Health Care : Current Reviews

The materiality of care and health providers attitude problem

10^th Asia Pacific Global Summit on Healthcare

March 12-14, 2018 Singapore

Josiane Tantchou

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Franc

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Health Care Current Reviews

Abstract:

Health systems in Africa have been widely studied in the social sciences. Several aspects have been considered in particular: The provision of and access to care, working conditions, the human resources crisis, patient-provider relations, etc. In this respect, the idea of an attitude problem with healthcare providers offering different services for different patients has been suggested. Recently, researchers have studied the impact of global health initiatives on local health systems, mainly with the example of the fight against HIV/AIDS. Others have explored why some health issues have attracted more attention than others. Despite this wealth of studies, one point remains insufficiently addressed: The materiality of care and its impact on interactions (human and non-human) within hospital settings. I want to consider the heuristic value of the uses of a maternity ward in a resource-limited country (Cameroon) to understand health workersâ?? so-called attitude problem; specifically, the tension characteristic of patient-provider interactions. I suggest that this tension is related to a continuous process of translation and anticipation to adapt the maternity wardâ??s space to everyday activities. Drawing on Akrichâ??s (2010) description of technical objects and Lussaultâ??s pragmatics of space, I attempt to show that in this context, care is also an art of tinkering with unpredictable bodies in unstable hospitalsâ?? spaces. j.tantchou@sciencespobordeaux.fr