Vulnerability In The Narratives Of Patients And Their Carers: Studies Of Colorectal Cancer  

Oleh:

Little, Miles ; Jordens, Christopher F.C. ; Paul, Kim ; Sayers, Emma

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine vol. 4 no. 4 (Oct. 2000), page 495–510.
Topik: health care relationships; narrative analysis; vulnerability
Fulltext: 495H44.pdf (55.05KB)

Isi artikel

Vulnerability is susceptibility to any kind of harm, whether physical, moral or spiritual, at the hands of an agent or agency. It is related to disempowerment and loss of autonomy. It is also a relational category that appears repeatedly in the narratives of colorectal cancer patients and their carers. Although one conventionally associates vulnerability with being ill and needing health care, the practice of health care has its own vulnerabilities that emerge as important in the biographies of health care workers. Vulnerability needs to be recognized and negotiated in health care transactions. This article examines a process of ‘reading-for’ vulnerability, and suggests a classifi- cation of vulnerability, at least as it appears in the narratives of cancer patients and their carers. Methods of managing vulnerability are also examined and categorized. Reading for vulnerability brings insight into an important aspect of the health care process. Recognition of its importance should translate into changes in medical education and patient information.

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