The management of chronic illness: patient and doctor perspectives on Parkinson's disease

Uncertainty is part of the human condition. But for patients with a chronic illness such as Parkinson's Disease and for the GPs who care for them, uncertainty and its management take on an added edge. Dr Pinder, in a series of moving portraits, shows how the differing anxieties of both parties may, if unacknowledged, lead them down different paths, with distressing consequences for patients. By contrast, a responsive GP may make living with P.D. more bearable. The author argues that an imaginative understanding of the illness experience may enable GPs to care more effectively for their chronically ill patients. The book presents a compelling case for looking afresh at patient-doctor interaction. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-10 Explaining What to Expect: Beliefs and Routines....Pages 11-24 Understanding the Implications: Knowledge as a Resource?....Pages 25-40 The Drug Regimen: ‘We Can Treat It’....Pages 41-53 The Honeymoon Period—And After....Pages 54-67 Detachment or Empathy?....Pages 68-82 Controlling the Uncontrollable: Making Sense of Living with P.D.....Pages 83-96 Conclusions: Patient and Doctor—Match and Mismatch....Pages 97-111 Doing Research: More Than an Afterthought....Pages 112-126 Back Matter....Pages 130-141 An analysis of the special relationship which exists between doctors and patients with chronic diseases. It records the experiences and attitudes of 18 GPs towards Parkinson's disease and contrasts these with a group of patients who actually have this disease.