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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
World travellers who have had to see a doctor in a foreign country have usually discovered that medicine is not quite the international science that medicine would like us to believe. Not only do ways of delivering medical care differ from country to country; so does the medicine that is delivered. The differences are so great that one country's treatment of choice may be considered malpractice across the border … Often, all one must do to acquire a disease is to enter a country where that disease is recognised – leaving the country will either cure the malady or turn it into something else.
(Payer, 1989, pp. 24–5)Learning objectives
The aim of this chapter is to consider research relating to various forms of treatment for illness, and issues which are important in treating illness. By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
provide an overview of the different forms of treatment for illness;
outline the different sectors of health care and their approaches to treatment;
discuss the research on self-treatment for minor illnesses;
describe the reasons that people give for seeking treatment from health professionals;
review the psychological issues in treatment for serious acute illness in hospital;
discuss the psychological factors involved in self-care for chronic illness;
discuss the issues involved in non-conventional treatment;
explain the different approaches to and meanings of adherence;
discuss the nature of the placebo effect;
comment critically on who receives treatment and structural issues affecting access to treatment;
outline the changing nature of treatment.
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