International Studies of Health Care

This is a collection of papers esulting from a Workshop of International Studies of Medical Care sponsored by the Medical Sociology Section American Sociological Association and held at the Asilomar Conference Grounds California in August 1969. The workshop focused on 1) epidemiologic problems 2) perception of and response to symptoms of illness 3) organization and planning of health services 4) use of health services 5) comparative health systems and 5) health manpower and resources. The workshop stressed personal health services with minimal attention to public health practice and environmental health services. The papers considered problems of definition adequacy of reported statistics national differences in research settings selection of constructs and concepts comparability of recording instruments sampling methods statistical techniques etc. Crossnational studies are good because they make it possible to test relationships and associations which would otherwise be limited by the milieu of a single nation. There is a pressing need to translate grand health system theories into operational terms.