Sanders, T. and Roberts, D. (2018) Social representations of diagnosis in the consultation. Sociology, 52 (6). pp. 1185-1199. ISSN 0038-0385
Abstract
Observations of physiotherapy consultations and qualitative interviews with patients were conducted to explore the clinical explanation for sciatic pain. We report three themes which illustrate the contested and negotiated order of the clinical explanation: anchoring, resistance and normalisation. We show using the theory of social representations how the social order in the physiotherapy consultation is maintained, contested and rearticulated. We highlight the importance of agency in patients’ ability to resist the clinical explanation and in turn shape the clinical discourse within the consultation. Social representations offer insights into how the world is viewed by different individuals, in our case physiotherapists and patients with sciatic pain symptoms. The negotiation about the diagnosis reveals the malleable and socially constructed nature of pain and the meaning making process underpinning it. The study has implications for understanding inequalities in the consultation and the key ingredients of consensus.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author(s). This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Sociology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | clinician–patient communication; diagnosis; labelling; medicalisation; social representations |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 May 2017 08:22 |
Last Modified: | 20 Oct 2023 15:43 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038517712913 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0038038517712913 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:116208 |