Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Forewords
- Part 1 Introduction and theory
- Part 2 Primary care and the primary health care team
- 4 A patient complaint: team meetings, policy and practice values – raising awareness in the team
- 5 A well person health check, health promotion and disease prevention: different lifestyles, different values
- 6 A patient with medically unexplained symptoms: applying evidence and values for shared decision-making, self-care and co-production of health
- 7 A request for strong analgesia: honesty and trust
- 8 Asylum seekers and refugees: working across cultures
- 9 A request for a home birth and other pregnancy-related consultations
- 10 Community-based care and the wider health care team
- 11 Ageing and end of life decisions
- 12 Referrals and the interface between primary and secondary care: looking after ‘our’ patients
- 13 Living with visible difference and valuing appearance
- 14 Collaboration with other professionals: in and outside health care
- 15 Learning in and about teams
- Afterword
- Index
- References
13 - Living with visible difference and valuing appearance
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Forewords
- Part 1 Introduction and theory
- Part 2 Primary care and the primary health care team
- 4 A patient complaint: team meetings, policy and practice values – raising awareness in the team
- 5 A well person health check, health promotion and disease prevention: different lifestyles, different values
- 6 A patient with medically unexplained symptoms: applying evidence and values for shared decision-making, self-care and co-production of health
- 7 A request for strong analgesia: honesty and trust
- 8 Asylum seekers and refugees: working across cultures
- 9 A request for a home birth and other pregnancy-related consultations
- 10 Community-based care and the wider health care team
- 11 Ageing and end of life decisions
- 12 Referrals and the interface between primary and secondary care: looking after ‘our’ patients
- 13 Living with visible difference and valuing appearance
- 14 Collaboration with other professionals: in and outside health care
- 15 Learning in and about teams
- Afterword
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter explores values in relation to appearance and the relationship between what we think about how we look and health. We consider the concept of visible difference and how we, as a society, decide on what is ‘normal’ (and not a health issue) and what is abnormal (and requires treatment).
Is our society concerned too much with looks? Individuals may not agree about what they value as beauty and attractiveness but most of us have a template of ‘normality’ that we refer to in order to distinguish difference or what we may refer to as disability or disfigurement. This chapter is in two main parts. The first is concerned with ‘visible difference’, a term preferred to disfigurement, which is a very value-laden concept. The second is about appearance and the possible role of health professionals when interacting with people who want to change how they look in order to improve their ‘attractiveness’ (as defined by the patient or client).
Reflection point
As an individual, rather than a professional, what do you consider physically attractive in another person? In our youth we may say ‘I fancy X because’. While we may place a high value on intelligence, sense of humour or interpersonal skills, our initial attraction is likely to be the look of someone. How may what you consider attractive affect your professional interactions (and this could be with patients or colleagues)? Do you act differently in the presence of ‘beauty’? And conversely in the absence of beauty?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Values-Based Interprofessional Collaborative PracticeWorking Together in Health Care, pp. 139 - 148Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012