The empowered patient and the sociologist

The empowered patient is a near ubiquitous ideal in contemporary health care. In health professional literature as well as in public policy and debates involving patient organizations, the need to empower the patient and extend his or her control over health matters is agreed upon. The authors argue this phenomenon deserve more attention from medical sociology. The increasing use of the term ‘empowerment’ – both as a political ideal and as a descriptive concept – strikes as an interesting entrance to explore the multifaceted expressions of health and illness in contemporary society. The paper suggests some critical comments and opening questions for such a project.

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