and vaccine advocates alike.»(Assistant Professor Katharina T. Paul, Department of Political Science, University of Vienna) Vaccination is both a social activity on a grand scale and an experience that is very personal and individual. Add to the mix the understanding of vaccination in culture, the media, and others around us in society, and attitudes to vaccination become complex. For a long time, the concentration has been on attitudes to vaccination by those who are in opposition (the «anti-vax»), neglecting the majority who are supportive. This book aims to reconsider vaccination as a phenomenon from the perspective of those who are «pro-vax», who actively support and vocally promote vaccines. Using contemporary and historical examples, the book explores public support of vaccination, focusing on civil society in action through activism, petitions, and trials.

This book offers a 360° look at breast cancer from individuals who have intimate understanding of and experience with it: patients who have lived or are living with the disease; healthcare providers whose perspectives patients and families rarely get to know; and researchers and scholars who examine breast cancer through various scientific and cultural lenses. Here you will meet 33 individuals from the UK and US who provide both factual information and personal insights in different forms: historical overview, personal essay, interview, play script, poem, interpersonal vignette, practical guidelines, comic, mixed-media photography exhibit and scholarly analysis. Breast cancer changes lives. This book is meant to be a single go-to source for people who want to understand more fully and clearly the lived experience of breast cancer – what those who know it best think and do and feel.