TALKING WITH WOMEN ABOUT PERSONAL HEALTH RESOURCES IN GENERAL-PRACTICE - KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT SALUTOGENESIS

We want to share experiences from an approach for clinical communicati on and research, intended to identify and mobilize personal health res ources in female patients, and promote strategies for resource oriente d talk in general practice. We used an action research design with qua litative evaluation to summarize the process where we developed a key question about self-assessed health resources in women, based on The H ealth Resource/Risk Balance Model, including salutogenesis, patient-ce ntredness and gender perspectives. From consultations with 49 female p atients in our own practices, we have drawn a narrative description of the development process, a summary of issues that facilitated resourc e talk, and our final version of the key question. We suggest that res ource talk is based on 1) an explicit shift of language from disease t o health, but nevertheless recognizing the fact that illness occurs, 2 ) options for answers given by the female patient and not by the docto r, 3) signification of the woman's assessment of her own situation tin contrast to the doctor's assessment), and 4) taking for granted that women's personal health resources exist as numerous strategies which a re utilized, and may be identified. We have learnt that communicative action can provide tools for shifting the attention of doctor and pati ents from risks and diseases to resources and strengths. This is an ex ample of one way to change your practice through systematic reflection in dialogue with a colleague.