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Preface:Onthesubjectandconceptsused
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ineconomicprogressdependnotonlyoncapitalandlabourbutalsoontheinsti-
tution(North2002).Definingtheinstitutionisnotsimple.JerzyWilkin(2016)
inhiseńortstoexplainthemeaningoftheinstitutionemphasizestheeńectof
humanactionsdeterminedbycustoms,standards,regulations,andorganizations.
Hewrotethat‘institutionsareinhumanminds’andtheassessmentoftheirper-
formanceispossiblewhentheyareinternalized.Aninstitutionalapproachinsocial
andhealthpolicyisnecessarywhenweanalyseandevaluatesocialreforms.Ten,
notonlydoestheprocessofcreatingregulationsexpresstheimpactofinstitutions
butsodoestheireńectonbehaviour.
Tisbookhasgrownoutoftheauthors’experienceinbothteachingaspartof
lecturesonsocialandhealthpolicy,andresearchworkconductedattheInstitute
ofPublicHealthoftheFacultyofHealthSciences,JagiellonianUniversityMedical
College.Teauthorshavefoundthatlearningaboutandexplainingpeople’ssocial
andhealthproblemsaswellasdescribingsocialinstitutionsfromthepointofview
oftheirsuitabilityandeńectivenessrequireanewapproach.Ontheonehand,a
holisticone,thatcombinessocialandhealthissues,andontheother,onethatper-
ceiveshumanlifeandsocialneedsfromthelifecourseperspective.
Tetopicsaddressedinthebookwerepresentedatseminarsandpartlypub-
lished,e.g.onyouth(KulturaiSpołeczeństwo2010),whileissuesrelatedtoolder
peopleandagingwerethesubjectofEuropeanresearchprojectsinwhichthe
authorsparticipated.Numerouspublicationspresentingtheresultsofthesestudies
arecitedinappropriateplacesinthebook.Wetakeheretheopportunitytothank
theanonymousreviewersofthesepublications.
Tecommentsandsuggestionsofreviewersofthebook:prof.PiotrTyszkaand
prof.IrenaKotowska,weregratefullyreceived.Alookfrom,ontheonehand,a
medicalperspectiveandontheother-demographicone,sometimesmadeitpos-
sibletoclarifytheapproachesorsupplementthecontent,andabovealltogivea
senseoflegitimacytotheeńortundertakentowritethisbook.
Tebookisascientifictextbook,whichmeansthatthecontentdiscussedis
foundedonscientificevidence.Tisrequiresamoreextensiveuseofliteraturein
variousdisciplinesrelatedtohumandevelopmentinthecourseofindividuallives
aswellashistoricalchangesinlifeconditionsofdińerentgenerations.Teinfor-
mativebasisofthediscussionsisnotonlytheliteratureofthesubjectmatterand
resultsofvariousoriginalcomparativestudies,butalsothequantitativedatafrom
availablestatisticaldatabases.Teconceptofsocialindicatorswasusedforpresen-
tationofquantitativedata.Ofentheseareindicatorscreatedforreportingpurposes
anddevelopmentofEuropeansocialstrategies.
Teońeredtextbookpresentsamultidisciplinaryapproachcoveringbothsocial
policyandpublichealthproblems,andisapioneerwithinthisscope.Itisaddressed
tostudentsofsocialsciencesandhealthsciences,socialandhealthservicesprac-
titioners,andtopolicymakerswhotakedecisionsonmanylevelsofpowerand
management.
