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Trust, medical expertise and humaneness: A qualitative study on people with cancer' satisfaction with medical care.

Authors :
Blödt, Susanne
Müller‐Nordhorn, Jacqueline
Seifert, Georg
Holmberg, Christine
Source :
Health Expectations; Apr2021, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p317-326, 10p, 1 Diagram
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

Background: Understanding peoples' evaluations of their health care is important to ensure appropriate health‐care services. Objectives: To understand what factors influence peoples' satisfaction with care and how interpersonal trust is established between doctors and cancer patients in Germany. Design: A narrative interview study that included women with a diagnosis of breast cancer and men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. A question‐focused analysis was conducted. Setting and participants: Interviewees were sought across Germany through self‐help organizations, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, physicians and other health‐care professionals, in order to develop modules on experiencing cancer for the website krankheitserfahrungen.de (illness experiences.de). Results: Satisfaction was related to the perception of having a knowledgeable and trusted physician. Trust was developed through particular interactions in which 'medical expertise' and 'humaneness' were enacted by physicians. Humaneness represents the ability of physicians to personalize medical expertise and thereby to convey working in the individual's best interest and to treat the patient as an individual and unique human being. This was fostered through contextual and relational factors including among others setting, time, information transfer, respect, availability, profoundness, sensitivity and understanding. Conclusion: It was the ability to make oneself known to and know the patient in particular ways that allowed for satisfying care experiences by establishing interpersonal trust. This suggests the importance of conceptualizing the doctor‐patient relationship as a fundamentally reciprocal human interaction of caregiving and care‐receiving. At the core of the satisfying care experiences lies a doctor‐patient relationship with a profoundly humane quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
13696513
Volume :
24
Issue :
2
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Health Expectations
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
150025932
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13171