 Homeopath & patient-a dyad of harmony?R. Frank Social Science & Medicine, 2002, vol. 55, issue 8, 1285-1296 Abstract: Within the last 20Â yr, heterodox medicine has become increasingly popular in western societies. Critics and advocates argue that the physician-patient relationship is a key factor to this success. This study which is based on 20 semi-structured interviews with homeopathic physicians in Berlin questions the notion of a purely consensual interaction. While we can find a certain degree of partnership between homeopathic physicians and their patients, there is a significant amount of negotiation and disagreement as well: The arenas are the revelation of the prescribed homeopathic remedy, patients' expectations, the physicians' fees and differing views on the appropriate duration of consultation. Consequently, a rather complex picture of the physician-patient interaction emerges which challenges the notion of a purely harmony- and consumer-oriented consultation in heterodox medicine. It does not seem possible straightforwardly to apply any of the existing theoretical models to the physician-patient relationship. Keywords: Physician-patient; relationship; Homeopathy; Alternative; medicine; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:55:y:2002:i:8:p:1285-1296 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier |
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