G. Herb et S. Streeck, THE PROCESS OF DIAGNOSIS BY SPINA-BIFIDA - PERCEPTIONS OF PARENTS ANDCLINICAL PERSONNEL, Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 44(5), 1995, pp. 150-158
This is a study of the subjective experience of communicative understa
nding between parents of spina bifida children and medical personnel.
Research methods include content analysis of data from semi-structured
interviews, a questionnaire to explore the quality of life as well as
conversation analytic reconstructions of the ''real'' communication p
rocesses during outpatient clinic which were tape-recorded. Results of
the interviews with parents and personnel demonstrate the great relev
ance of the quality of the relationship in the providing of clinical c
are; equally important is that the relationship between parents and cl
inic staff is shaped in a reciprocal fashion. Discrepancies in the per
ceptions of parents and personnel indicate individual reality construc
tions. It is desirable that parents and personnel construct a shared r
eality during their interaction. With respect to this end, the emotion
al resources of personnel should be regarded as competences and drawn
upon more systematically. The parents' role as ''experts'' should be v
alidated and their active participation in the construction of the com
municative situation - which is normally determined by the institution
- should be encouraged.