The collective work, edited by Sandra Bertezene, prefaced by Cynthia Fleury and introduced and concluded by Philippe Naszalyi, is part of the current, very fertile, research devoted to the economics of well-being and care. As the recent debates in the French parliament on the social security budget have shown, the issues of the organisation of care and social solidarity are now at the centre of public debates. This is why reading this impressive pioneering work in this essential field will help to make both elected officials and voters more aware of the challenges of establishing a true “health democracy”.
In this book, the 56 researchers, practitioners and hospital patients have presented their reflections, organised their discussions and formulated their proposals, covering the 6 dimensions of the issue: participation, knowledge, associative engagement, partnerships, recommendations and ethical vigilance. These dimensions were then broken down into 28 chapters, classified into 6 parts, devoted respectively to the role of users in health policies, the place of experiential knowledge in the health system, the commitment of users, the partnership models developed in France and abroad, the proposal of a work agenda, feedback, and finally whistleblowers and digital tools.
Several authors propose action plans which generally present 4 main stages: to make the medical and social world aware of the challenges of better solidarity through communication campaigns (this is the purpose of the book); to give better access to existing public, private and especially associative resources; to co-construct new medical, paramedical and support resources, in particular with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence; to encourage the creation of jobs in practically all the functions of the care economy.
The book provides an illuminating overview of the hospital and para-hospital world, but, above all, it delivers a message that is both obvious and original: to restore democracy in the health sector, following the example of the social model instituted by the French founders of social security, some of whose principles have been misappropriated for 80 years.
Sandra Bertezene and Cynthia Fleury are professors of management sciences at CNAM. Philippe Naszalyi is Professor Emeritus and Director of the Journal of Management Sciences.
Jean-Jacques Pluchart