why choose us

300×250 Ad Slot

Research Article: Patients’ experiences of being touched by their general practitioner: a qualitative study

Date Published: 2023-07-31

Abstract:
Objective This study aimed to explore patients’ experiences and perceptions of touch, as practised by their general practitioner during their medical appointment. Design Qualitative study using grounded theory method, based on individual interviews. Data collection and analysis occurred iteratively; themes were identified using constant comparison. Setting Recruitment among general practitioners’ private practices and health centres in Ile-de-France. Participants Twenty-one patients aged 19–88 years old, interviewed between June 2018 and May 2019. Results Physical examination was described as a ritual enabling the establishment of patients’ and doctors’ roles, the verification of the doctor’s skills and the construction of a caring experience. Touch was also a media for the doctor to exercise power that the patient authorised. Finally, it had relational and emotional value. Discussion and conclusion Physical examination is so internalised by the patients that it becomes unquestionable. It may be inappropriate when this touch does not belong to physical examination or on the contrary represents a proof of the doctor’s humanity. The patient is not necessarily aware of the relational dimension that underpins touching and, in particular, clinical examination. This raises the question of why should doctor use it and how they can communicate about it, so that it may become an active tool in favour of trust and the construction of the relationship.

Introduction:
According to Anzieu and his concept of ‘skin-ego’, any psychological function originates and develops from a bodily function. The skin is both some container, a protection from the outside world and an interface, which function is to communicate with other people. 1 As Andrieu puts it, ‘tactile sensitivity is the result of a reflection about one’s skin’ 2 explaining that health professionals (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, osteopaths…) experience touch differently, 3 as also do patients. From Merleau-Ponty’s 3…

Read more

300×250 Ad Slot