The Good Patient is Under Control. Service Communities and Health Care Practice in the Hospital [F]
Ivan SainsaulieuThis paper analyses the health professionals' perceptions of the patients in different hospital departments. It is based on the results of an inquiry ina Canadian hospital (Ontario), following those of former studies in French hospitals. The comprehensive analysis, focused on the viewpoints of all health professionals, underlines the significance of local contexts of the different departments on both the work atmosphere and the perception of the patients. It shows that while the patients, represent the highest value in the eyes of the professionals, they are expected to behave like the classical figures of the submissive patients, and not like new players. These expectations are found not solely among the medical professionals but in the whole care personnel.
Swiss Journal of Sociology, 35 (3), 2009, 551-570
