Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology Benjamin DiCicco-Bloom co-authored an article published online in the journal Sociology of Health & Illness. “The Benefits of Respectful Interactions: Fluid Alliancing and Inter-Occupational Information Sharing in Primary Care,” explores interactions between healthcare professionals and their effect on patient care.
The article draws on ethnographic data from 27 primary care practices to demonstrate how interactions between healthcare professionals facilitate or impede the information sharing that is central to patient care.
The researchers placed the different practices into three categories based on the nature of exchanges between doctors and nurses. They found that those with the most respectful interactions exhibited “fluid alliancing,” flexible and bi-directional information sharing geared to the benefit of patients and the practice community.
The article will be available in print this summer.
