Care in Healthcare: Reflections on Theory and Practice

by Franziska Krause (Editor), Joachim Boldt (Editor)

Overview

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

This book examines the concept of care and care practices in healthcare from the interdisciplinary perspectives of continental philosophy, care ethics, the social sciences, and anthropology. Areas addressed include dementia care, midwifery, diabetes care, psychiatry, and reproductive medicine. Special attention is paid to ambivalences and tensions within both the concept of care and care practices. Contributions in the first section of the book explore phenomenological and hermeneutic approaches to care and reveal historical precursors to care ethics. Empirical case studies and reflections on care in institutionalised and standardised settings form the second section of the book. The concluding chapter, jointly written by many of the contributors, points at recurring challenges of understanding and practicing care that open up the field for further research and discussion. This collection will be of great value to scholars and practitioners of medicine, ethics, philosophy, social science and history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319612911
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
Sales rank:	528,572
File size:	393 KB

About the Author

Franziska Krause is Senior Researcher at the Department of Medical Ethics and the History of Medicine at Freiburg University, Germany. One of her main research areas is the ethics of care.

Joachim Boldt is Associate Professor and Deputy Head at the Department of Medical Ethics and the History of Medicine and Coordinator of the Clinical Ethics Committee at Freiburg University, Germany. 

Table of Contents

1. ‘Understanding Care. Introductory Remarks’ by Franziska Krause and Joachim Boldt.- Part 1:Framing Care.- 2. ‘Forgotten Approaches to Care. The Human Being as Neighbour in the German-Jewish Tradition of the Nineteenth Century’ by Elisabeth Conradi.- 3. ‘Nursing as Accommodated Care. A Contribution to the Phenomenology of Care. Appeal – Concern – Volition – Practice’ by Björn Freter.- 4. ‘Fundamentals of an Ethics of Care’ by Giovanni Maio.- 5. ‘The Interdependence of Care and Autonomy. A Hermeneutic Approach’ by Joachim Boldt.- 6. ‘Caring Relationships. Commercial Surrogacy and the Ethical Relevance of the Other’ by Franziska Krause.- Part 2: Situated Care.- 7. ‘Sociomaterial Will-work. Aligning Daily Wanting in Dutch Dementia Care’ by Annelieke Driessen.- 8. ‘The Dementia Village – Between Community and Society’ by Tobias Haeusermann.- 9. ‘Regulation as an Obstacle to Care? A Care-Ethical Evaluation of the Regulation on the Use of Seclusion Cells in Psychiatric Care in Flanders (Belgium)’ by Tim Opgenhaffen.- 10. ‘Witnessing as an Embodied Practice in German Midwifery Care’ by Annekatrin Skeide.- 11. Tensions in Diabetes Care Practice. Ethical Challenges With a Focus on Nurses in a Home-Based Care Team’ by Pei-Yi Liu and Helen Kohlen.- 12. ‘Caring about Care in the Hospital Arena and Nurses’ Voices in Hospital Ethics Committees. Three Decades of Experiences’ by Helen Kohlen.- 13. ‘Toward a Three-Dimensional Perspective of Space for Humanizing Hospital Care’ by Hanneke van der Meide.- 14. ‘Conclusion – Asking the Right Questions’ by Joachim Boldt, Annelieke Driessen, Björn Freter, Tobias Haeusermann, Franziska Krause, Pei-Yi Liu, Tim Opgenhaffen, Annekatrin Skeide.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Brandy M Fox, MSHCE (Saint Louis University)
Description: This book uses descriptive and normative approaches to explore care as "a set of relational actions." Written primarily from German and Dutch perspectives, the analyses of care offer many helpful insights from disciplines beyond the field of clinical care.
Purpose: The purpose is to explore tensions within the notion of care among different healthcare settings by using case studies and theoretical descriptions of care. This book successfully dives into both the theoretical underpinnings of what it means to offer healthcare and how those foundations play out in everyday encounters between providers and recipients of care. Teasing out and revealing these potential, foreseeable, but often hidden conflicts offers healthcare providers a unique opportunity to reflect on them.
Audience: This book is written for practicing healthcare providers as well as academic audiences. By bringing attention to often unspoken and unexamined norms, the authors offer sage insights for students or anyone else interested in caregiving. The contributors have a rich array of backgrounds across philosophy, sociology, nursing, political science, anthropology, and other disciplines, which enables them to provide novel insights to clinicians.
Features: The book first explores theoretical aspects of care and then moves to specific case studies. The authors stress the importance of context and particularities while working with patients within a regulatory and ethically normative framework. The strongest parts of the book take theoretical discussions about the philosophy of care and apply the concepts to realistic case studies in a variety of care settings, demonstrating the direct impact that theory can have on practice. An excess of academic and philosophical wording may discourage some readers.
Assessment: This is an intriguing addition to the field of care studies. The historical and cultural discussions specific to each author's background provide novel perspectives that are not frequently found in the current care literature.

Doody's Review Service

This book is written for practicing healthcare providers as well as academic audiences. By bringing attention to often unspoken and unexamined norms, the authors offer sage insights for students or anyone else interested in caregiving. … This is an intriguing addition to the field of care studies. The historical and cultural discussions specific to each author's background provide novel perspectives that are not frequently found in the current care literature.” (Brandy M. Fox, Doody's Book Reviews, February, 2018)

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