artículo
The transformation of social representations of chronic disease in a self-help group
Date
2003Registration in:
10.1177/13591053030085010
1359-1053
MEDLINE:19177720
WOS:000185546400010
Author
Krause, M
Institutions
Abstract
A Participant Action Research process was carried out with individuals affected by Inflammatory Bowel Disease, more specifically Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. The results show evidence of a transformation of social representations of disease. 'Normalization' is the central component of the transformation, indicating the achievement of a more restricted representation of the illness. This change is an attitudinal modification, which is characterized by higher tolerance of the disease-accepting its chronic nature and the limitations it imposes on daily life-, acceptance of the possibility of being supported by others in facing the disease, and the recognition of a transformational process that involves different stages in dealing with and accepting the disease.