Taking as its point of departure the medicalization thesis and its limitations, this paper provides a critical discussion of certain more recent theoretical perspectives on life in contemporary society, and their relevance for understanding the relationship between modern medicine and the lay...

This paper describes the results of the first-stage of a study carried out in the spring of 1988 in the South East of England. The study looked at general and specific aspects of consumer satisfaction with general practitioner services, general dental care services and hospital in-patients care....