sick role


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role

 [rōl]
a pattern of behavior developed in response to the demands or expectations of others; the pattern of responses to the persons with whom an individual interacts in a particular situation.
caregiver role the functions performed by a caregiver; see also under fatigue and strain.
gender role the public expression of gender; the image projected by a person that identifies their maleness or femaleness, which need not correspond to their gender identity.
impaired role the role played by a person who is disabled or chronically ill and who is experiencing a state of wellness and realization of potential commensurate with the condition. Unlike the sick person, the impaired person cannot be expected to “want to get well” but is expected to resume as much normal behavior as is possible.
sick role the role played by a person who has defined himself or herself as ill, with or without validation of the role by health care providers or family members. Adoption of the sick role changes the behavioral expectations of others toward sick persons. They are exempted from normal social responsibilities and not held responsible for the condition; they are obliged to “want to get well” and to seek competent medical help. The sick role also involves behavioral changes, including increased attention to the body and bodily functions, regression (increase in dependent behavior), narrowing of interests, and emotional overreactions.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

sick role

in medical sociology, the familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern or role that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship to family, health care personnel, and significant others.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

sick role

A functional role adopted by those who are sick, and for which their peers and society accept their sanctioned deviance from their usual (healthy) role(s).

The sociologist Talcott Parsons saw those in a sick role mode as having two rights:
(1) They are exempt from their usual social roles,
(2) They are not responsible for their sickness;
and two obligations:
(1) They should try to get better; and, if unable,
(2) Seek medical care and follow the doctors’ advice.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

sick role

(sik rōl)
The familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship with family, health care personnel, and others.
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

sick role

(sik rōl)
In medical sociology, familially or culturally accepted behavior pattern or role that one is permitted to exhibit during illness or disability, including sanctioned absence from school or work and a submissive, dependent relationship to family, health care personnel, and significant others.
Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012
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References in periodicals archive ?
Examination of the relationship between self-reported age and the reason for seeking chiropractic care (Table 2) revealed that younger patients (i.e., 65 or below) reported being more likely to report that they were presenting for "self care" compared to the older patients (ages 66 and older) whose motivations tended to be more equally distributed between "wellness," "prevention," "at risk," "sick role" and "self-care" (Pearson Chi-Square Test = 13.3, P < 0.05).
Multinational survey of chiropractic patients: reasons for seeking care
His 'sick role' theory assumed paid labor as a central and important human endeavor, and he articulated the mechanisms by which the individual's coping capacities are restored with the goal of returning the patient to 'normal' role obligations (Parsons, 1978).
The road to empowerment: a historical perspective on the medicalization of disability
Patients with chronic illness, however, cannot easily fulfill the responsibilities and obligations of the sick role. As a result, chronic ailments, such as respiratory and cardiac disorders, are "more likely to be considered partly the fault or responsibility of the sufferer" due to personal behavior or lifestyle.[1] And while the sick role grants temporary exemption from duties without changing them, persons with chronic illness may never fully resume their former functions.
Understanding chronic illness from the patient's perspective
They began to act out a sick role simply because they had been labeled as sick.
Stemming the office epidemic
Patient behavior may be described within the context of either the sick role espoused by Parsons or the need for autonomy developed by Conrad.[13] If a patient subscribes to the sick role, she or he will seek medical attention, viewing the diagnosis of the physician and the medication of the pharmacist as validation of the illness.
The pharmacist's role in patient care
Although DSM-IV-TR (Table 2) assumes that the motivation for the patient with factitious disorder is to assume the sick role, DSM-5 merely states that the she (he) should present themselves as ill, impaired, or injured.
No evidence of pregnancy, but she is suicidal and depressed after 'my baby died'
When patients under treatment for chronic pain are referred for management of emotional issues, "psychiatrists need to provide empathy and an understanding of their suffering, and help with healthy adaptation to the sick role," said Dr.
Ask about pain in initial evaluations
They must come to terms with the issue of "Am I sick?" and what is required in society once one assumes the "sick role," particularly when one appears to the outside world to be "normal" (Brooks & Matson, 1982).
Multiple sclerosis: strategies for rehabilitation counselors
In the "Determinants of Health Behaviors" section, separate chapters are devoted to lifestyle, family, social groups, social support, sick role behavior, gender, and culture.
Health Behavior: Emerging Research Perspectives
Factious amnesia (Table 2) (6) is a symptom of factious disorder in which amnesia appears with the motivation to assume a sick role. (3) Ms.
A teen with seizures, amnesia, and troubled family dynamics
Americans have come to expect payment from social institutions when their lives are disrupted, and the injured are encouraged by the medical model to adopt the "sick role" and by friends to "get all they can" (Keiser, 1971).
Delayed recovery: Taking another look
B's intentional production of physical symptoms strongly suggested malingering, but we instead diagnosed factitious disorder because he was clearly motivated to play the sick role despite lack of a secondary gain (Box 2).
One patient's 'shot' at redemption: Mr. B believes shooting himself in the abdomen expunges his guilt. Is he delusional? Depressed? Obsessive-compulsive? Is another psychopathology driving his self-harm urges?

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