The Triumph of Praticalty: Tradition and Modernity in Health Care Utilization in Selected Asian Countries

This book analyses the process of modernization of health and healing practices, and documents in detail the current trend among people who use both traditional and modern medicine. It has two unique and important features. One is the focus - five nations in Asia (China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand) which are at different stages of social and economic development, are studied and compared, providing a current and detailed picture of the combination of traditional and modern ways of healing. The second unique feature is that each chapter is written by scholars who not only have the advantage of firsthand knowledge of the situation in their respective countries but also bring into their analyses their extensive research experience int he areas of medical sociology and medical history. Moreover, as a book written in English, it offers valuable up-to-date information on the Chinese, Japanese and Thai health care systems, which is usually not accessible to readers unfamiliar with these languages.