O foco deste estudo está nas possíveis transformações na relação de poder estabelecida entre médico e paciente representada em três comunidades virtuais com tema em saúde-doença. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualiquantitativa com uso da técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC), o que possibilita a construção de discursos coletivos distintos que expressam as representações sociais de uma coletividade. Como resultado é possível verificar: (i) porque as pessoas participam de comunidades virtuais; (ii) como as pessoas participam; (iii) como se organizam essas comunidades; (iv) quais tipos de informações são mais buscados; (v) quais conteúdos informacionais existem nos fóruns de discussão (vi) como se dá a interação entre integrantes da comunidade; (vii) como as relações de poder estabelecidas entre médico e paciente são tratadas nas comunidades; (viii) identificação de possíveis transformações na relação de poder estabelecida entre médico e paciente. Conclui-se que a maior parte dos integrantes das comunidades analisadas está em um nível associativo-participativo de compartilhamento das informações e experiências. Esse nível, apesar de não se constituir em ação de cooperação e prática de produção coletiva, permite aos integrantes se tornarem pacientes mais ativos em seus processos de saúde e doença. Os resultados sugerem que o princípio ético da autonomia está, legalmente e na prática, mais fortalecido, contribuindo com a constituição de um indivíduo integrante, interativo, mais autônomo / Possible changes in the power relationship established between doctor and patient represented in three online communities which address the subject of health and illness is the focus of this study. This is a qualitative and quantitative research using the Collective Subject Discourse (DSC), which allows the construction of separate collective discourse, which expresses the social representations of a collectivity. As a result, it is possible to verify: (i) why people participate in such virtual communities , (ii) how people participate, (iii) how those communities are organized, (iv) what types of information are most searched, (v) which information exist in those discussion forums (vi) how community members interact, (vii) how the power relations established between doctor and patient are treated in these communities, (viii) identification of possible changes in the relationship established power between doctor and patient. We conclude that most members of the communities studied are in an associative-participatory level regarding information and experiences sharing. This level, though is not considered as an action of mutual cooperation and collective production practice, allows members of such communities to become more active as patients in their processes of health and disease. The results suggest that the principle of autonomy is, legally and in practice, more energized, contributing to the constitution of an individual, integral, interactive, and increasingly autonomous

After individuals sustain a spinal cord injury, all aspects of their lifestyle must change for them to manage their new life roles. One important area of recovery that is often not addressed during the rehabilitation process is sexual functioning. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how doctor communication about sexual health with women who have sustained spinal cord injuries predicts their levels of sexual functioning and sexual self-esteem. The theoretical framework was the sexual health model. Questionnaires were used to gather data from 45 women who had completed rehabilitation from spinal cord injuries. Level of current sexual functioning was measured using the Female Sexual Function Index. Sexual self-esteem was measured using the Multidimensional Sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire. Satisfaction with doctor-patient communication was measured using the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Patient-Physician Interactions-Sex. Findings from correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between general satisfaction with doctor-patient communication and confidence to communicate with the doctor about sexual health. Results also indicated a negative correlation between sexual self-esteem and sexual functioning. Findings may be used to improve communication between doctors and patients about sexual health, which may reduce the stigma of talking about sexuality and may promote more holistic treatment for women recovering from spinal cord injuries.

Thyroid disease, a chronic illness, affects nearly 200 million people worldwide and is more common among women than in men. Numerous factors make diagnosing and treating thyroid disease in women challenging. The standard blood test for diagnosing thyroid disease and determining treatment effectiveness is inconsistent in its accuracy. Many women with thyroid disease are misdiagnosed or struggle with symptoms even once receiving treatment. Although thyroid disease is highly prevalent among women and the doctor-patient relationship is known to influence treatment outcomes, there is a gap in the literature regarding the treatment experiences of women with thyroid disease and the doctor-patient relationship. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore female thyroid patients' experiences of treatment and the doctor-patient relationship. Sixteen female thyroid patients, ages 18 and older and members of an international online support group, were individually interviewed via online chat. Data interpretation was guided by social constructionism and feminist theory and was accomplished via Moustakas's analytic method. Themes related to the doctor-patient relationship were identified, including the culture of the medical profession, diagnostic bias, and gender differences in communication. Emergent themes included patient education level, patient self-advocacy behaviors, and the use of natural thyroid medication. The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by enhancing doctors' understanding of thyroid disease in women and the influence of the doctor-patient relationship in determining positive treatment outcomes, thus equipping doctors with enriched knowledge for providing their female thyroid patients with the highest quality of care.

This study explores the experiences of General Practitioners (GPs) and patients in the management of type 2 diabetes in contemporary Australia. I focus on the way the socioeconomic position of patients is a factor in that experience as my underlying interest is in exploring how health inequalities are understood, approached and handled in general practice. The study is thus a practical and grounded exploration of a widely debated theoretical issue in the study of social life, namely the relationship between the micro day-to-day interactions and events in the lives of individuals and the broad macro structure of society and the position of the individual within that. There is now wide acceptance and evidence that people’s social and economic circumstances impact on their health status and their experiences in the health system. However, there is considerable debate about the role played by primary medical care. Nevertheless, better theoretical understanding of the importance of psychosocial processes in generating social inequalities in health suggests medical care may well be important, as such processes are crucial in the care of chronic illnesses such as diabetes which are now such a large part of general practice work. I approach this study through an exploration of patient centred clinical practice. Patient centredness is a pragmatic, idealised prescriptive framework for clinical practice, particularly general practice. Patient centredness developed in part in response to critiques of biomedicine, and is premised on a notion of a more equal relationship between GP and patient, and one that places importance on the context of patients’ lives. It contains an implicit promise that it will help GP and patient engage with and confront social disadvantage.

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Utskrivningssamtalet är den sista kontakten mellan läkare och patient innan patienten åker hem ifrån avdelningen. Syftet med den föreliggande studien är att undersöka ifall det förligger kommunikativa utmaningar i ett utskrivningssamtal mellan en läkare och en patient med afasi.  Den konkreta frågeställningen för studien var hur de potentiella problem som uppkom i samtalet hanterades och vilket utrymme som skapades för patientens deltagande i samtalet samt hur samtalsdeltagarna använde sig av icke-verbal kommunikation för att uppnå förståelse. Den valda metoden för att undersöka detta var Conversation Analysis, CA. I studien deltog två läkare, två patienter med afasi, samt två närstående till patienterna. Patienterna som deltog hade mild till måttlig afasi, svenska som modersmål och var 50 år och 70 år gamla. Läkarna som deltog hade varit anställda på avdelningen och arbetat med patienter med afasi i 2.5 år respektive 3.5 år och hade svenska som andraspråk. Resultatet av analysen var en identifiering av kommunikativa handlingar som ledde till sekvenser i samtalet som deltagarna orienterade mot som problematiska. Dessa var bland annat när läkaren inte följde upp på patientens förfrågan för mer information eller patient-initierade ämnen och inte redde ut missförstånd som uppkom. I resultatet identifierades även sekvenser där samtalsdeltagarna använde sin kommunikativa kompetens för att hantera kommunikativa utmaningar, samt sekvenser där samtalsdeltagarna använde sig av icke-verbal kommunikation för att underlätta den gemensamma förståelsen. Resultatet stämde överens med tidigare forskning om hur patienter med afasi och vårdpersonal organiserar interaktion i samtal.

This thesis aims to examine how patient empowerment based on Internet information has impact on health care processes and patient &ndash / physician relationship. The process of empowerment is analyzed in three main steps / searching and obtaining information / sharing and discussing obtained information with providers / and involving decision making process. Study domain covers with breast cancer patients continuing their treatment in hospitals. In-depth interview methodology has been employed. Interviews are conducted in two settings: one is a university hospital / other is a state hospital of Ministry of Health. Sample size was 20 patients and 6 doctors. As result of study we observed that most of the breast cancer patients have low level of empowerment. This is mainly caused by perception of cancer and high level of anxiety of patients. Most of the middle class women even though they use Internet in everyday life, they neither want to search for information on their cancer not they want to involve in decision making.. Some of the educated upper middle class use Internet however they do not share gathered information with their doctors. They mainly use this information to test competency of doctor. Most patients prefer to seek for information until they made a decision, mostly finding a trustable doctor. Even though some of upper middle class, high education women use Internet intensively, they do not involve in decision and leave the responsibility to the doctor. Young generation regardless of their socio economic situation has tendency to use internet and getting empowered.

Treatment of head and neck cancer with radiation therapy is associated with adverse side effects to the oral cavity and surrounding areas. These complications include mucositis, mucosal fibrosis and atrophy, salivary gland dysfunction, increased risk of dental caries, increased susceptibility to infections, tissue necrosis, taste dysfunction, and muscular and/or cutaneous fibrosis. The often permanent nature of the radiation-induced damage necessitates the maintenance of a strict oral care program, involving frequent flossing and brushing in addition to daily fluoride applications, for the rest of the patient's life. An additional concern among patients with head and neck cancer is the use of tobacco and alcohol. Both are known risk factors in the development of head and neck cancers and failure to abstain from either after diagnosis increases the risk for relapse and development of secondary cancers. The present study was a longitudinal investigation of several factors that may influence patients' consistency in following their prescribed oral care program and abstaining from alcohol and tobacco use, including, but not limited to, patient satisfaction with the doctor-patient communication, patient coping, and patient illness perceptions. The study examined an integrative model seeking to explain patient adherence to the oral care regimen as well as tobacco and alcohol use. While results were inconclusive with respect to the model, there were several interesting findings, which were consistent with previous literature examining doctor-patient communication and illness perceptions among other cancer populations. Results from this study suggested that both satisfaction with doctor-patient communication and coping play an important role in forming patients’ illness perceptions. Furthermore beliefs about the severity of oral complications emerged as a predictor of oral care at follow-up. / text

The consultation is the GP’s form of work. How long a consultation should be, and what short/long consultations imply with regard to the satisfaction of patient and doctor has been much debated. The aim of this thesis was to study consultations with regard to content and time consumption in a short term and long term perspective. Three studies were carried out. 1. Consultations with the members of a group of GPs were investigated, where patients and doctors separately assessed different aspects of the consultation, and their ratings were related to the real length of the consultations. The following questions were posed: Was there time enough? Could the patient tell the doctor about her/his problems? Were the problems physical or psychological? 2. Nurses at the primary care health centres were interviewed about their considerations in booking short or long appointments for the patients. 3. Patients who frequently attended one health centre during one year and consumed much time were studied. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The results of the first study (Papers I-III) show that the average length of the consultations was 21 minutes; there was considerable variation (ranging from 3 to 60 minutes). (About 600 consultations with 7 male doctors were registered in two batches). The doctors’ mean consultation length also varied widely, from 13-28 minutes. Consultations dealing with psychological problems were longer than those dealing with physical problems. Older patients had longer consultations than younger patients, and female patients had somewhat longer consultations than male patients. The patients were generally more satisfied with the consultations than the doctors were, and there were no clear affinities between long consultations and high satisfaction. Male patients and patients with physical problems mainly received short consultations, whereas patients with ”mixed" problems and older patients received long consultations. The single factors most decisive for the length of a consultation were ‘the doctor factor’, the character of the problem and the age of the patient. "Good” consultations (operational definition) were associated primarily with ‘the doctor factor’, and the real length of the consultations was less important. The interviews with ten experienced primary care nurses (Paper IV) showed that the nurses worked in two perspectives: in the ”immediate” perspective, appointments were booked according to rules which directly impacted the length of the visit, and in the "reflective" perspective, appointments were booked with a view to the quality of the work at the health centre and the long-term time consumption. Other factors of importance were the patient’s age and problem(s), the doctor’s experience and working style, and the current situation at the health centre. Frequent attenders (FAs) at one health centre (Paper V) were compared with a contrast group of matched patients (CPs). The FAs represented 1.7% of the population of the catchment area and made 15% of the visits. The FAs were a heterogeneous group where small boys, women of working age and pensioners of both sexes were overrepresented. The FAs had higher consultation frequency than the CPs during the year of investigation, but few remained FAs for longer periods. The FAs had more problems and more complex problems than the CPs. Complaints regarding the musculo-skeletal organs, and psychosocial problems were common among these patients, often in combination. The present work thus shows that longer consultations do not naturally imply higher patient satisfaction. Other factors than the time factor, in particular ‘the doctor factor’ seem to be more important. ‘The doctor factor’, the characteristics of the patients, the type of problem and the situation at the health centre also have a bearing on consultation length and time consumption in a short-term as well as long-term perspective. The implications of these factors and their relative importance are discussed, but further studies of certain issues, such as ‘the doctor factor’, are necessary. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1995, härtill 5 uppsatser.</p> / digitalisering@umu

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