Publication Date

1997

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Buzzanell, Patrice M.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Communication

LCSH

Breast--Cancer--Patients--Psychology; Feminism; Physician and patient

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication using a feminist grounded theory approach. Traditional health communication research has used a biomedical perspective and has relied on quantitative measures with the aim of predicting behavior, particularly patient compliance. Traditional research on physician-patient communication also has largely ignored gender and sex. This study used narratives to discover, in the participants’ own words, the patient’s conceptualization of patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication. Research participants in this study were women who had had breast cancer. My goal was to examine the data drawn from interviews in light of both traditional health communication research and feminist theory and to formulate an alternative view of patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication. Patients appear to conceptualize patient satisfaction as a process, as a matter of negotiating a dynamic interchange with their physicians. Three themes or processes of patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication were prominent in the data: respect, caring, and reassurance of expertise. In addition, there were two root themes, or underlying aspects of the interaction, that form the basis of the patient satisfaction with physician-patient communication: negotiation of power and control and the context of women’s lives. An issue emerged during data analysis that is integral to understanding the results of this study: gendered ways of knowing and talking by the research participants. Finally, the “unfolding” (as opposed to traditional linear plot) structure of the narratives allows women to contextualize their experiences and weave their emotions and relationships into their narratives.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [126]-133)

Extent

v, 141 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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