Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients

Some patients require a companion to help them answer questions from medical personnel. How the companions do so may depend, in part, on the nature of the patient’s condition. In the case of the patient with a learning disability, we find the companion tending strongly to respect the patient’s agenc...

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Main Authors: Johanna Ruusuvuori, Charles Antaki, Deborah Chinn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Copenhagen 2024-12-01
Series:Social Interaction
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tidsskrift.dk/socialinteraction/article/view/151571
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author Johanna Ruusuvuori
Charles Antaki
Deborah Chinn
author_facet Johanna Ruusuvuori
Charles Antaki
Deborah Chinn
author_sort Johanna Ruusuvuori
collection DOAJ
description Some patients require a companion to help them answer questions from medical personnel. How the companions do so may depend, in part, on the nature of the patient’s condition. In the case of the patient with a learning disability, we find the companion tending strongly to respect the patient’s agency and entitlement to speak to their own experiences, by a) allowing the patient time to volunteer the answer to the question themselves, b) glossing inadequate answers as being a temporary failure to remember and c) constructing a no-problem answer (extending previous findings by Antaki and Chinn, 2019). In contrast, with a patient who is examined for or has a diagnosis of epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, we see the companion tending to take a more proactive and interventionist approach. We discuss our findings in the light of differences between the powers and capacities attributable to people with learning disability, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, and the different entitlements that their companions may assume in speaking for them.
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series Social Interaction
spelling doaj-art-62df19d96cec498196af9f31561fd01c2025-08-20T02:19:36ZengUniversity of CopenhagenSocial Interaction2446-36202024-12-017310.7146/si.v7i3.151571Companions' Interventions on Behalf of PatientsJohanna Ruusuvuori0Charles Antaki1Deborah Chinn2Tampere UniversityLoughborough UniversityKing’s College London Some patients require a companion to help them answer questions from medical personnel. How the companions do so may depend, in part, on the nature of the patient’s condition. In the case of the patient with a learning disability, we find the companion tending strongly to respect the patient’s agency and entitlement to speak to their own experiences, by a) allowing the patient time to volunteer the answer to the question themselves, b) glossing inadequate answers as being a temporary failure to remember and c) constructing a no-problem answer (extending previous findings by Antaki and Chinn, 2019). In contrast, with a patient who is examined for or has a diagnosis of epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, we see the companion tending to take a more proactive and interventionist approach. We discuss our findings in the light of differences between the powers and capacities attributable to people with learning disability, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, and the different entitlements that their companions may assume in speaking for them. https://tidsskrift.dk/socialinteraction/article/view/151571companionshealth care encounterspatient's agencyconversation analysis
spellingShingle Johanna Ruusuvuori
Charles Antaki
Deborah Chinn
Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
Social Interaction
companions
health care encounters
patient's agency
conversation analysis
title Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
title_full Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
title_fullStr Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
title_full_unstemmed Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
title_short Companions' Interventions on Behalf of Patients
title_sort companions interventions on behalf of patients
topic companions
health care encounters
patient's agency
conversation analysis
url https://tidsskrift.dk/socialinteraction/article/view/151571
work_keys_str_mv AT johannaruusuvuori companionsinterventionsonbehalfofpatients
AT charlesantaki companionsinterventionsonbehalfofpatients
AT deborahchinn companionsinterventionsonbehalfofpatients