Outline for a 60 minute lecture/discussion on Talcott Parsons’ concept of “the sick role.” Arguments for the significance of patient voice and narrative (e.g., Arthur Frank’s Wounded Storyteller) often take Parson’s sick role as a point of contrast. Likewise, the practice of narrative medicine by physicians is a rejection of the paternalistic and objective physician that is the counterpart to the “sick patient” in Parson’s analysis.
The outline is from an upper-division undergraduate course on health narratives offered in a department of Rhetoric & Media Studies (the course also enrolls students studying sociology, English, and pre-health). The class outline provides a very brief background to Parsons’ larger project, goes into some detail about the elements of the sick role and the corresponding role of the physician. The session ends with discussion questions about the implications of this concept.
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Details
Language: English
Type of Teaching Material: Lesson Plan/Discussion Outline
Setting (class level or workshop): Graduate and Undergraduate
Contributed by: Health Story Hub Team ( health-storyhub@uiowa.edu )