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The European Journal of Public Health 1996 6(1):58-63; doi:10.1093/eurpub/6.1.58
© 1996 by European Journal of Public Health
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ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Uncertainty and lack of trust with Parkinson's disease

GERHARD NIJHOF*

*Correspondence: G. Nijhof, Department of Sociology, Unversity of Amsterdam, Oude Hoogstraat 24, 1012 CE Amsterdam, The Natherlands, tel. +31 20 5252217, fax +31 20 5252179

‘Uncertainty’ is frequently observed in research on the chronically III. The present research confirms this finding. In 20 out of 23 life stories of men and women diagnosed as having Parkinson's disease for more than 3 years, indications of uncertainty could be found. The research question is whether a specific explanation for this uncertainty can be found in the life stories. One such explanation, a condition and a specification were detected. In 12 of the 20 life stories in which the informants speak of uncertainty, a specific and differentiated context of the uncertainty was found: ‘a problem of trust’, located in the capacities of ‘the body’, in ‘themselves’ and in ‘the world outside the home’. These related trust problems are presented by the informants as explanations for their uncertainty. Two conditions for the trust problem were presented by the informants: ‘declining naturalness’ and ‘unpredictability’ of the functioning of the body. The explanation could also be specified. The trust problem is located socially. The Interpretations of trust are primarily situated in ‘the world outside the home’.

Keywords: chronic illness, Parkinson's disease, medical sociology, illness representation


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