Rejoinder to ‘The myth of concordance’: a response to Armstrong
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Armstrong presents our original article as based on two arguments, firstly that the trust patients have in their doctors has declined in recent years, and secondly that it follows from this that as concordance assumes open communication between doctors and patients it is now becoming impossible to achieve. This is an over-simplification of our argument. We examine concordance against the background of changes in society, focusing in particular on challenges to trust, and argue that concordance is being espoused at a time when the prospects of its accomplishment may be reducing. Rather than achieving the open and honest exchange of views typically regarded as necessary for concordance, it seems possible that communication between patients and practitioners may be distorted, not least because patients feel trust in their practitioner has diminished. Rather than arguing, as Armstrong does, that concordance is impossible to achieve, we highlight possible pitfalls associated with putting the model into practice.
Authors: Fiona Stevenson, Graham Scambler
Institution: University College London
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2048020093