Prospects of Heart Surgery : Psychological Adjustment to Coronary Bypass Grafting

__Prospects of Heart Surgery: Psychological Adjustment to__ __Coronary Bypass Grafting__ reports on a study of how patients and their spouses adjusted to the prospect, and then to the outcome, of coronary graft surgery. The focus upon patients' social relationships rather than upon individuals reveals that the way people bear their illness, and adapt to symptom removal, is part of a wider adjustment involving both the spouse and other individuals. The book offers, as one of its main contributions, a social-psychological approach to the study of illness in general. It sets out a new methodology which might be applied in a number of illness contexts. Using both qualitative and quantitative analyses, __Prospects__ __of Heart Surgery__ describes differences between smooth and problematic approaches to surgery as well as variations in the experience of rehabilitation afterwards. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Surgery and Social Science: Improving the Quality of Life....Pages 3-20 Symptoms and Society: Ill-Health as Adjustment....Pages 21-41 The Project: Context, Aim, and Method....Pages 42-57 Front Matter....Pages 59-59 Living With Coronary Disease....Pages 61-92 The Anticipation of Surgery....Pages 93-122 After Surgery— Relief and Recovery....Pages 123-150 One Year Later—Restoring Health and Social Life....Pages 151-180 Front Matter....Pages 181-181 Development of Theory....Pages 183-199 Implications and Applications....Pages 200-215 Back Matter....Pages 216-246