What Seems to be the Trouble?: Stories in Illness and Healthcare

by Trisha Greenhalgh, Merrill Goozner

Overview

This is published in association with the Nuffield Trust. There is a foreword By Sir Kenneth Calman Vice Chancellor, Durham University and former Chief Medical Officer. 'Excellent. [The book's] analytical and methodological approach is invaluable. It is a real privilege to listen to the stories of patients and their families, to hear details of personal events, comedies and tragedies, and to use the skills of listening and interpreting to make sense of the story. I have written elsewhere that the history of medicine is simply the re-classification of disease. Here are some new ways of classifying the issues with which we are faced in an effort to assist in the process of healing.' - Sir Kenneth Calman, in the Foreword.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781846191220
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/30/2006
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Trisha Greenhalgh, Merrill Goozner

Table of Contents

Stories and illness. Stories and healing. Stories and learning. Stories and organisations. Stories and research. Stories and ethics.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: J. Anne Topple, MRT (N), CNMT, BHA, MEd. (The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences)
Description: This informative book reacquaints practitioners with rapport building, active listening, and gaining clinical insight through narrative analysis.
Purpose: Practitioners gain knowledge, skills, and attitudes about illness, healing, organizations, research, and ethics by documenting and analyzing stories.
Audience: Patients' present with complex and diverse backgrounds sometimes lacking the ability to express themselves clearly and logically. Practitioners who listen to the words, seek out true intensions, and acknowledge emotions, treat patients with respect and affirm values and autonomy. Building rapport takes time, but the cost is recuperated when accurate patient data informs clinical treatment for trusting patients who comply with mutually agreed upon treatment plans.
Features: The analysis of qualitative data (narratives) invites an ontological position which values people's knowledge and experiences as meaningful and worthy of critique (Seale, 2004). Practitioners are firstly scientists and many have a bias toward quantitative research. Changing healthcare organizations for the better and resolving ethical dilemmas are contextually rich and complex social issues. Qualitative analyses are particularly adept at capturing complexities and processes in socially complex settings. By documenting stories from the front lines, practitioners, researchers, and managers gather valid information on how to progressively change healthcare institutions to serve the wellness of both patients and practitioners. Rich narrative documentation can also inform practitioners who are assisting in ethical decision-making cases. Qualitative analysis is time consuming and many practitioners are time-pressured. Data analyses may be biased due to faulty assumptions and practitioners must use well grounded theory with examples of concepts so that peer reviewers and readers can examine ideas and conclusions.
Assessment: Communication skills (listening and documenting) and qualitative research principles inform professional practices. This book reminds us that we have a great deal to learn from our patients and from each other.

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