Re: OANDP-L Digest - 17 Jan 2000 to 18 Jan 2000 (#2000-1

Re: OANDP-L Digest - 17 Jan 2000 to 18 Jan 2000 (#2000-1

Stevanne Lusk

1/27/2000

I would like to unsubscribe.

Thanks!Stevanne

-----Original Message-----
From: Orthotics and Prosthetics List [mailto:<Email Address Redacted>] On
Behalf Of mnewsnew
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2000 4:02 PM
To: <Email Address Redacted>
Subject: Re: OANDP-L Digest - 17 Jan 2000 to 18 Jan 2000 (#2000-1

Personally, I do not mind being called a patient, and I understand that
most prosthetists use this term with respect and a desire to help me
live my life. But I may have some insight into why some amputees do not
like this term.

Patient is not simply a word, but is a social role characterized by the
experience of illness, suspension of other social roles (e.g. employee,
student, etc.) during the illness, submission to medical authority, and
so on. It is a specifically medical role which ends when the person no
longer experiences illness and returns to their other everyday social roles.

Many amputees are not ill. Even those who are tend to consult MDs for
their illnesses and prosthetists for their prosthetic needs. Disabled
people are not a priori ill, and the term patient is not always
appropriate for persons in good health who happen to have physical
impairments.

I think some politicized, educated amputees also resent the implication
that, as patients, they must submit to medical authority. The roles of
good patient and bad patient are more about power dynamics and
compliance than anything else. I believe many amputees (and
prosthetists) want a cooperative partnership rather than the one-sided
relationship of authoritative healer/compliant patient who needs to be
managed, which the term patient implies.

On the other hand, I don't like the consumer paradigm either; buying a
prosthesis is substantially different than buying other consumer
products. The coffee and donut I purchased this morning did not have the
same psychological impact on me as my last leg. However, this doesn't
mean that an increasingly medicalized paradigm isn't problematic,
particularly for amputees. What are the stakes? When prosthetists call
amputee patients, who gains? Does being a patient empower amputees?
Does it empower prosthetists in relation to other health care
professionals and their patients? Is it an accurate word for describing
healthy, mutually beneficial prosthetist-amputee relationships?

Steve Kurzman

On Sat, 22 Jan 2000, JEFFREY MCDONALD wrote:

> Paul,
> I agree, what gives? The problem seems to be with some older prosthetic
> patients who obviously have no sutures or no wounds being treated.
They
> apparently wish to be thought of as customers or shoppers. Then don't
> come to my office. New clients are usually dealing with a lot more than
> labels. They come to see me when they are at their most vulnerable. Many
> have been through hell. They allow me to see a part of them that very few,
> if any other people see, both figuratively and literally. Over time I
> develop an intimate relationship with them. They trust me to serve their
> needs and our relationship is that of PATIENT & PRACTITIONER. Sorry if it
> rubs anyone wrong.
> PS. I'm an amputee.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Paul Meyer, CPO < <Email Address Redacted> >
> To: < <Email Address Redacted> >
> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 10:26 PM
> Subject: Re: OANDP-L Digest - 17 Jan 2000 to 18 Jan 2000 (#2000-1
>
>
> > What's the problem with us calling amputees our patients?
> >
> >