I personally found this chapter to be one of the most intriguing and important topics we have covered because I think communication ethics plays a much larger role in health care than people realize right off the bat. The book explains that the importance of health care communication ethics is to "protect and promote the good of responsive hope and the good of care for the other" (191). This has a lot to do with not only caring for the patient and treating them, but understanding what communication guidelines should be met to keep the relationship comfortable. As someone who has has spent a fair amount of time in doctors offices the past few years because of stomach conditions, I was really able to out my own experiences in the context of what the chapter was saying and see how having guidelines and ethical frameworks definitely helps the interaction. I have dealt with male and female doctors and I think the expectations and conversations definitely change. Also, my primary doctor and I have much more personal, open communication because we have built a personal relationship beyond just a professional one. I think it is things like this that really show how important communication and understanding what is best is important in health care. I also think that people generally have strong feelings in terms of doctors and health care experiences and communication could have a lot to do with it. Not that anybody particularly enjoys the doctor, but often people love or hate a certain doctor and describe their experiences as great or horrendous, which could relate to how that doctor communicates and their ethical framework.
One concept I found particularly intriguing was responsiveness. I think this is vital in health care and being a doctor because, at least in my opinion, the role of the health care professional is to make the patient comfortable and there can often be difficult questions or conversations that need to happen and reading and responding appropriately to patients is a big part of that. I also see how it is crucial for the patient as well because the way we respond to a doctor could set the tone of the conversation. The way we receive and respond to what a health care professional is telling us gives them a cue on how to approach the conversation from that point on and whether they need to work within certain boundaries to keep us comfortable.
I also thought the concept of care was really important. The way the book explains care, I view it as being a way of demonstrating the health care communication ethics. It is really acting in response or accordance with the other's (patients) needs in a way to communicate that it matters. In my opinion, demonstrating care helps build the boundaries of the communication ethics because it shows what a person is or is not willing to do. I think it is often responsive and can help facilitate a relationship and interaction and work as a way to show how one expects the relationship to work.
I think that the way you described care really hit the nail on the head. I think it really is the way in which health care professionals respond to you and your needs and to what extent they are willing to go to help you define or manage your health problem or issue. I noticed that the book really goes into your own individual responsiveness but I think care and responsiveness of the health care professional really go hand in hand in the sense that the responsiveness they provide you with as the patient in listening to you and doing all that they can instead of just going through the motions as fast as they can to get everyone in to benefit themselves instead of their full concern being about the patient. I had to go to the hospital in London because I got a bladder infection from drinking too much alcohol and not enough water, which happens to me quite a bit so I knew exactly what was going on with me. I tried to avoid going to the doctor but I had no option at one point. When I got there I kept getting redirected to different parts of the hospital until I had finally realized I was in what we would consider to be a free clinic here there in London because they didn't believe me that I had a bladder infection and thought I had an STD. I was completely mortified by my experience there. The doctors didn't listen to me whatsoever and didn't tell me what they were doing or going to do they just kind of led me through the motions without providing me with a single clue as to what they were doing. Being an American in this situation wasn't ideal as well and this was evident in their lack of concern for me and my condition is a perfect example of a lack of care and the way they redirected me so many times and not believing me when I said I only had a bladder infection was a great example of lack of responsiveness. I feel like these concepts of care and responsiveness are very situational things when it comes to health care. I also feel that they vary from individual to individual and even culture to culture so knowing how to deal with specific types of patients is very important in any health care profession.
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