Volunteering in Palliative Care in France: “A Tough Job”; Patient, Family, Caregiver, and Volunteer Perspectives

This chapter discusses the place of volunteering in palliative care in the context of hospital services in France, and the meaning each actor gives to that presence. Its aim is to go beyond general normative discourse on the role of these volunteers in order to highlight their actions from a little-explored perspective (awkwardness, fears, reticence their activity can create) but one essential to their development. We attempt to understand how (and within what work settings) personnel and volunteers “work” together, and how that lay presence is perceived by patients and families. This research is based on a literature review and individual semi-structured interviews with patients, families, medical personnel, and volunteers in 10 hospitals. In all, 114 persons were interviewed in three work settings: palliative care units, mobile palliative care teams, and traditional services. The analysis highlighted a diversity of perceptions on volunteering, as a function of the type of actors involved and the work setting. It raises the question of the role of nonprofessional actors in hospitals, and of what form volunteering in palliative care should take in France, where volunteers explained they “are there” not “to do”, but just “to be there out of human solidarity”

Information Needs in Palliative Care: Patient and Family Perspectives

International audienc

General practitioners' role in cancer care: a French-Norwegian study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In cancer care, a GP's work is rarely defined clearly. Our aim was to assess GPs' work with cancer patients in France and in Norway, where the roles of the GP and the organization of the system are rather different.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A questionnaire with 40 closed-ended questions about GP involvement in diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and terminal care was constructed and mailed to samples of GPs. The patients had seen the doctor at least once over the past year. In France 1679 and in Norway 386 individual patient questionnaires were completed. GPs have a major role in the diagnosis of cancer, and this role varies according to cancer type. The GPs participated actively in different phases of follow-up after cancer treatment. Low response rates do not allow direct comparison between countries, but higher PSA screening rates in France seem to increase the percentage of patients diagnosed after screening rather than after a clinical suspicion. Interaction between GPs and specialists during cancer treatment and follow-up was important in both countries.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both in France and in Norway GPs participate actively in cancer care. Early clinical diagnosis is a challenge. More research is needed about how GPs can improve their early diagnostic work. Organisational issues may influence cancer responsibilities for the GP, and national health systems should be challenged to look at possible new roles for GPs in cancer care. Medical training, both pre- and post-graduate, should prepare doctors for collaboration between primary and secondary care, particularly important in cancer care.</p

L'épidémiologie prisonnière de la pratique médicale et de la fonction sociale de la médecine (Commentaire)

Bungener Martine. L'épidémiologie prisonnière de la pratique médicale et de la fonction sociale de la médecine (Commentaire). In: Sciences sociales et santé. Volume 1, n°1, 1982. pp. 111-122

Une éternelle pléthore médicale ?

Martine Bungener: An endless médical plethora? In spite of a notable population increase, the denunciation of a medical plethora seems to be a constant in the history of the profession. From sources that have been provided by medical historians, articles in the professional press, and reports of the Medical Association, Martine Bungener shows how the logic of the discourse differs from the demographie reality. The hypothesis is that medical demography, whichever discourse it incites, seems to be the consequence of functions that have been assigned to health System by society with regard to the discourse, it attests the profession's ignorance of the social movement it fits in with, and its concern for protecting its privilèges which inhibits any adaptation.Martine Bungener : Une éternelle pléthore médicale ? Malgré une expansion démographique remarquable, la dénonciation d'une pléthore médicale apparaît comme une constante dans l'histoire de la profession. À partir de sources fournies par des historiens de la médecine, les articles de la presse professionnelle et les bulletins de l'Ordre des médecins, Martine Bungener montre en quoi la logique du discours et la réalité de la démographie sont divergentes. L'hypothèse est que la démographie médicale, quel que soit le discours qu'elle suscite, apparaît comme la conséquence de fonctions assignées par la société au système sanitaire. Le discours, quant à lui, témoigne de la méconnaissance par la profession du mouvement dans lequel elle s'inscrit, son souci de préservation des privilèges inhibant toute adaptation.Bungener Martine. Une éternelle pléthore médicale ?. In: Sciences sociales et santé. Volume 2, n°1, 1984. pp. 77-110

Commissariat Général du Plan, Les Politiques de santé étrangères. Systèmes de santé, pouvoirs publics et financeurs : qui contrôle quoi ?

Bungener Martine. Commissariat Général du Plan, Les Politiques de santé étrangères. Systèmes de santé, pouvoirs publics et financeurs : qui contrôle quoi ?. In: Sciences sociales et santé. Volume 5, n°2, 1987. La sociologie de la santé en R.F.A. (2e partie) p. 102

Contandriopoulos André-Pierre, Souteyrand Yves (dir.), L'hôpital stratège. Dynamiques locales et offre de soins.

Bungener Martine. Contandriopoulos André-Pierre, Souteyrand Yves (dir.), L'hôpital stratège. Dynamiques locales et offre de soins.. In: Revue française de sociologie, 1997, 38-4. Le suicide un siècle après Durkheim. pp. 837-839

Contandriopoulos André-Pierre, Souteyrand Yves (dir.), L'hôpital stratège. Dynamiques locales et offre de soins.

Bungener Martine. Contandriopoulos André-Pierre, Souteyrand Yves (dir.), L'hôpital stratège. Dynamiques locales et offre de soins.. In: Revue française de sociologie, 1997, 38-4. Le suicide un siècle après Durkheim. pp. 837-839