The Empowerment Paradox: Tensions on the Protracted Road to Patient Autonomy

The Empowerment Paradox: Tensions on the Protracted Road to Patient Autonomy

Paulina Polak

The concept of patient rights can be considered an epitome of empowerment and autonomy. They demonstrate a transition from a healthcare system governed and dominated by specialist physicians to one that entrusts the ultimate decision-making authority to individuals directly affected by the condition, namely the patients themselves.

This shift may be considered an almost natural consequence of the more general human rights movement and the empowerment of particular groups organised around gender, race, sexual orientation, and so on. Nevertheless, the patients' autonomy movement encounters a number of discrete issues, with knowledge (and non-knowledge) and expertise assuming a pivotal role. The following presentation will address several of the salient issues and tensions that have arisen in the context of the emergence of patients' rights. The following discussion will address the tensions, violations and barriers to implementation, as well as the traps and limits to full patients' autonomy. The presentation will build on the example of Poland, showing how the social, legal and ethical aspects of patients' rights are interconnected.

Paulina Polak is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Sociology, Jagiellonian University. Her academic interests lie in the fields of medical sociology, the sociology of law and the social assessment of technology. Her primary research focus pertains to the fields of vaccines, health policy and patients' rights. As a sociologist of medicine, she employs critical investigation to explore the manner in which social structures, power relations and individual preferences influence the adoption of policies and innovations in healthcare. A recently developed VR-based communication tool has been designed to support medical professionals in their interactions with vaccine-hesitant parents.