General practitioners’ ethical decision-making: Does being a patient themselves make a difference?

Hall, Katherine; Michael, Jessica; Jaye, Chrystal; Young, Jessica

doi:10.1177/1477750918790019

Cited by 4 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The patients who are most at risk for engaging in negative health behaviors also tend to be less educated and less wealthy, thus complicating their access to care and potentially increasing the negative biases that their providers may hold, restricting the care that their providers may assign to them. However, when health professionals are able to empathize with their patients, experience similar situations as patients themselves, or are asked to imagine how their decisions may affect those patients, they tend to provide better care [22–24, 39]. Engaging in a creative narrative writing intervention such as one presented here may be a relatively quick, economically viable way to improve patient relations and care in these most vulnerable populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One method of increasing empathy is to share in a common experience. Research has demonstrated that when physicians experience a serious illness and become patients themselves, they develop increased empathy, place a greater emphasis on the patient’s preferences, and demonstrate a willingness to work with the patient through the decision-making process [22, 23]. Further, reflective writing, which seeks to draw out personal experience with illness, has also been a useful method of inducing this type of empathic personal reflection [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Encouraging perspective taking: Using narrative writing to induce empathy for others engaging in negative health behaviors

et al. 2019

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Societal expectations of self-care and responsible actions toward others may produce bias against those who engage in perceived self-harming behavior. This is especially true for health professionals, who have dedicated themselves to helping reduce the burden of illness and suffering. Research has shown that writing narratives can increase perspective taking and empathy toward other people, which may engender more positive attitudes. Two studies examined whether creating a fictional narrative about a woman who smokes cigarettes while pregnant could increase positive attitudes toward the woman who smokes and reduce the internal attributions made for her behavior. Across both experiments, the narrative writing intervention increased participants’ empathy and perspective taking, evoked more positive attitudes toward a woman who smokes cigarettes while pregnant, and increased external attributions for her behavior. This work supports our hypothesis that narrative writing would be an efficacious intervention promoting attitude change toward patients who engage in unhealthy, and often contentious, behaviors. This work also suggests that narrative writing could be a useful intervention for medical professionals and policy makers leading to more informed policy or treatment recommendations, encouraging empathy for patients, and engendering a stronger consideration of how external forces can play a role in someone’s seemingly irresponsible behavior.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraging perspective taking: Using narrative writing to induce empathy for others engaging in negative health behaviors

et al. 2019

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“…4 From research with doctor participants, disclosing their own illnesses is thought to reassure patients, improve communication, ease stress, create empathy and increase patient satisfaction. [4][5][6][7][8] Usually disclosure happens with a specific purpose in mind. 4 Such disclosures, if concerning healthy behaviours, can help to motivate patients to adopt similar habits 9 and improve medication adherence.…”

Section: What Gap This Fillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 The Jungian 'wounded healer' notion suggests that self-illness disclosures should be beneficial to patients, particularly if that illness has been successfully resolved, 10 yet several studies show doctors are anxious about whether to disclose such information. [4][5][6]11,12 There are concerns that inappropriate disclosures cause inappropriate emotional gratification for the doctor, 13 reduce the focus on the patient, 6 increased the risk of sexual involvement with patients, 14 reduce the doctor's privacy, 15 cause medico-legal issues regarding competency, 16 and potentially stigmatise the doctor (particularly with respect to less socially acceptable illnesses such as HIV or mental health issues). 5 Although general practitioners (GPs) are generally happy to disclose less personal information such as hobbies or interests, only 25% would consider disclosing a physical illness and 12.5% a mental illness.…”

Section: What Gap This Fillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowing me, knowing you: a qualitative study of the effects on patients of doctors’ self-illness disclosures

2019

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INTRODUCTIONVery little is known how patients react to learning about their own doctors’ illnesses. Doctors can be uncertain if and when such disclosures can be helpful, and in what way, to patients. This paper attempts to bridge this gap by providing an in-depth analysis of one group of patients’ experiences with this type of disclosure. AIMTo understand from patients’ perspectives, the effects on them of doctors disclosing their own illnesses, to provide guidance concerning the uses of this disclosure for general practitioners. METHODSThis qualitative study was an exploration of 13 patients’ reactions to receiving such information, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. RESULTSThe major themes were the emotional dimensions of illness and patienthood, the doctor–patient relationship and patients’ concerns about disclosures. Disclosures can have profound effects on patients with both negative and positive consequences. CONCLUSIONWe present suggestions about how to use such disclosures in primary care to minimise potential harms and emphasise potential benefits, based on these patients’ perspectives and the current literature.

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“…Interestingly, our respondents’ perspectives parallel what other qualitative studies have revealed about physicians’ opinions of disclosing their illnesses to patients. The desire among patients to have their experience taken seriously by their physicians was an important subtheme that emerged from our study, and physicians who have been patients themselves recount how their illnesses increase their empathy for their patients and make them better at identifying and addressing their patients’ medical and emotional needs (24–29). Our respondents reinforced the notion that physician self-illness can positively impact care and communication, as the second most common response was that physicians who had chronic pain could offer distinct insights into treatment and management and thus be better clinicians.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Should Physicians Disclose Their Own Health Challenges? Perspectives of Patients With Chronic Pain

Chang

Iuliano

Tackett

et al. 2022

Journal of Patient Experience

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This study explores how patients with chronic pain view the impact of physician self-disclosure on the patient–physician relationship. We conducted mixed-methods analyses of a cross-sectional survey eliciting experiences and attitudes regarding physician self-disclosure among 934 adults with self-reported chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain commonly recalled experiences of physician self-disclosure, most often “small talk” or physicians’ disclosure of their own chronic pain. Patients generally rated these experiences to be beneficial. Patients frequently said they would benefit from seeing a physician who has had chronic pain, or that they would want their physician to self-disclose their own chronic pain. Those who had never experienced self-disclosure were more likely to want their physician to self-disclose their own chronic pain. Nonetheless, patients held varying perspectives toward the advantages and disadvantages of physician self-disclosure, believing that self-disclosure could either positively or negatively impact the patient–physician relationship and care and communication.

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General practitioners’ ethical decision-making: Does being a patient themselves make a difference?

Cited by 4 publications

References 14 publications

Encouraging perspective taking: Using narrative writing to induce empathy for others engaging in negative health behaviors

Encouraging perspective taking: Using narrative writing to induce empathy for others engaging in negative health behaviors

Knowing me, knowing you: a qualitative study of the effects on patients of doctors’ self-illness disclosures

Should Physicians Disclose Their Own Health Challenges? Perspectives of Patients With Chronic Pain

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