We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Reassurance through surveillance in the face of clinical uncertainty: the experience of women at risk of familial breast cancer.
- Authors
Parsons, Evelyn P.; Beale, Valerie; Bennett, Helen; Jones, Jo; Lycett, Emma J
- Abstract
ObjectiveTo identify the main issues raised by clinicians when they are counselling women at risk of breast cancer and explore the response of a group of women 1 year after counselling. DesignA qualitative study which involved the thematic analysis of a series of transcripts from clinical consultations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. ParticipantsFirst, a series of clinical consultations (n=153), involving seven clinicians, were randomly selected during a Medical Research Council funded study of genetic assessment (TRACE). Second, a group of women (n=43), involved in the TRACE study, were interviewed, or joined a focus group, 1 year after their genetic assessment. ConclusionsThere was evidence that, although the clinical consultations were embedded with multiple messages of uncertainty, the women’s accounts did not reflect this. The women talked about the reassurance they had found because they had met with an expert and become members of the surveillance society. The authors highlight the tension that exists because of the difference between lay expectations about on-going surveillance and the realities of collective service provision.
- Subjects
BREAST cancer patients; FAMILIAL diseases; DISEASES in women; PHYSICIAN-patient relations; HEALTH counseling; COUNSELING
- Publication
Health Expectations, 2000, Vol 3, Issue 4, p263
- ISSN
1369-6513
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1046/j.1369-6513.2000.00097.x