Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

The singular patient in patient-centred care: physiotherapists' accounts of treatment of patients with chronic muscle pain.

Medical Humanities 2019 March 28
A patient-centred approach has gained increasing interest in medicine and other health sciences. Whereas there are discussions about the meaning of a patient-centred approach and what the concept entails, little is known about how the patient as a person is understood in patient-centred care. This article investigates understandings of the patient as a self in patient-centred care through physiotherapy of patients with chronic muscle pain. The material consists of interviews with five Norwegian physiotherapists working in a rehabilitation clinic. Drawing on Kristeva's discussion of subjectivity in medical discourse, the study highlights two different treatment storylines that were closely entwined. One storyline focuses on open singular healing processes in which the treatment was based on openness to a search for meaning and sharing. In this storyline, the "person" at the centre of care was not essentialised in terms of biological mechanisms, but rather considered as a vulnerable, irrational and moving self. By contrast, the second storyline focused on goal-oriented interventions aimed at restoring the patient to health. Here, the person in the centre of the treatment was shaped according to model narratives about "the successful patient"; the empowered, rational, choosing and self-managing individual. As such, the findings revealed two conflicting concepts of the individual patient inherent in patient-centred care. On the one hand, the patient is seen as being a person in constant movement, and on the other, they are captured by more standardised terms designed to focus on a more stable notion of outcome of illness. Therefore, our study suggests that the therapists' will to recognise the individual in patient-centred care had a counterpart involving a marginalisation of the singular.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app