The social sciences theme encompasses a wide range of research informed by medical anthropological theoretical perspectives, notably theorising around embodiment, Foucault's bio-power, and Wenger's Communities of Practice; and utilising anthropological methodologies such as ethnography and narrative analysis.
Access to personal health information
This research project investigated the perspectives of Pākehā and Māori groups with regard to who should have access to personal health information and in what situations.
- Associate Professor Chrys Jaye
- Associate Professor David Menkes
- Dr Charlotte Hill
- Dr Melissa Horsfall
Communities of clinical practice
This research, funded by a University of Otago CALT Grant, was an observational study of fourth-year medical students on their surgical attachment in a teaching hospital.
Collaborating with Mornington Health Centre, this project has been extended to examine communities of clinical practice in primary care and the delivery of interprofessional care for patients with multi-morbidities. We have been exploring the utility of representing the patient's care world, or community of clinical practice, as a map. The individuals or organisations that patients identified as contributing to their well-being were mapped according to their degree of participation. We are using community of clinical practice mapping as a teaching and learning tool for medical students on rural community placements. These visualisations provide a snapshot of all those who are involved in caring for a particular patient at a particular point in time from the patient's perspective, and highlight articulations and relationships across agencies and health service settings.
Embodiment in health and illness
This is a thread that informs much of Associate Professor Chrys Jaye's research.
Illness and medical experiences: GPs as patients
Occupational overuse syndrome
This research examines various aspects of occupational overuse syndrome. This includes patients and health practitioners perspectives and experiences and employs theoretical frameworks of liminality, bio-power, and embodiment.
- Associate Professor Chrys Jaye
- Associate Professor Ruth Fitzgerald (Department of Anthropology)
Patients' experiences of stereotactic radiosurgery
- Associate Professor Chrystal Jaye
- Associate Professor David Menkes
- Dr Mary Davidson (Psychological Medicine)
- Dr S Costello (Radiology)