The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Qual Health Res. 2013 Jan;23(1):54-65. doi: 10.1177/1049732312462242. Epub 2012 Oct 8.
Cancer is emerging as a key disease in India, but there has been virtually no research exploring understandings of cancer and practices of communication within oncology settings. This is despite the fact that the Indian context presents clinicians, patients, and family members with a range of unique challenges, including those related to disease awareness, interpersonal dynamics, and the use of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines (TCAM). Drawing on a series of qualitative interviews with 22 Delhi-based oncology clinicians, in this article we examine clinicians' accounts of communication with their cancer patients. The interviews reveal the challenges of communication given cancer's relative novelty, cultural practices around collective negotiation, and rhetorical practices evident in advice-giving regarding TCAM. We conclude that with cancer set to become a major burden in India, research exploring competing forms of expertise, the politics of representation, and the nexus between traditional beliefs and techno-scientific development is urgently needed.
癌症正在成为印度的一个主要疾病，但实际上几乎没有研究探索肿瘤学环境中的癌症理解和沟通实践。尽管印度的情况给临床医生、患者和家庭成员带来了一系列独特的挑战，包括与疾病意识、人际动态以及传统、补充和替代医学（TCAM）的使用相关的挑战。本文借鉴了对 22 名德里肿瘤学临床医生的一系列定性访谈，研究了临床医生与癌症患者沟通的情况。访谈揭示了沟通的挑战，原因是癌症相对较新，围绕集体协商的文化实践，以及在 TCAM 建议方面表现出的修辞实践。我们得出结论，随着癌症在印度成为主要负担，迫切需要研究探索竞争形式的专业知识、代表性的政治以及传统信仰与技术科学发展之间的关系。
