The HMinfo Research Library contains an in-depth collection of materials on home modifications and related subjects.
The Research Library does not lend books and other items. Under special circumstances, requests to use the library may be made by emailing .
Ongoing discourse from 40 transcribed medical visits involving an elderly patient, family caregiver, & physician reflects uncertainties about the capabilities & responsibilities of each person in this triad. Interactive behaviours that support patient self-care capabilities & those that support dependency are identified & described, & patterns of interaction related to the patients' cognitive or sensory impairments are explored. The presence of a family member at an older patient's medical visit - in combination with the authoritarian traditions of medical care, assumptions about frailty & aging, & true impairment - appear to trigger behaviors that marginalize the patient & support dependent self-care. Behaviours that support independent self-care are less evident. An awareness of this tendency may enable physicians, family members, & patients to break the cycle of increasing dependence & support instead the patient's adult independent status in the clinic setting.
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