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Rehabilitating the sick role: the experiences of high-risk women who undergo risk reducing breast surgery.
- Source :
-
Health Sociology Review . Jul2015, Vol. 24 Issue 2, p186-198. 13p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- In recent years, Talcott Parsons' work has come under renewed scrutiny by sociologists who argue that his concept of the sick role has a role to play in current accounts of health and illness. In this paper we describe the ways in which Australian women who had undergone elective risk-reducing breast surgery (with or without ovarian surgery) spoke about their convalescence. Women presented two contrasting recovery narratives in describing their experiences, with the negative effects of breast surgery either minimised or emphasised. In an effort to explain these differences, we draw upon the Parsonian concept of the sick role and argue that the extent to which women either embraced or rejected the sick role in their accounts was related to the amount of external legitimation they had received from healthcare professionals. We conclude that the concept of the sick role may provide useful insight into women's experiences of risk-management today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *BREAST tumors
*CONVALESCENCE
*INTERVIEWING
*RESEARCH methodology
*ONCOGENES
*RESEARCH funding
*RISK assessment
*ELECTIVE surgery
*WOMEN'S health
*NARRATIVES
*THEMATIC analysis
*DATA analysis software
*MEDICAL coding
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*ATTITUDES toward illness
*PSYCHOLOGY
*GENETICS
BREAST tumor prevention
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14461242
- Volume :
- 24
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Health Sociology Review
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 114329137
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2014.999402