Despite being used more and more as a treatment complementary to conventional care, acupuncture is still unfamiliar to a large segment of the population. Family medicine physicians have also just begun to integrate medical acupuncture into their conventional medical settings. One way to help physicians communicate information and understanding about acupuncture and its benefits to patients is through the use of metaphor.

Both patients and providers have long used metaphors informally to explain and interpret health experiences, describe symptoms, and understand treatments. However, no previous study has examined use of metaphor specifically to explain medical acupuncture in a conventional medical setting, like family medicine.

With this in mind, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Associate Professor and UF Health Cancer Center Member, Carla L. Fisher, Ph.D. and her colleagues Christy J. W. Ledford, Ph.D. and Col. Paul Crawford, M.D. both of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, took a close look at the use of metaphor to explain acupuncture experiences by both family medicine physicians and their patients, with the hope of capturing knowledge that could inform the development of communication tools that could enhance this integrative medical experience.

https://www.jou.ufl.edu/insights/explaining-acupuncture-in-family-medicine-patients-and-physicians-use-of-metaphor/  

Posted: November 22, 2019
Category: Digest Only