Research into the delivery and organisation of health care is a vital component in the improvement of health services. A wide range of disciplines and methods needs to be deployed to address research questions in this field. This unique reader brings together thirty examples of high-quality SDO research using a range of disciplines, including organisational studies, epidemiology, sociology, history, health economics, anthropology and policy studies, illustrating the use of qualitative and quantitative approaches and primary and secondary research. Expert editorial commentary on each section highlights different themes and methodological issues.

The reader covers six main areas of research:

• Organising services around the user
• User involvement in organising services
• Workforce issues
• Evaluating models of service delivery
• Quality management and the management of change
• Studying health care organisations.

This book is a companion volume to Studying the Organisation and Delivery of Health Services: Research Methods also published by Routledge (2001). It makes top-quality, empirical and secondary research readily accessible to health service managers and health care professionals who are interested in research, to health service researchers and to undergraduate and postgraduate students following courses in health and health management studies.