hi everyone,
medically unexplainable physical
symptoms affectionately called MUPS
are defined as symptoms which are thought to
lack an organic
etiology or a diagnosis. Well ten to
thirty three percent of all primary care
visits
are for MUPS. Chronic MUPS lasting longer
than six months,
about 8 percent at the general
population, cause high rates of medical utilization
costs,
and low quality of life. Symptoms such as
chronic pain, fatigue, dizziness,
headache, gastrointestinal difficulties,
swelling,
breathing problems, numbness, tingling,
problems with moving,
are vast, complicated, and unpredictable. Despite many studies siting
"difficult patient" and "difficult
management" there's a dearth of
qualitative studies investigating how
gendered factors such as
role expectations and power dynamics influenced MUPS care
despite MUPS being much more prevalent
in women
I seek specifically to engage
populations that are hard to reach
navigating and changing Canadian
healthcare context.
As healthcare rationale for MUPS becomes less an issue of
medical or psychiatric categories, the mind,
or the body, and more a diagnostic
decision
of "a case for treatment" or not, the
real
or the imaginary. The core objectives
of my research are: what are the nuances
of those who identify as women's
everyday experiences with unknown
illness, how do theese women seek out cure, healing
or care. With,
with prolonged ethnographic fieldwork
can patterns be identified that help
inform any gaps in care
potentially aiding development of further
resources for women
how can we listen differently and co-interpret
in conclusion, this research
critically reassesses the assumption
that a diagnosis resolves the meaning of
an illness
it takes seriously the suffering in the grey areas of classification,
leaving open the meaning of the unknown. Thank you.
