Caring for patients

by Allen B. Barbour

The prevailing medical model of patient care is that every illness has a physical cause that can be identified and treated medically. But many physicians challenge this attitude, arguing the necessity of taking the psychological and social situation of the patient into account in the process of diagnosis and treatment. In addition to documenting the limitations of the medical model, the author outlines the goals, attitudes and methods of a more effective, person-centered care. This involves, in addition to diagnosis, an understanding of the illness as a whole, its sources as well as its effects, in order to achieve a healing collaboration with the patient. The book is addressed to doctors and medical students who wish to broaden their outlook, as well as to psychotherapists, counsellors, nurses, and paramedical personnel.