Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T06:15:13.153Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Reconsidering the Pseudo-Patient Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2001

C.D. HERRERA
Affiliation:
Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, New Jersey

Abstract

In pseudo-patient study (PPS), fieldworkers cloak their identities and intentions and pose as “patients.” This enables them to observe the practice of healthcare from within a naturalistic, nonreactive research setting. Rosenhan and his assistants conducted the most famous PPS, where they faked symptoms of schizophrenia so that they could gain admittance to a mental-health facility and observe the treatment that genuine patients were receiving. More subtle pseudo-patients might arrange “appointments” over the phone, after reporting varying levels of health insurance. Others might provide dummy lab specimens or test a physician's response to technical questions. A few genuine patients have transformed their legitimate stays in the hospital into fieldwork, transforming themselves into disguised participant-observers.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)