Researching the People's Health examines two related issues: the role of social research in the rapidly changing world of health services, and the relationship between lay and expert knowledge in public health and health care. The book examines these issues against the background of long-term transformations in patterns of health and illness, and rapid changes in the strategic management and commissioning of health services. In so doing the book makes a contribution to the continuing and urgent debates on the assessment of health needs, the organization and delivery of health care, and the politics of health services organization and funding. Researching the People's Health is aimed at professionals and academics, and will be of particular interest to people working in public health, health promotion, health policy and the sociology of health and illness.