A social constructionist approach to family medicine.

Abstract

This article looks at how social constructionist theory might be applied to family medicine. Two whole surgeries in a British general practice are analyzed from a social constructionist perspective. There is a discussion of family medicine consultations in terms of the shared construction of meaning by doctor and patient.

How does the general practitioner understand the patient? A qualitative study about psychological interventions in general practice

“…In general practice thinking, the social constructionist psychology is represented and described by Launer (Launer, 1995; Launer, 2002; Launer, Blake, & Daws, 2005), who thinks there is a need to develop skills and conceptualization across the whole range of general practice work and to train GPs appropriately for the post‐modern world (Launer & Lindsey, 1997). He wants to introduce a narrative‐based model and finds that GPs are constrained by ideas from the dominant professional culture and emphasizes that clinicians compartmentalize their clients' narratives and isolate psychic categories from social contexts, thereby amplifying problems instead of solving them; that GPs have to work ‘at the intersection between the world of stories and the world of categorization’ to see the medical consultation as a dialogue between different stories (Launer, 1999).…”

Facilitating Critical Self-Exploration by Global Health Students

“…Each theme begins with the letter I to emphasize self-reflection as a critical component of professional development, 28 cultural competency, 29 and the transmission of knowledge 30 (see Figure 2). Each builds on the concept of social construction, 31 the idea that what we authentically bring to interpersonal encounters and how we interact in these encounters help us learn both individually and in community with others. 32 Each theme is paired with several self-reflective questions informed by the framework of appreciative inquiry, an asset-based approach that promotes successful interactions in challenging environments.…”

Clinical Uncertainty in Primary Care

“…For doctors, social constructionism offers a way of conceptualising and addressing exactly the kinds of complex cases where not only the medical content may give rise to uncertainty ('which of two drugs should I prescribe?') but where the frames of reference are also open to question (Launer 1995 ;Gabbay and Le May 2010 ). These might include, for example:…”