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Hospital ethnography: introduction

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  • van der Geest, Sjaak
  • Finkler, Kaja

Abstract

The introduction sets out two central ideas around which this collection of articles on hospital ethnography has been organised. The first is that hospitals are not identical clones of a global biomedical model. Hospitals take on different forms in different cultures and societies. Medical views and technical facilities may vary considerably leading to different diagnostic and therapeutic traditions. The second idea, related to the first, is that biomedicine and the hospital as its foremost institution is a domain where the core values and beliefs of a culture come into view. Hospitals both reflect and reinforce dominant social and cultural processes of their societies. The authors further discuss some methodological and ethical complexities of doing feildwork in a hospital setting and present brief summaries of the contributions, which deal with hospitals in Ghana, South Africa, Bangladesh, Mexico, Italy, The Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Egypt and Lebanon.

Suggested Citation

  • van der Geest, Sjaak & Finkler, Kaja, 2004. "Hospital ethnography: introduction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(10), pages 1995-2001, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:59:y:2004:i:10:p:1995-2001
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    1. Topo, Päivi & Iltanen-Tähkävuori, Sonja, 2010. "Scripting patienthood with patient clothing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1682-1689, June.
    2. McKnight, Jacob & Nzinga, Jacinta & Jepkosgei, Joyline & English, Mike, 2020. "Collective strategies to cope with work related stress among nurses in resource constrained settings: An ethnography of neonatal nursing in Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    3. Adato, Michelle & Roopnaraine, Terry & Becker, Elisabeth, 2011. "Understanding use of health services in conditional cash transfer programs: Insights from qualitative research in Latin America and Turkey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1921-1929, June.
    4. Biswas, Debashish & Hossin, Raduan & Rahman, Mahbubur & Bardosh, Kevin Louis & Watt, Melissa H. & Zion, Mazharul Islam & Sujon, Hasnat & Rashid, Md Mahbubur & Salimuzzaman, M. & Flora, Meerjady S. & Q, 2020. "An ethnographic exploration of diarrheal disease management in public hospitals in Bangladesh: From problems to solutions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    5. Salhi, Bisan A., 2020. "Who are Clive's friends? Latent sociality in the emergency department," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    6. Kapil Babu Dahal, 2022. "Engrained with modernity: commodification, medicalisation, and cross-border medical travel for health care in Nepal," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Closser, Svea & Mendenhall, Emily & Brown, Peter & Neill, Rachel & Justice, Judith, 2022. "The anthropology of health systems: A history and review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    8. Natalie Pattison & Jude Mclellan & Lara Roskelly & Kirsty McLeod & Theresa Wiseman, 2018. "Managing clinical uncertainty: An ethnographic study of the impact of critical care outreach on end‐of‐life transitions in ward‐based critically ill patients with a life‐limiting illness," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(21-22), pages 3900-3912, November.
    9. Evans, Joshua D. & Crooks, Valorie A. & Kingsbury, Paul T., 2009. "Theoretical injections: On the therapeutic aesthetics of medical spaces," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 716-721, September.
    10. Hamdi Lamine & Alessandro Lamberti-Castronuovo & Prinka Singh & Naoufel Chebili & Chekib Zedini & Nebil Achour & Martina Valente & Luca Ragazzoni, 2023. "A Qualitative Study on the Use of the Hospital Safety Index and the Formulation of Recommendations for Future Adaptations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-13, March.
    11. Grace Akello & Ulrike Beisel, 2019. "Challenges, Distrust, and Understanding: Employing Communicative Action in Improving Trust in a Public Medical Sector in Uganda," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(4), pages 21582440198, December.
    12. Panter-Brick, Catherine & Eggerman, Mark, 2018. "The field of medical anthropology in Social Science & Medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 233-239.
    13. Mendoza Martínez, María Gabriela & Guadarrama Orozco, Jessica & Peláez Ballestas, Ingris, 2024. "Pilgrimage in pediatric palliative care: The journey of caregivers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    14. Lange, Isabelle L. & Kanhonou, Lydie & Goufodji, Sourou & Ronsmans, Carine & Filippi, Véronique, 2016. "The costs of ‘free’: Experiences of facility-based childbirth after Benin's caesarean section exemption policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 53-62.
    15. Gross, Sky, 2009. "Experts and 'knowledge that counts': A study into the world of brain cancer diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 1819-1826, December.
    16. Wright, Sarah & Porteous, Mary & Stirling, Diane & Young, Oliver & Gourley, Charlie & Hallowell, Nina, 2019. "Negotiating jurisdictional boundaries in response to new genetic possibilities in breast cancer care: The creation of an ‘oncogenetic taskscape’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 26-33.
    17. Maslen, Sarah & Harris, Anna, 2021. "Becoming a diagnostic agent: A collated ethnography of digital-sensory work in caregiving intra-actions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    18. Lisa Kowalchuk, 2019. "Some Complexities of Seeking Access for Ethnographic Research in Health-Care Institutions," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    19. Oeye, Christine & Bjelland, Anne Karen & Skorpen, Aina, 2007. "Doing participant observation in a psychiatric hospital-- Research ethics resumed," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 2296-2306, December.
    20. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2013. "Government Failure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15372.
    21. Golden, Annis G., 2014. "Permeability of public and private spaces in reproductive healthcare seeking: Barriers to uptake of services among low income African American women in a smaller urban setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 137-146.
    22. Varley, Emma, 2010. "Targeted doctors, missing patients: Obstetric health services and sectarian conflict in Northern Pakistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 61-70, January.
    23. Chabrol, Fanny & David, Pierre-Marie & Krikorian, Gaëlle, 2017. "Rationing hepatitis C treatment in the context of austerity policies in France and Cameroon: A transnational perspective on the pharmaceuticalization of healthcare systems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 243-250.
    24. Skovgaard, Anna Louise & Jørgensen, Marianne Johansson & Tjørnhøj-Thomsen, Tine & Høybye, Mette Terp, 2022. "Discharge readiness as an infrastructure: Negotiating the transfer of care for elderly patients in medical wards," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).

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