L'hôpital comme espace public

Hospitals are microcosms of society, symbolic places where basic human and social relationships are formed and places of memory and as such have witnessed great changes to their functions over the years. In turn they have been places of welcome, places of confinement, “healing machines†, the mainspring of health policies and nowadays seem to be both government-run institutions and healthcare businesses however contradictory that may sometimes appear. However, the pressure of a few basic social shifts seems to have led hospitals to gradually open up to the outside world, turning themselves from publich health system strongholds into “spaces open to the public†with culturally supportive values. Among these shifts in society, the development of support initiatives in the hospital environment such as local community-based solidarity projects run in partnership with “the outside world†seems to be playing an important role

Art · Humanities · Political science · Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues · Health, Medicine and Society · Healthcare Systems and Practices