ACHIEVING A PATIENT-CENTERED SALUTOGENIC APPROACH: JUGGLING MEDICAL RESOURCES AND RISKS
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Keywords
autonomy, communication, empowerment, epidemiology, general practice, healing, health resources, informed consent, preventive medicine, risk factors, salutogenesis
Abstract
To date, the curative and preventative potential of self-assessed knowledge and personal health resources has been significantly underestimated in the medical field. This article elucidates the ethical and epistemological quandaries that are intrinsic to the prevailing risk-oriented epidemiology. Concerning communication, autonomy, knowledge, and values, these dilemmas exist. We propose that a salutogenetic approach, which is centred around the patient, be implemented to promote a fairer distribution of medical resources and risks. Furthermore, the identification and intervention of risk factors can generate hypotheses concerning the origins of disease and, in some cases, aid in the prediction and, in some cases, prevention of group-level illnesses. In the context of the individualised clinical encounter, this viewpoint is limited in a number of ways, including with regard to causal factors, group-level possibilities, adequate intervention endpoints, informed consent, and medicalization. Through the presentation of a salutogenic perspective, we advocate for a reorientation of focus towards strengths, resources, and agency, which have the potential to mitigate disease risk and empower the individual. The capacity of dialogue extends to oppression as well as empowerment. The text provides succinct illustrations of empowerment through dialogue, integrating self-assessed health resources and employing a communicative key question methodology.
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References
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