A study on pain and suffering for effective communication by health care provider and non-medical practitioner / 의료커뮤니케이션

ABSTRACT

Background@#There is a Korean expression for ‘painful’ such as suffering and pain. The Purpose of this study was to define two Korean concepts “Go-tong(suffering)” and “Tong-jeung(pain)”. @*Methods@#First of all, it is necessary to organize the considerations on the whole-person in the humanities. Then, the two commonly used terms, “Go-tong” and “Tong-jeung”, were humanistically and contextually. Furthermore, a distinction between the two concepts was attempted for improved communication by health care provider and non-medical practitioner. @*Conclusion@#There is an intersecting element between Go-tong and Tong-jeung. Both of them also their own conceptually distinctive features. The term, Go-tong, focuses on causing damage and impairing physical discomfort, whereas Tong-jeung focuses more on damage to the integrity of the soul or mind. Through the way of using these two terms, i.e., these two conceptions, more improved communication can be achieved between health care provider and non-medical practitioner.