Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view
Since Roy Porter’s pioneering work on the ‘patient’s view’, historians have taken up the challenge to rewrite medicine’s past ‘from below’. However, this chapter argues that they have not been radical enough and have neglected a key part of Porter’s agenda for the new social history of medicine. He...
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Manchester University Press
2021
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| Online Access: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/50924 |
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| _version_ | 1869526538275258368 |
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| author | Worboys, Michael |
| author_browse | Worboys, Michael |
| author_facet | Worboys, Michael |
| author_sort | Worboys, Michael |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | Since Roy Porter’s pioneering work on the ‘patient’s view’, historians have taken up the challenge to rewrite medicine’s past ‘from below’. However, this chapter argues that they have not been radical enough and have neglected a key part of Porter’s agenda for the new social history of medicine. He wrote: ‘We should stop seeing the doctor as the agent of primary care. People took care before they took physick. What we habitually call primary care is in fact secondary care, once the sufferer has become a patient, [and] has entered the medical arena.’ In other words, the beliefs, behaviour and actions of sick people who did not go to the doctor and remained ‘non-patients’. To explore the ‘non-patient’s view’, we have to look beyond self-care and the use of proprietary remedies and alternative medicine. The sociological term of the ‘symptom iceberg’, which refers to the aches and ailments that never reach the doctor, is used as a guide. In turn, historical examples to the following responses to symptoms are discussed: doing nothing; prayer; finding information; looking to family and friends; over-the-counter medicines. The chapter suggests how historians can research the ‘non-patient’s view’, by interrogating familiar sources in new ways and finding novel sources, many of which will have previously been regarded as non-medical. Finally, the chapter considers the policy implications of this work in terms of recent attempts to ease pressures on healthcare systems that encourage people ‘not to see the doctor’ and opt for self-care. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-72278 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Manchester University Press |
| publisherStr | Manchester University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-722782025-08-13T14:11:19Z Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view Worboys, Michael general practice; non-patient’s view; over-the-counter medicines; patient’s view; self-care; self-medication; symptom iceberg thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history Since Roy Porter’s pioneering work on the ‘patient’s view’, historians have taken up the challenge to rewrite medicine’s past ‘from below’. However, this chapter argues that they have not been radical enough and have neglected a key part of Porter’s agenda for the new social history of medicine. He wrote: ‘We should stop seeing the doctor as the agent of primary care. People took care before they took physick. What we habitually call primary care is in fact secondary care, once the sufferer has become a patient, [and] has entered the medical arena.’ In other words, the beliefs, behaviour and actions of sick people who did not go to the doctor and remained ‘non-patients’. To explore the ‘non-patient’s view’, we have to look beyond self-care and the use of proprietary remedies and alternative medicine. The sociological term of the ‘symptom iceberg’, which refers to the aches and ailments that never reach the doctor, is used as a guide. In turn, historical examples to the following responses to symptoms are discussed: doing nothing; prayer; finding information; looking to family and friends; over-the-counter medicines. The chapter suggests how historians can research the ‘non-patient’s view’, by interrogating familiar sources in new ways and finding novel sources, many of which will have previously been regarded as non-medical. Finally, the chapter considers the policy implications of this work in terms of recent attempts to ease pressures on healthcare systems that encourage people ‘not to see the doctor’ and opt for self-care. 2021-10-14T04:06:40Z 2021-10-14T04:06:40Z 2021-10-13T10:01:35Z 2021 chapter https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/50924 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/72278 eng Social Histories of Medicine open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/50924/1/9781526154897_ch1.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/50924/1/9781526154897_ch1.pdf Manchester University Press bcb4ab08-c525-4e6c-88e5-a0cf0a175533 Patient voices in Britain, 1840–1948 Wellcome Trust d859fbd3-d884-4090-a0ec-baf821c9abfd Wellcome 28 Manchester WT 092782 open access |
| spellingShingle | general practice; non-patient’s view; over-the-counter medicines; patient’s view; self-care; self-medication; symptom iceberg thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history Worboys, Michael Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title | Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title_full | Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title_fullStr | Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title_short | Chapter 1 The non-patient’s view |
| title_sort | chapter 1 the non patient s view |
| topic | general practice; non-patient’s view; over-the-counter medicines; patient’s view; self-care; self-medication; symptom iceberg thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history |
| topic_facet | general practice; non-patient’s view; over-the-counter medicines; patient’s view; self-care; self-medication; symptom iceberg thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::M Medicine and Nursing::MB Medicine: general issues::MBX History of medicine thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/50924 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT worboysmichael chapter1thenonpatientsview |