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Understanding the reproduction of health care: towards geographies in health care work

¹ Department of Health, Aging and Society, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada
² Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

There has been only a partial geographical engagement with the production of conventional health care. Whilst medical geography maps aggregate supply and demand features, the geography of health focuses more on consumption and social and cultural contexts. More specifi cally, apart from a handful of published studies, both of these fi elds have overlooked how health care is continually reproduced in places by workers. In response to these shortfalls in the literature, we call for attention to geographies in health care work. In support, we describe the geographies that characterize the new health care and, using therapeutics as an example, outline how clinical concepts might provide secure foundations for research. A fi nal discussion outlines the multiple people, places and relationships that could be investigated. Developing geographies in health care work would provide sensitive insights into the complexity, diversity and daily operation of health care.

Key Words: clinical practice, health care, health geography, medical geography, work

First published on May 13, 2008, doi:10.1177/0309132508089826

Progress in Human Geography 2008;32:759.

A more recent version of this article appeared on December 1, 2008


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