Monday, November 30, 2015
Health Care Communication Ethics
This chapter defines Health care communication ethics as "the study of communication practices within the broad domain of health care, from patient/profesional interaction to institutional communication questions about health" (192). It is basically about the interaction with people within the healthcare system, and with the clients. As well as the interaction we have with family/friends that are dealing with sickness ."Health care communication ethics protects and promotes care, human caring of one for another, in a professional context and in all contexts where decisions affect the quality of life and all, too often life, itself" (199). It also "seeks to protect and promote care - care is the communicative action or practices that links the good of responsiveness to the Other" (199).
This chapter made me think of my own Mom that in 2011 found out that she had breast cancer. She really pointed out how she felt attached to the nurse that gave her the chemotherapy everyday and how much better it felt for her going through her treatment. Is. It is very important to make the patient to feel comfortable in the healthcare system. In addition it became also very important for myself that she felt comfortable in the treatment procesS. I have also seen the importance of healthcare communication from the other side when I worked with elderly care, number one is to make your patients feel comfortable but most importantly be able to make the patients family feel comfortable with the car you are providing... This is not often an easy task as they often struggle seeing their Spurs going through hard times, and many struggle feeling comfortable with the care provided regardless.
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Emelie -
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing some of your experiences with health care communication ethics. I hope your mom is doing the best she can and on a strong journey towards recovery. Do you think the nurse who helped your mom with her chemotherapy sessions instilled hope or optimism in your mom or one more than the other? Do you believe it made a difference in her energy and health? When you cared for elderly people, how did you go about giving care to your patients who knew their time was limited (and so did their families)? Some people may argue that working in a nursing home or working with elderly people is depressing. What sort of response would you give to the those who feel this way? Is the care you would give the elderly different from those who may be young but with a condition that may shorten their lifespan? I think it is very challenging work to work with those who are fighting for their lives and their loved ones. You have to have a high morale to instill in others, and instill hope but not necessarily optimism either. The textbook argues that hope and optimism are very different (p. 192). The key to hope is the response from the person to care for the Other, regardless if doesn't change the outcome. Optimism, on the other hand, demands an expectation; there is an expectation for a specific outcome and once the expectations aren't met, optimism will fade. Optimism does not help the patient or the patient's loved ones. It creates a false sense of hope, almost a fantasy that may hurt the patient's mental, emotional, and spiritual health. I believe this ties in with the labor of care and the "why" and "how" of it. Even if people know the patient is very sick or doesn't have much time left, the caregiver will still give the best care possible. There is no technical routine that a caregiver is taught, but the "why" pushes the caregiver to adapt to the situation and give the care that is attentive to the patient's specific needs/wants/desires.
You raise a good point about the distinction between hope and optimism, Mimi! It makes me think of when one of my family members had to get emergency back surgery. The doctors had to be very careful with us in describing the situation as hopeful instead of just optimistic, especially considering that if the surgery didn't go well my family member may not have been able to walk after (they are fine now thankfully). It was a very delicate situation and the careful way that they described the surgery to us without making us absolutely freak out was definitely an example of a caregiver who is responsive to the emotional needs of a patient and their family.
DeleteIn the weeks of therapy after the surgery, as well, responsive hope was definitely a strong characteristic of many of the nurses and doctors we saw. You can tell a difference between when a caregiver is just there to do a job and when they are there to really help the patient.
Healing is often a very emotional process, and from an ethics standpoint it makes sense to be emotionally responsive as a caregiver. However, just as the text spoke about the need to flexibly adapt to different situations in healthcare, there really is no one way to approach responsive care. Maybe a patient doesn't want emotional support from their doctor, in which case you would have to adapt your communication style with them to be appropriate for their needs or risk degrading the relationship.
Your example created a clear understanding of the aspects of health care communication. Health care is centered through the process of caring. Our conversations about health are grounded in our genuine care and understanding when interacting with doctors, patients, family and friends. What other aspect of health care communication practices would promote the “good” of communication? The definition in the textbook and also the one you provided in paragraph one, helps bring a more- clear understanding of what exactly health care communication is. Do you agree or disagree with the authors’ definition? If not, what would you add or omit?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your personal experience of your mother’s diagnosis of breast cancer. You mention that your personal experience relates to the course concept of health care communication and your mom’s own experience when she was going to chemotherapy treatments. The textbook explains that to understand health care communication ethics “is to broaden our understanding of the notion of health, taking it beyond obvious optimism to an active place of communicative response, a place of hope” (pg. 191). Additionally, when you worked with the elderly you distributed a sense of care. This is the human response to answer to the call of the Other, a selflessness to attend to someone other than oneself. Working with the elderly displays your sense of working with a good that portrays the reason to pursue health, help others recover, and meet the ongoing demands and repeated anguish of human life?
Healing is indeed often a very emotional process. I believe that good communication is a factor in healing. The book says that "The goal of health care communication ethics is to protect and promote a sense of gratitude and knowledge of a final freedom--our response to health, its absence, and the eventuality of death" (194).
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, people need to know how to approach someone who is sick and deliver a message to them. My mom's friend's dad was suddenly ill and they took him to the hospital. The doctor then checked on him and straight forward said things like "there's no hope, you only have a little time left." That statement shocked him and he passed away soon after that. I believe that the doctor's approach contributed to his passing so soon. Even though he had a little time left, if the doctor approach him more carefully, I believe that he'd get a little more time.