ABSTRACT
We provide a state-of-the-art review of research on conversation analysis and telehealth. We conducted a systematic review of the literature, focusing on studies that investigate how technology is procedurally consequential for the interaction. We discerned three key topics: the interactional organization, the therapeutic relationship, and the clinical activities of the encounter. The literature on telehealth is highly heterogeneous, with significant differences between text-based care (e.g., via chat or e-mail) and audio(visual) care (e.g., via telephone or video). We discuss the extent to which remote care can be regarded as a demarcated field for study or whether the medium is merely part of the "context," particularly when investigating hybrid and polymedia forms of care involving multiple technological media.
ABSTRACT
Uncertainty is increasingly recognized as a crucial phenomenon throughout medical practice. Research on uncertainty so far has been scattered across disciplines, leading to a lack of consensus about what uncertainty represents and minimal integration of knowledge obtained within isolated disciplines. Currently, a comprehensive view of uncertainty which does justice to normatively or interactionally challenging healthcare settings is lacking. This impedes research teasing apart when and how uncertainty manifests, how all stakeholders experience and value it, and how it affects medical communication and decision-making. In this paper, we argue that we need a more integrated understanding of uncertainty. We illustrate our argument using the context of adolescent transgender care, in which uncertainty occurs in myriad ways. We first sketch how theories of uncertainty have emerged from isolated disciplines, leading to a lack of conceptual integration. Subsequently, we emphasize why it is problematic that no comprehensive approach to uncertainty has yet been developed, using examples from adolescent transgender care. Finally, we advocate an integrated approach of uncertainty to further advance empirical research and to ultimately benefit clinical practice.
Subject(s)
Delivery of Health Care , Humans , Adolescent , UncertaintyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Research on the use of video-mediated technology for medical consultations is increasing rapidly. Most research in this area is based on questionnaires and focuses on long-term conditions. The few studies that have focused on physical examinations in video consultations indicated that it poses challenges for the participants. The specific activity of wound assessment through video in postsurgery consultations has not yet been studied. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of face-to-face and video settings on the moment-to-moment organization of such an activity is original. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of video technology on the procedure of postsurgery wound assessment and its limits. METHODS: We recorded 22 postoperative video consultations and 17 postoperative face-to-face consultations. The primary purpose of the consultation was to inform the patient about the final pathology results of the resected specimen, and the secondary purpose was to check on the patient's recovery, including an assessment of the closed wound. The recordings were transcribed in detail and analyzed using methods of conversation analysis. RESULTS: The way that an assessment of the wound is established in video consultations differs from the procedure in face-to-face consultations. In the consultation room, wound assessments overwhelmingly (n=15/17) involve wound showings in the context of surgeons reporting their observations formatted with evidentials ("looks neat") and subsequently assessing what these observations imply or what could be concluded from them. In contrast, wound assessments in video consultations do not tend to involve showing the wound (n=3/22) and, given the technological restrictions, do not involve palpation. Rather, the surgeon invites the patient to assess the wound, which opens up a sequence of patient and physician assessments where diagnostic criteria such as redness or swollenness are made explicit. In contrast to observations in regular consultations, these assessments are characterized by epistemic markers of uncertainty ("I think," "sounds...good") and evidentials are absent. Even in cases of a potential wound problem, the surgeon may rely on questioning the patient rather than requesting a showing. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of video technology on postoperative consultations is that a conclusive wound assessment is arrived at in a different way when compared to face-to-face consultations. In video consultations, physicians enquire and patients provide their own observations, which serve as the basis for the assessment. This means that, in video consultations, patients have a fundamentally different role. These talking-based assessments are effective unless, in cases of a potential problem, patient answers seem insufficient and a showing might be beneficial.
