ABSTRACT
In healthcare, the stakes are high, the power imbalances are substantial, and the risks are elevated, but alternatives are in short supply. Patients must take risks because other options are non-existent and the consequences of going without treatment are worse. Patients may exercise some influence over this but their ability to monitor or control professionals is substantially constrained by the trusting environment. Individual studies show patients demonstrate high levels of trust in general practitioners, hospital doctors, and specialists. A patient can trust a professional but distrust the system, or trust the system but distrust a particular professional. Trust might also improve patients' affective engagement and personal or emotional efficacy. Patients contribute their own part to managing the risks that arise in healthcare settings, particularly so in private practice where their role as a consumer is more prominent. Patients' suspicions about for-profit motives, for example, are shown to significantly erode trust in healthcare.
