Message-Id: <199811092037.PAA31188@ns4-1.CC.Lehigh.EDU>
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 15:37:20 EST
From: jnl0@lehigh.edu (Judith N. Lasker)
Subject: Re: Request for Info - Culture & Healthcare
To: MedSoc@csf.colorado.edu
Dear Jackie,

Good news about the book.  Please let us all know the title and expected date
of publication.

Judy Lasker


>Hi all;
>
>I really like this line of discussion. I've just completed a book
>(forthcoming Rutgers Press) on how women, in their everyday practices as
>mothers,  negotiate the meaning and uses of medical discourse in the care
>of their children. It has struck me too that much of medical sociology is
>physician-(and provider-) focused and thus that we miss much of how
>medicine and science  happens "on the street" (or in the household!) not
>just in medical offices or scientific labs. Emily Martin's book, Flexible
>Bodies, is another example of this street-level approach.
>
>Jackie Litt
>Assistant Professor
>Sociology and Women's Studies
>Iowa State University
>
>
>
>
>
>At 02:21 PM 11/9/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>Gayla - I like your comment because it floored me.  I admit that I
>>was so focused on the question at hand I completely overlooked my own
>>implicit biases.  Thanks for keeping the conversation honest.  I also
>>think that perhaps the best question would be how is care negotiated
>>amongst health care professionals, particularly since the physician
>>will be the one with the final "legitimate" decision for a treatment
>>regimen, particularly a pharmaceutical treatment, although the actual
>>diagnosis and primary care will be based on the decision of a nurse
>>practitioner, PA, or a physical/mental health therapist.  At least in
>>GA scheduled pharmies can only be prescribed by MD/DO's (although
>>there is always a dialogue on the need of PA's, NP's, and clinical
>>psychologists to have the capability for some meds), what about other
>>states?
>>
>>Dave
>>
>>>
>>>      We are well past time that physicians are looked to as the primary
>>>      source of information or data from the health care field.  About 16
>>>      other kinds of providers exist for every physician.  Patients spend
>>>      incredibly more time with nurses than with physicians.  By focusing
>>>      mostly on physicians, med sociologists inadvertantly perpetuate the
>>>      "cultural authority" (Paul Starr) and hegemonic dominance of the
>>>      medical profession.  We must begin to look more thoroughly at the
>>>      health care profession and various of providers of care and not just
>>>      the "medical field".
>>>      This comment is not meant to point fingers at you, Melvin.  I'm
>>>      venting my frustration at an academic group who espouse critical
>>>      analysis....yet continue to support physician hegemony.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ______________________________ Reply Separator
>_________________________________
>>> Subject: Request for Info - Culture & Healthcare
>>> Author:  <MedSoc@csf.colorado.edu > at internet
>>> Date:    11/5/98 9:32 AM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello Everyone.
>>>
>>> Does anyone know of books, journal articles, or other materials that
>provide
>>> discussion on conflicts that arise between patients and physicians (or
>other
>>> allied medical personnel) who hold different/conflicting cultural
>beliefs about
>>> what constitutes appropriate diagnosis and treatment of health problems?
>>>
>>> Any information you can provide will be appreciated.
>>>
>>> Melvin Bobo
>>> Department of Sociology
>>> Iowa State University
>>> e-mail: melb12902@sprynet.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>David M. Long, MPH
>>Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
>>Emory University School of Medicine
>>69 Butler Street, SE
>>Atlanta, Georgia 30303-3219
>>404-616-2389 (voice)
>>404-616-6847 (fax)
>>dlong@fpm.eushc.org
>>
>>"Man makes himself... Life is nothing until it is
>>lived." - Jean-Paul Sartre
>>
>>"God can be shaped. God is Change." - Octavia Butler
>>
>>"The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like
>>a nightmare on the brain of the living." - Karl Marx
>>
>>"Resist or serve." - D. Long
>>
>Jacquelyn Litt
>Assistant Professor
>Sociology/Women's Studies
>Iowa State University
>107 East Hall
>Ames, Iowa 50011-1070
>
>PH:  (515) 294-8879
>FAX: (515)294-2303
>FAX: (515) 294-3613 (fall semester 1998)
>
Judith N. Lasker
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Lehigh University, 681 Taylor St.
Bethlehem, Pa. 18015, 610-758-3811
fax: 610-758-6552