Critical Health Psychology in South Africa

Merran Toerien and Clare Jackson presented at the conference for the International Society for Critical Health Psychology, held in July at Rhodes University in South Africa.

Merran Toerien and Clare Jackson formed part of a symposium entitled 'Conversation analysis as critical analysis?', organised by Prof. Elizabeth Peel (University of Worcester) and chaired by Ryan du Toit (Rhodes University).  

The four papers broadly focussed on the use of conversation analysis (CA) to examine decision-making in clinical contexts, showing how CA can be used to illuminate the micro-social production of healthcare. Data from different clinical contexts formed the bases of the presentations.  

• Ryan showed the complex interplay between the lifeworld of a service user and the biomedical world in which she was interacting with staff in a diabetic clinic.  
• Clare explored the ways in which healthcare practitioners can open up or close down the interactional space for women to make decisions during childbirth.  
• Merran presented data from neurology clinics, showing the complicated nature and unintended consequences of enacting NHS policy for patient-led care in situated interactions between staff and service users.  
• Liz examined productions of diagnostic information about dementia in interactions between doctors and patients, showing how doctors are sensitive to the needs of patients and their families.