A TALK ON TRUST AND PROMISES OF TREATMENT
When hope becomes a commodity.
Rational people, irrational decisions.
On losing your way in the world of alternative therapies and the lies that can kill.
When your life is at stake, you look for another option. A story with a happy ending. Someone who will say it will be all right. At that point, it is particularly hard to tell real help from a well-sold promise.
I share my experience of cancer and seeking help through alternative therapies. That journey also took me to an Ayurvedic hospital in India. I found the help that saved me with well-trained doctors practising conventional medicine.
I describe the journey from the inside: confusion amid conflicting information, the need for certainty and the difficulty of rejecting a promise you desperately want to believe. I explain how a rational person can make an irrational decision, and how fear, other people's stories and the search for confirmation influence the choice of therapy.
I want this story to help doctors understand patients' choices, help patients recognise manipulation, and help institutions and organisations discuss safeguards against exploiting fear and hope. It also raises the question of why an honest 'we don't know' can be more trustworthy than the promise of a miracle.
What will
participants take away?
- Why a patient may trust a promise despite warning signs.
- How the need for hope and the search for confirmation affect the choice of therapy.
- Why protecting patients requires both reliable information and an understanding of their situation.
WHO IT IS FOR
Doctors, medical students, patient organisations and people working to protect patients.
WHERE
Congresses, conferences, symposia and academic meetings on oncology, psycho-oncology, ethics and patient safety.
FORMAT
30 or 45 minutes, with an optional discussion. We adapt the focus to your event programme.
What is a patient looking for when they look for another therapy?
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