This study identifies three key issues in the sociology of health: researching health; issues surrounding illness in major client/patients groups, such as children and the elderly; and the factors influencing the provision of health care. The book provides a critical evaluation of these issues, and encourages the reader to critique and analyze current findings. It presents and evaluates the current knowledge base, how this has developed and is developing, and considers health issues currently being debated, such as inequalities in health provision. The book provides students with access to a wide range of expertise in the sociology of health. It is written assuming a basic knowledge of sociology on the part of the reader.