Alienation Theory In Health Care
Given the fundamental interconnectedness of the mind and body, the understanding of how we are bodies (how we are embodied) is essential in any healthcare endeavour. It is my belief that one of the theories which will have the most significant impact on my future as a healthcare professional is that of embodiment. In the following essay I will elucidate the connection between my future healthcare practice and this ethical theory through drawing on important concepts and relating them to the healthcare setting. In the first half of this section, I will use this theory to explain how we are bodies, our bodies as our point of contact, and the concept of habituation in functional perfection. Later I will discuss the concepts of alienation and
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disintegration, how we are fundamentally public and social beings, and the significance this plays in the healthcare setting.
The importance of embodiment as an ethical theory is that it illustrates the way in which we are both our mind and our body simultaneously, not in the traditional sense of two mutually exclusive entities. Our bodies are not a car, inanimate and powered only by our will, any more than our minds are like the driver of that car, able to fully control and separate themselves from the vehicle. Embodiment, then, is a paramount concept in healthcare as a patient cannot be treated in isolation of either their mind or their body (except, perhaps, in those cases where the patient is comatose).
The importance of being a body lies in the fact that it keeps us perpetually open to the actions of others—we are sensitive both to the pains and pleasures of others as well as ourselves . This concept is fundamental in healthcare in that a practitioner must always consider their patient in regards of mutual effect from the body and mind onto each other and their surroundings. An individual’s identity is formed through their body, their experiences are filtered through their senses. As described by Russon, the body provides the first “sketch of reality” for us . Our experience of the world first comes through those developing primary senses, and as we develop, this experience of the world becomes more sophisticated. When working with a patient who is suffering impairments to their senses, the practitioner must remember that it is not only these senses which are suffering—the patient’s conception of the world which has been affected as well. If, for example, a patient were to suffer from burns, they are not simply suffering from burns. They are also suffering from the inability to feel, and in an area such as the hands, this will be especially limiting. No longer will they be able to feel softness, roughness, or worse, the inability to tell in the future which surfaces are hot. For those patients both developing and re-developing skills, habituation is a key factor in providing normalcy in being a body. The development of behaviours is the development of basic, or near basic, human functions. A habituated task requires less attention to complete and therefore allows us to build upon it, choosing more elegant environments in which to perform it . For example, a former musician who has suffered an injury to their hand, through treatment, may be able to regain the function of their hand. They will begin by re-learning to pick up objects, to write, to brush their teeth, and perhaps even to play their instrument once more. Habituation is an important factor when returning patients to a new normal and when helping individuals to achieve their optimal state of health and wellness.
Similar to the notion of habituation, alienation and disintegration are important in understanding the state of a patient.
Whereas habituation may be used to integrate a patient into a function, disintegration is inevitable and alienation common throughout life. As aforementioned, the body provides our understanding of the world, if a portion of the body suffers, as does our ability to experience. Moreover, our mind may become alienated with parts of our body. Our body may no longer “listen” to our will and when this occurs, whole sections of our lives . Remembering that a patient’s illness or injury goes beyond the physiological state into the social and psychological ability to interact with the world is imperative. Further, disintegration of the body cannot be stopped, only delayed, and this concept may provide some solace when having to deal with the inevitable death of a patient. We are fundamentally social beings, constantly in the world, constantly open to public interaction. Our bodies cannot be removed from the world, only can they be hidden. This leaves us continually open to the involvement of others, their praise and their judgement. Care, then, goes beyond treating the physiological or even psychological, it is a fundamentally ethical endeavour . For how a patient is cared will impact their personhood—all their future interactions with the world. Medical and nursing practices deal with how people are embodied. Consider a patient who has received facial surgery, if people were not social beings, the scar left would not be of issue. However, our faces are not for ourselves, but for others. And off this scar others will create judgements that will impact every future interaction of said patient. Treatment goes so far beyond dealing with the immediate ailment, as shown, it will trickle into all aspects of this patient’s
life.
Embodiment is a key ethical theory when considering healthcare ethics as it offers a different and holistic view of the mind and body. Just as other ethical theories dictate not to treat an individual in isolation of their environment, embodiment dictates not to treat one ailment in one part of the body in isolation to the rest of the body-mind system. We are our bodies in the same sense that we are the conscious part of our minds, our body is in constant interaction with the environment and this allows us to experience reality. Reality, however, will never be purely objective, it will always be filtered through our biased senses. Habituation is used to allow us to fully experience our bodies, to allow us to reach a baseline of function and then develop from there. This concept is used when returning a patient to their prior or to a new baseline of normal. Alienation and disintegration are those processes which lead to all demand in healthcare, and in that setting, we are more so than ever in constant social interaction. The paramount notion for a healthcare professional to evoke in their practice is that their actions go beyond dealing with the immediate physiological or psychological ailment, they will trickle into every aspect of a patient’s life. To provide holistic and effective care, the theory of embodiment should be incorporated in all healthcare professional’s actions—since caring is a fundamentally ethical endeavour.
disintegration, how we are fundamentally public and social beings, and the significance this plays in the healthcare setting.
The importance of embodiment as an ethical theory is that it illustrates the way in which we are both our mind and our body simultaneously, not in the traditional sense of two mutually exclusive entities. Our bodies are not a car, inanimate and powered only by our will, any more than our minds are like the driver of that car, able to fully control and separate themselves from the vehicle. Embodiment, then, is a paramount concept in healthcare as a patient cannot be treated in isolation of either their mind or their body (except, perhaps, in those cases where the patient is comatose).
The importance of being a body lies in the fact that it keeps us perpetually open to the actions of others—we are sensitive both to the pains and pleasures of others as well as ourselves . This concept is fundamental in healthcare in that a practitioner must always consider their patient in regards of mutual effect from the body and mind onto each other and their surroundings. An individual’s identity is formed through their body, their experiences are filtered through their senses. As described by Russon, the body provides the first “sketch of reality” for us . Our experience of the world first comes through those developing primary senses, and as we develop, this experience of the world becomes more sophisticated. When working with a patient who is suffering impairments to their senses, the practitioner must remember that it is not only these senses which are suffering—the patient’s conception of the world which has been affected as well. If, for example, a patient were to suffer from burns, they are not simply suffering from burns. They are also suffering from the inability to feel, and in an area such as the hands, this will be especially limiting. No longer will they be able to feel softness, roughness, or worse, the inability to tell in the future which surfaces are hot. For those patients both developing and re-developing skills, habituation is a key factor in providing normalcy in being a body. The development of behaviours is the development of basic, or near basic, human functions. A habituated task requires less attention to complete and therefore allows us to build upon it, choosing more elegant environments in which to perform it . For example, a former musician who has suffered an injury to their hand, through treatment, may be able to regain the function of their hand. They will begin by re-learning to pick up objects, to write, to brush their teeth, and perhaps even to play their instrument once more. Habituation is an important factor when returning patients to a new normal and when helping individuals to achieve their optimal state of health and wellness.
Similar to the notion of habituation, alienation and disintegration are important in understanding the state of a patient.
Whereas habituation may be used to integrate a patient into a function, disintegration is inevitable and alienation common throughout life. As aforementioned, the body provides our understanding of the world, if a portion of the body suffers, as does our ability to experience. Moreover, our mind may become alienated with parts of our body. Our body may no longer “listen” to our will and when this occurs, whole sections of our lives . Remembering that a patient’s illness or injury goes beyond the physiological state into the social and psychological ability to interact with the world is imperative. Further, disintegration of the body cannot be stopped, only delayed, and this concept may provide some solace when having to deal with the inevitable death of a patient. We are fundamentally social beings, constantly in the world, constantly open to public interaction. Our bodies cannot be removed from the world, only can they be hidden. This leaves us continually open to the involvement of others, their praise and their judgement. Care, then, goes beyond treating the physiological or even psychological, it is a fundamentally ethical endeavour . For how a patient is cared will impact their personhood—all their future interactions with the world. Medical and nursing practices deal with how people are embodied. Consider a patient who has received facial surgery, if people were not social beings, the scar left would not be of issue. However, our faces are not for ourselves, but for others. And off this scar others will create judgements that will impact every future interaction of said patient. Treatment goes so far beyond dealing with the immediate ailment, as shown, it will trickle into all aspects of this patient’s
life.
Embodiment is a key ethical theory when considering healthcare ethics as it offers a different and holistic view of the mind and body. Just as other ethical theories dictate not to treat an individual in isolation of their environment, embodiment dictates not to treat one ailment in one part of the body in isolation to the rest of the body-mind system. We are our bodies in the same sense that we are the conscious part of our minds, our body is in constant interaction with the environment and this allows us to experience reality. Reality, however, will never be purely objective, it will always be filtered through our biased senses. Habituation is used to allow us to fully experience our bodies, to allow us to reach a baseline of function and then develop from there. This concept is used when returning a patient to their prior or to a new baseline of normal. Alienation and disintegration are those processes which lead to all demand in healthcare, and in that setting, we are more so than ever in constant social interaction. The paramount notion for a healthcare professional to evoke in their practice is that their actions go beyond dealing with the immediate physiological or psychological ailment, they will trickle into every aspect of a patient’s life. To provide holistic and effective care, the theory of embodiment should be incorporated in all healthcare professional’s actions—since caring is a fundamentally ethical endeavour.