ABSTRACT
This chapter explores changes to the social world of the ill person and how social interactions are put under pressure by illness. Using vignettes from the author’s experience, the chapter explores empathy – and its lack – in some healthcare contexts, and the need for rethinking relationships between health professionals and patients so that they are based on empathy, care, and humility. The chapter identifies a need for reflective training for health professionals, encouraging more questioning attitudes towards illness. If healthcare practitioners devoted more time to understanding the experience of illness, much of the misunderstanding, miscommunication, and sense of alienation that patients report might be alleviated. A phenomenological approach would introduce the missing first-person perspective on illness and would enable health professionals to understand the transformation of the world of the ill person caused by the illness.
