dr. ronald e. mcnair acknowledgements - University of St. Thomas

Oluwademilade Adediran
Psychology Mattering
finding from this study was doctors made patients feel like
they mattered when they took the time to talk, answered
questions, and view the patient as a person who wanted to
be able to have good quality of life after treatments. The
results also indicated women felt they were merely cancer
patients when they were given their diagnosis over the
phone and by nurses who did not have sufficient
information. Results from the current study coincide with
findings from previous research from Janssen & MacLeod,
(2010) which also found that patients dislike being treated
as only as their cancer and not as people.
This research also investigated whether or not patients
perceived whether doctors took their life and livelihood
into account when prescribing treatments. It seems some
doctors are still focused on the elimination of the cancer
and fail to look at long term effects of cancer treatments.
Some doctors failed to address the side effects of treatments,
which led to patient difficulty in regaining their livelihood
(Schmalenberger, S., Giebenhain, Gessert, & Starr, 2011;
Schmalenberger, Giebenhain, Starr, & Gessert, 2011). The
patients from this study remarked if the doctor could give
them back their lives but take away their means of
providing for themselves, their quality of life had been
greatly diminished. Being musicians is their passion,
identity, and way of life. These women have trained for a
lifetime to make music, and therefore cannot merely switch
professions.
Medical treatments are essentially universal and not
individualized. Doctors usually follow the same protocols.
In the present study, largely ignored? Or downplayed the
fact these women were musicians whose careers depend on
their finely tuned physical abilities. Results from this study
indicate when dealing with patients, they perceived the
doctor was concerned with the cancer to the exclusion of
anything else. Some doctors asked the patient how
treatments were affecting them, but the major focus was
on getting rid of the cancer, everything else came second.
Research indicates more women than ever are found to
survive breast cancer. This rise in survival rates can be
attributed to better methods of detection and intervention.
Because we are more likely to survive cancer today, it makes
sense that health care providers need to broaden their focus
to include individualized treatments to successfully
eliminate the cancer as well as minimize threats to patients’
careers. This will help maintain the patients’ quality of life
after treatments are over.
Taking into consideration the concerns of the present
sample, recommendations for improved holistic health care
might include the following: in order for doctors to better
suit their patients and do no harm as the Hippocratic Oath
states, doctors could facilitate better communication with
patients. This could help patients perceive they matter as
people and are not just a name on a chart. Patients ought
to be able to tell their doctors they are a mechanic, surgeon,
professional athlete, or ballet dancer, and therefore must (if
at all possible) be able to do specific activities after
treatments have ended. Doctors ought to share with the
patient all possible treatment options, probabilities of
success, as well as the pros and cons of each treatment
option. This will ensure the patient has input about how
they would like to be treated. Furthermore, health care
professionals might consider creating a relationship that
conveys they care for the patient. The relationship need
only include specific characteristics which include: 1) the
doctor could listen to the patient and direct them to
resources which could give the woman further information
about treatment options; 2) the doctor could keep the lines
of communication open by making sure that meetings with
the patient last as long as they need to; 3) doctors ought to
take their time when meeting with each patient and not
try to hurry through the process. This patience exhibited
by the doctor could imply to the patient they can share
their thoughts.
The recommendations stated above were found to be
what the ideal doctor should engage in according to study
conducted by Theisel (2010). This “ideal” interaction does
not facilitate more work for the doctor who has many
patients to help, but helps him or her understand where
the patient is coming from. The complaints from the
women were not just that the doctor did not take his or
her time. It was that the doctor was not purposeful in the
use of his or her time. A patient explained “I see my surgeon,
oncologist, and radiation oncologist every couple of months. And I
have to tell you, when I go in for my treatment there, the visits get
quicker and quicker.” Practical constraints in the age of
managed care imply it is hard for a doctor to be able to give
each patient the attention they might deserve. Though this
is the case, doctors ought to make their patients feel they
matter by purposefully using the time they are allotted per
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