This title was first published in 2001: This timely study examines the extent to which providers and clients of British statutory health and social care services have responded to government calls for recipients to be treated in the same way as private sector 'consumers'. 'The increasing prominence of the older age groups in society needs to be recognised.  Roberts and Chapman focus on a critical test for the NHS - how do the elderly users of health and social care services fare? This well-written study usefully identifies how different categories of people adopt different active roles in their own care.  Interestingly, the study implicitly challenges the significance of age.' Professor Keith Soothill, Lancaster University, UK