IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v265y2020ics0277953620307504.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Caring through distancing: Spatial boundaries and proximities in the cystic fibrosis clinic

Author

Listed:
  • Buse, Christina
  • Brown, Nik
  • Nettleton, Sarah
  • Martin, Daryl
  • Lewis, Alan

Abstract

This paper re-examines relations between proximity, distance and care, focusing on practices of ‘distancing’ in the cystic fibrosis (CF) clinic. While care is often thought of in terms of proximity, literature on ‘landscapes of care’ highlights the potential for ‘care at a distance’. We extend this literature to examine practices of social distancing, specifically the act of maintaining a ‘space between’ bodies in communal areas – a practice currently brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the CF clinic as a case study, we examine how distancing can be understood as an emplaced practice of care, shaped by – and shaping - architectures and materialities in particular contexts. We explore these issues drawing on data from Pathways, practices and architectures: containing antimicrobial resistance in the cystic fibrosis clinic, a UK AHRC funded study (AH/R002037/1) examining practices in three cystic fibrosis clinics using visual and ethnographic methods. Clinical staff practices of maintaining distancing were often regarded by patients as ‘care-ful’, part of personalised ‘care in place’, embroiling a wider care assemblage including ancillary staff, materialities and architectures. Patients also actively participate in distancing as an ‘ethic of care’, using strategies of ‘holding back’ and ‘looking out’ in confined spaces. Yet our findings also highlight tensions between care, proximity and distance in circulation spaces and communal areas, including transient spaces where the assemblage of care breaks down. The article concludes by considering wider implications for healthcare design and for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Buse, Christina & Brown, Nik & Nettleton, Sarah & Martin, Daryl & Lewis, Alan, 2020. "Caring through distancing: Spatial boundaries and proximities in the cystic fibrosis clinic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:265:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620307504
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620307504
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113531?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mesman, Jessica, 2009. "The geography of patient safety: A topical analysis of sterility," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1705-1712, December.
    2. Irene Cassidy, 2006. "Student nurses’ experiences of caring for infectious patients in source isolation. A hermeneutic phenomenological study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(10), pages 1247-1256, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ovretveit, John, 2009. "The contribution of new social science research to patient safety," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1780-1783, December.
    2. Andrews, Gavin J. & Shaw, David, 2010. ""So we started talking about a beach in Barbados": Visualization practices and needle phobia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1804-1810, November.
    3. Hooker, Claire & Hor, Suyin & Wyer, Mary & Gilbert, Gwendolyn L. & Jorm, Christine & Iedema, Rick, 2020. "Trajectories of hospital infection control: Using non-representational theory to understand and improve infection prevention and control," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    4. Nicolini, Davide & Waring, Justin & Mengis, Jeanne, 2011. "Policy and practice in the use of root cause analysis to investigate clinical adverse events: Mind the gap," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 217-225, July.
    5. Iedema, Rick, 2009. "New approaches to researching patient safety," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1701-1704, December.
    6. Willemine Willems, 2021. "Countering the Tragedy of the Health Care Commons by Exnovation: Bringing Unexpected Problems and Solutions into View," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    7. Åsa Nilsson & Lisa Skär & Siv Söderberg, 2015. "Nurses' views of shortcomings in patent care encounters in one hospital in Sweden," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(19-20), pages 2807-2814, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:265:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620307504. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.