Ineta Pačiauskaitė, Faustas Stepukonis, Arnoldas Jurgutis, Ingrida Marija Mažuknaitė, Sigutė Norkienė
Abstract
Today, the topics of appearance and human body image are one of the most relevant topics in the field of public health. The goal of thesis is to analyse the experience of health specialists in treating patients, who have issues regarding their appearance and body image, and increasing their need for competence improvement. A group discussion was used for the qualitative research. It involved 13 individuals, where the majority was health specialists, who are directly related to patients and clients; there were 10 of them (doctors, nurses, public health specialists). The method of content analysis was used to analyse data. The analysis was performed in stages: reading of transcribed entries and distinction of data segments; categorization based on the blocks of interview and data interpretation. While analysing the informants’ experience in working with patients, who have issues regarding their appearance and body image, it was acknowledged that both nurses and doctors do not have the necessary knowledge, skills, experience, or time to consult patients on their appearance or image. The knowledge of problem identification and skills to do that in different groups of ages are required. Besides, there is a lack of knowledge regarding psychological consultations, and knowledge for working with children regarding their appearance. By opinion of study participants a complex training on how to treat patients, who have issues regarding their appearance and body image, would be the most sensible solution.
Keyword(s): body image; appearance; health care specialists.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2015.113
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