IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v350y2024ics0277953624003885.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Seeking help for atrial fibrillation: the role of the body in distributed decision making

Author

Listed:
  • Hawking, Meredith K.D.
  • Swinglehurst, Deborah

Abstract

We adopt Rapley's (2008) concept of distributed decision making to explore the role of the body in people's decisions to seek medical care. We conducted in-depth interviews with patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) who were taking long-term anticoagulants to prevent stroke. We interviewed seventeen patients recruited from English anticoagulant clinics using the biographic-narrative-interpretive method, and conducted thematic, structural and metaphorical analyses. This pluralistic analysis focused on how distributed decision-making was enacted through a range of socio-material, relational and embodied practices. Participants told how they experienced AF-related sensations that fluctuated in intensity and form. Some had no symptoms at all; others experienced sudden incapacitation – these experiences shaped different journeys towards seeking medical help. We draw on work by Mol (2002) to show how the body was differently observed, experienced and done across contexts as the narratives unfolded. We show that as part of a relational assemblage, involving social, material and technological actors over time, a new body-in-need-of-help was enacted and medical help sought. This body-in-need-of-help was collectively discussed, interpreted and experienced through distribution of body parts, fluids and technological representations to shape decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hawking, Meredith K.D. & Swinglehurst, Deborah, 2024. "Seeking help for atrial fibrillation: the role of the body in distributed decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:350:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624003885
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116944
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624003885
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116944?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. Amar Dhand & Douglas Luke & Catherine Lang & Michael Tsiaklides & Steven Feske & Jin-Moo Lee, 2019. "Social networks and risk of delayed hospital arrival after acute stroke," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Thomas, Elizabeth C. & Bass, Sarah Bauerle & Siminoff, Laura A., 2021. "Beyond rationality: Expanding the practice of shared decision making in modern medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    3. Macdonald, Sara & Blane, David & Browne, Susan & Conway, Ellie & Macleod, Una & May, Carl & Mair, Frances, 2016. "Illness identity as an important component of candidacy: Contrasting experiences of help-seeking and access to care in cancer and heart disease," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 101-110.
    4. Gardner, John & Dew, Kevin & Stubbe, Maria & Dowell, Tony & Macdonald, Lindsay, 2011. "Patchwork diagnoses: The production of coherence, uncertainty, and manageable bodies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 843-850, September.
    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. Yohei Ishikawa & Toru Hifumi & Mitsuyoshi Urashima, 2020. "Influence of Living Alone or with a Spouse Only on the Short-Term Prognosis in Patients after an Acute Ischemic Stroke," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Kumar, Praveen & Kalra, Naira & Shankar, Anita, 2024. "Role of personal network attributes in adoption of clean stoves among Congolese refugees in Rwanda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    3. Samantha Batchelor & Emma R. Miller & Belinda Lunnay & Sara Macdonald & Paul R. Ward, 2021. "Revisiting Candidacy: What Might It Offer Cancer Prevention?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Heritage, John & McArthur, Amanda, 2019. "The diagnostic moment: A study in US primary care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 262-271.
    5. Joo, Won-tak, 2023. "Educational gradient in social network changes at disease diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    6. Mackintosh, Nicola & Gong, Qian (Sarah) & Hadjiconstantinou, Michelle & Verdezoto, Nervo, 2021. "Digital mediation of candidacy in maternity care: Managing boundaries between physiology and pathology," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    7. Turowetz, Jason, 2015. "Citing conduct, individualizing symptoms: Accomplishing autism diagnosis in clinical case conferences," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 214-222.
    8. Hayes, Jennie & McCabe, Rose & Ford, Tamsin & Parker, Daisy & Russell, Ginny, 2021. "‘Not at the diagnosis point’: Dealing with contradiction in autism assessment teams," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    9. Kathleen Markey & Anne MacFarlane & Maria Noonan & Mairead Moloney & Susann Huschke & Kate O’Donnell & Claire O'Donnell & Teresa Tuohy & Ahmed Hassan Mohamed & Owen Doody, 2022. "Service User and Service Provider Perceptions of Enablers and Barriers for Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Women Accessing and Engaging with Perinatal Mental Health Care Services in the WHO European Region," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-10, January.
    10. Liyuan Wang & Lindsay E. Young & Lynn C. Miller, 2021. "The Structure of Social Support in Confidant Networks: Implications for Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Liberati, Elisa & Richards, Natalie & Parker, Jennie & Willars, Janet & Scott, David & Boydell, Nicola & Pinfold, Vanessa & Martin, Graham & Jones, Peter B. & Dixon-Woods, Mary, 2022. "Qualitative study of candidacy and access to secondary mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    12. Shukla, Prakriti & Lee, Myeong & Whitman, Samantha A. & Pine, Kathleen H., 2022. "Delay of routine health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A theoretical model of individuals’ risk assessment and decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    13. Alethea Desrosiers & Laura Bond & Morgan Hoffman & Praveen Kumar & Carolyn Schafer & Isha W. Metzger & Alpha Vandi & Miriam Hinton & Theresa S. Betancourt, 2023. "Exploring Naturalistic Diffusion of an Evidence-Based Mental Health Intervention across Peer Networks of Youth in Sierra Leone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-16, February.
    14. Ross, Emily & Swallow, Julia & Kerr, Anne & Chekar, Choon Key & Cunningham-Burley, Sarah, 2021. "Diagnostic layering: Patient accounts of breast cancer classification in the molecular era," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    15. Gøril Ursin, 2020. "Framing Dementia Care Practices: The Politics of Early Diagnosis in the Making of Care," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    16. Oluwafemi Adeagbo & Kammila Naidoo, 2021. "Engaging the ‘Missing Men’ in the HIV Treatment Cascade: Creating a Tailored Intervention to Improve Men’s Uptake of HIV Care Services in Rural South Africa: A Study Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-8, April.
    17. Brown, Eliza, 2020. "Projected diagnosis, anticipatory medicine, and uncertainty: How medical providers ‘rule out’ potential pregnancy in contraceptive counseling," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).

    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:350:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624003885. 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.