Finding Meaning in Healthcare

Looking Through the Hermeneutic Window

Rupal Shah, Robert Clarke

$82.95 $70.08

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
29 August 2025

Social work; Psychology; Health psychology; Medical sociology; Psychotherapy

This pioneering book illustrates the ways in which an interpretive or hermeneutic stance can be incorporated into modern healthcare across clinical practice, clinical ethics, education and leadership – and the transformative effects of doing so.

Combining practical case studies and narrative, this book introduces the hermeneutic window, in which meaning making frames clinical and educational decision making. It shows how best practice requires more than clinical knowledge, communication skills and application of evidence based medicine. It is within the hermeneutic window that assumptions, meanings and values are examined, questioned and re-examined. Drawing on a wide range of expertise, the chapters challenge existing assumptions about the essence of healthcare and the role that clinicians play within it.

This book is valuable reading for all healthcare practitioners, particularly GPs, physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, as well as professions allied to medicine, medical students and other trainees.

Edited by: Rupal Shah, Robert Clarke
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 330g
ISBN: 9781032832166
ISBN 10: 1032832169
Pages: 162
Publication Date: 29 August 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Foreword by Victor Montori. Chapter 1. An Introduction to the Four Domain Model Robert Clarke and Rupal Shah. Chapter 2. A History of Hermeneutics Emma Ladds. Chapter 3. Nudging the Status Quo Emma Ladds, Melissa Sayer and Rupal Shah. Chapter 4. Hermeneutic Approaches in Complex Multimorbidity Sophie Park and Martina Ann Kelly. Chapter 5. Hermeneutic Approaches in Mental Health and Chronic Pain Jens Foell and Sami Timimi. Chapter 6. Hermeneutics - An Ethical and Philosophical Perspective Paquita de Zulueta and John Spicer. Chapter 7. A Hermeneutic Approach to Social Injustice Austin O’Carroll. Chapter 8. The Human Element in the Age of AI: Balancing Technology and Meaning in Medicine Marcus Lewis, Sylvie Delacroix, David Fraile Navarro, Richard Lehman. Chapter 9. Hermeneutic Approaches to Leadership Jo-Anne Johnson and Sanjiv Ahluwalia. Chapter 10. Meaning Making in Frontline Medical Education John Launer and Louise Younie. Chapter 11. A Hermeneutic Approach to Professionalism and the Link with Practical Wisdom Sabena Jameel. Chapter 12. Flourishing Spaces Louise Younie. Chapter 13. Quality Rebellion: Hermeneutics Beyond the Clinical Encounter Jane Myat and Jane Riddiford.

Rupal Shah is a GP and medical educator in London. She has published widely in the field of medical education, including Fighting for the Soul of General Practice – The Algorithm Will See You Now (2024) and the hermeneutic window series of articles. Robert Clarke is a retired GP and medical educator who has a longstanding interest in evidence based medicine. He first co-formulated the hermeneutic window to demonstrate that biomedical and humanistic approaches are complementary and has collaborated with Rupal Shah and colleagues in arguing that meaning making is essential in healthcare.

Reviews for Finding Meaning in Healthcare: Looking Through the Hermeneutic Window

“A timely book which argues that relationship based care is more important than ever at a time when health care is increasingly fragmented, taskified, deprofessionalised and digitised.” --Professor Trisha Greenhalgh, University of Oxford “An inspiring collection of essays that eloquently diagnoses the dis-ease afflicting contemporary healthcare. And 'Finding Meaning in Healthcare' goes beyond diagnosis to offer us the cure - an elegant framework which, applied to every consultation and clinical encounter, will transform the experience of both patients and the practitioners who care for them. Essential reading for anyone who has even an inkling that, for all the spectacular advances of medicine in the scientific era, the practice of healthcare has grievously lost its way.” --Dr Phil Whitaker, Medical Editor, New Statesman, and author of 'What Is a Doctor? - A GP's Prescription for the Future' “Much of general practice and primary care seems to be drowning in anxiety and despondency both for patients and professionals. This book provides some much-needed life rafts!” --Dr Iona Heath, Past President Royal College of General Practitioners.