Unethical bunglers or humane professionals? Discussions in the media of end-of-life treatment decisions
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Hanna-Mari Hildén
Hanna-Mari Hildén, M.D., wrote her thesis (2005) on doctors' and nurses' views of patient participation and their own positions in end-of-life decision making. She specializes in psychiatry at the University of Helsinki.
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Health and Society at the University of Linkoping, Sweden, and Professor of Women's Studies in Medicine at the University of Oslo. Currently she is a fellow at the Research Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests focus on experience of illness and risk from the perspective of medical anthropology and semiotics.
Abstract
We studied media discussions of end-of-life decision making to find out how the doctor–patient relationship is portrayed and what types of positions the media takes and how it is represented by other discussion participants in this context. The significance of the end-of-life decision making is related to the fact that it forms a contested site for the realization of patient autonomy. Our material consisted of two newspaper discussions and one television program. In all three samples, the consumerist physician–patient relationship model was promoted in the context of end-of-life decision making by the media representatives and the laypeople (patients, relatives, and a patient advocate). In the first, the media representatives make use of the romance narrative, which presents physicians as villains, and constructs patients as knowledgeable and competent ‘ordinary heroes’. This justifies public scrutiny of healthcare. In the second sample, the relatives stress their competence but now by appealing to their knowledge and caring for the patient. This promotes their right to make decisions for patients. In the third sample, the journalist again pictures patients as ‘ordinary heroes’ who acquire their knowledge from the media. Patients are now empowered as consumers of healthcare. In conclusion, the consumerist doctor–patient relationship is promoted and the media's position as the source of information and as patient advocate is stabilized.
About the authors
Hanna-Mari Hildén, M.D., wrote her thesis (2005) on doctors' and nurses' views of patient participation and their own positions in end-of-life decision making. She specializes in psychiatry at the University of Helsinki.
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Health and Society at the University of Linkoping, Sweden, and Professor of Women's Studies in Medicine at the University of Oslo. Currently she is a fellow at the Research Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests focus on experience of illness and risk from the perspective of medical anthropology and semiotics.
© Walter de Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Disability and anticipatory discourse: The interconnectedness of local and global aspects of talk
- Patient narratives: A micro-interactional analysis
- Unethical bunglers or humane professionals? Discussions in the media of end-of-life treatment decisions
- The rhetorical construction of ethical positions: Policy recommendations for nontherapeutic genetic testing in childhood
- Constructing ‘expertness’: A novice pharmacist's development of interactional competence in patient consultations
- The dynamics of resident–patient communication: Data from Canada
- Loss of self-control as excuse in group-therapy conversations for intimately violent men
- Integrating patients' nonmedical status in end-of-life decision making: Structuring communication through ‘conferencing’
- Index of articles in Volume 3 (2006)
- Announcements: Announcing a proposal for a COMET SOCIETY
Articles in the same Issue
- Disability and anticipatory discourse: The interconnectedness of local and global aspects of talk
- Patient narratives: A micro-interactional analysis
- Unethical bunglers or humane professionals? Discussions in the media of end-of-life treatment decisions
- The rhetorical construction of ethical positions: Policy recommendations for nontherapeutic genetic testing in childhood
- Constructing ‘expertness’: A novice pharmacist's development of interactional competence in patient consultations
- The dynamics of resident–patient communication: Data from Canada
- Loss of self-control as excuse in group-therapy conversations for intimately violent men
- Integrating patients' nonmedical status in end-of-life decision making: Structuring communication through ‘conferencing’
- Index of articles in Volume 3 (2006)
- Announcements: Announcing a proposal for a COMET SOCIETY
