Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An adaptation to Michel Foucault’s medical authority: The Lucid Succor of the informal caregiver

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Social Theory & Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Michel Foucault’s understanding of how knowledge/power, as supported by the knowledge apparatus, made possible the Medical Gaze that has been one of the primary foundations of our understanding of the medical experience for the past 45 years. However, as a result of the epidemiological shift that has occurred throughout the Western world, as well as the proliferation of medical information across electronic media, the medical experience and our corresponding understanding of it, must adapt. In that spirit, the present work provides a short review of Foucault’s model of medical authority, and introduces an adaptation to the model that accounts for the role, and impact, of the informal caregiver of the care-dependent geriatric within the existing medical milieu.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychological Association (APA). (2012) Who are Family Caregivers? American Psychological Association. Public Interest Directorate, http://www.apa.org/pi/about/publications/caregivers/faq/statistics.aspx, accessed 6 December 2012.

  • Baronet, A. (2003) The impact of family relations on caregivers’ positive and negative appraisal of their caretaking activities. Family Relations 52 (2): 137–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, P. and Zavestoski, S. (2004) Social movements in health: An introduction. Sociology of Health & Illness 26 (6): 679–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, R., Evans, M., Tucker, M., Quilty, B., Dieppe, P. and Donovan, J.L. (2001) Why don’t patients do their exercises? Understanding non-compliance with physiotherapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 55 (2): 132–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cockerham, W.C. (2010) Medical Sociology, 11th edn. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conley, S.C. and Kirchner, J.T. (1999) Parkinson’s disease—The shaking palsy: Underlying factors, diagnostic considerations, and clinical course. Postgraduate Medicine 106 (1): 39–42, 45–46, 49–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donelan, K. et al (2002) Challenged to care: Informal caregivers in a changing health system. Health Affairs 21 (4): 222–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dreyfus, H.L. and Rabinow, P. (1983) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, 2nd edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunham, C.C. and Cannon, J.H. (2008) They’re still in enough control to be in control: Paradox of power in dementia caregiving. Journal of Aging Studies 22 (1): 45–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, L.S.C., Reinhard, A.H. and Rita, C. (2011) Valuing the invaluable: 2011 update – The growing contributions and costs of family caregiving. Insight on the Issues 51: 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fornet-Betancourt, R., Becker, H., Gomez-Muller, A. and Gauthier, J.D. (1987) The ethic of care for the self as a practice of freedom: An interview with Michel Foucault on 20 January 1984. Philosophy and Social Criticism 12 (2–3): 112–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortinsky, R.H. (2001) Health care triads and dementia care: Integrative framework and future directions. Aging & Mental Health 5 (Supplement 001): S35–S48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1994 [1963]) The Birth of the Clinic: An Archeology of Medical Perception. Translated by Tavistock Publishing. Reprint, New York, NY: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1971) Orders of discourse. Social Science Information 10 (2): 7–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1982) The subject and power. Critical Inquiry 8 (4): 777–795.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (2003 [1997]) Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975–1976. Translated by D. Macey. New York, NY: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (2003 [1999]) Abnormal: Lectures at the College de France, 1974–1975. Translated by G. Burchell. New York, NY: Picador.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giovannetti, E.R. and Wolff, J.L. (2010) Cross-survey differences in national estimates of numbers of caregivers of disabled older adults. The Milbank Quarterly 88 (3): 310–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hazzard, W.R., John, P.B., Jeffrey, B.H., Joseph, G.O. and Mary, E.T. (2003) Principles of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaton, J. (1999) The gaze and visibility of the carer: A foucauldian analysis of the discourse of informal care. Sociology of Health & Illness 21 (6): 759–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooyman, N.R. and Kiyak, H.A. (2011) Social Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahana, E. and Kahana, B. (2001) On being a proactive health care consumer: Making an unresponsive system work for you. In: J.J. Kronenfeld (ed.) Changing Consumers and Changing Technology in Health Care and Health Care Delivery (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 19). West Yorkshire, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 21–44.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kaljee, L.M. and Beardsley, R. (1992) Psychotropic drugs and concepts of compliance in a rural mental health clinic. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 6 (3): 271–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. and Kim, S. (2009) Physicians’ perception of the effects of Internet health information on the doctor-patient relationship. Informatics for Health & Social Care 34 (3): 136–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, C. and Zuckerman, C. (2000) Hands on/hands off: Why health care professionals depend on families but keep them at arm’s length. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 28 (1): 5–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, N.F., Lambert, J.D. and Choi, H. (2002) Transitions to caregiving, gender, and psychological well-being: A prospective U.S. national study. Journal of Marriage and Family 64 (3): 657–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medalie, J.H. (1994) The caregiver as hidden patient: Challenges for medical practice. In: E. Kahana, D. Biegel and M. Wykle (eds.) Family Care-Giving Across the Life Span. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 312–330.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Miron-Shatz, T., Golan, O., Brezis, M., Siegal, G. and Doniger, G.M. (2012) Shared decision-making in Israel: Status, barriers, and recommendations. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research 1 (5): 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritzer, G. and Goodman, D.J. (2004) Modern sociological theory, 6th edn. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

  • Samuelsen, H. and Steffen, V. (2004) The relevance of Foucault and Bourdieu for medical anthropology: Exploring new sites. Anthropology & Medicine 11 (1): 3–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmieding, L. (2006) Caregiving In America: At Home There’s Always Hope. New York, NY: International Longevity Center and Arkansas, Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education of Northwest Arkansas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, R. and Martire, L.M. (2004) Family caregiving of persons with dementia: Prevalence, health effects, and support strategies. American Journal of Geriatric Psychitry 12 (3): 240–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoltz, P., Uden, G. and Willman, A. (2004) Support for family carers who care for an elderly person at home – A systematic literature review. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 18 (2): 111–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Street, R.L., Gordon, H.S., Ward, M.M., Krupat, E. and Kravitz, R.L. (2005) Patient participation in medical consultation: Why some patients are more involved than others. Medical Care 43 (10): 960–969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, M.S. (2007) Violence and the costs of caring for a family member with severe mental illness. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48 (3): 318–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyson, T.R. (2000) The internet: Tomorrow’s portal to non-traditional health care services. The Journal of Ambulatory Care Management 23 (2): 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogeli, C., Shields, A.E., Lee, T.A., Gibson, T.B., Marder, W.D. and Weiss, K.B. (2007) Multiple chronic conditions: Prevalence, health consequences, and implications for quality, care management, and costs. Journal of General Internal Medicine 22 (Supplement 3): 391–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whetten-Goldstein, K., Sloan, F. and Kulas, E. (1997) The burden of Parkinson’s disease on society, family, and the individual. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 45 (7): 844–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L.A. (2003) Informal caregiving dynamics with a case study in blood and marrow transplantation. Oncology Nursing Forum 30 (4): 679–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winch, S. (2006) Constructing a morality of caring: Codes and values in Australian carer discourse. Nursing Ethics 13 (1): 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Saginaw Valley State University, EN 266, 7400 Bay Rd, University Center, 48710, MI, USA

    C Thomas Farrell

  2. Department of Sociology, Division of Social Sciences, HHB 114, Morris College, 100 West College St, Sumter, 29150, SC, USA

    J Porter Lillis

Authors
  1. C Thomas Farrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J Porter Lillis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Farrell, C., Lillis, J. An adaptation to Michel Foucault’s medical authority: The Lucid Succor of the informal caregiver. Soc Theory Health 11, 327–343 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2013.4

Keywords

Search

Navigation