Body Disclosures: Attending to Personal Problems and Reported Sexual Abuse during a Medical Encounter

Abstract

This study examines moments of mutual sensitivity during a health appraisal interview. Attention is given to how patient becomes visibly and audibly emotional when reporting personal problems, how these behaviors get attended to through subsequent interaction, and the delicacy involved in transitioning to discussion about reported childhood sexual abuse. Analysis reveals how delicate moments get closely monitored and collaboratively produced, why "medical" and "personal" distinctions are artificially dichotomous, ways "attending" should not be exclusively associated with the interactional responsibilities of interviewers, and how attention given to the patient's body gets transformed over the course of the historytaking interview. Attending to a patient's expressed and exhibited problems is an inevitable and valuable resource for generating a comprehensive understanding of psychosocial and biomedical circumstances.Medical history taking involves moments where patients raise sensitive issues about their personal, social, and family experiences. When faced with decisions about whether and how lifeworld experiences will be pursued, however, interviewers have been repeatedly shown to disattend patient-initiated concerns and thus overlook their significance for understanding symptoms and illness

The Comforting Touch: Tactile Intimacy and Talk in Managing Children’s Distress

“…However, after Gustav's negative response, which is interspaced with sobs ("no," line 31), Frank, in interrogative format, suggests an alternative "rest?," once again inquiring about the child's perspective (line 32). Return to the institutional activities is postponed by further attending to the child's distress (Beach & LeBaron, 2002). After Gustav's crying nod (line 33), Frank reengages in haptic soothing, as he lightly pushes Gustav so that the child will lean on his shoulder (line 34, see also Ex.…”

Nonverbal Communication and Physician-Patient Interaction: Review and New Directions

“…For example, Harrigan (1985) found that physicians and patients self-touched more at the beginning and middle (vs. the end) of utterances. In line with evidence from ordinary conversation (e.g., Streeck, 1993), a variety of physicians' and patients' nonverbal behaviors are organized by reference to turn construction, such as touching, gesturing, and smiling (Beach & LeBaron, 2002;Haakana, 2002).…”

An Introduction to Video Methods in Organizational Research

“…These techniques can be combined and varied so that the privacy of participants is protected while the research objectives are achieved. For example, when Beach and LeBaron (2002) analyzed a doctor-patient consultation, they blurred the patient's face in order to mask her identity-except for the patient's eyes, which were not blurred because eye gaze was a particular focus of the analysis.…”