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Author's Comment
Daniella Dumitriu
Arch Fam Med. 2000;9:699.
There were 2 main kinds of stores and store personnel I encountered during this study: those that acted as retailers and those that acted as health care providers. It is the latter group that we should be especially concerned about. I came to recognize these stores from my first steps through their doors: they seemed more dimly lit, their products were more haphazardly arranged, and there was more clutter, which included posters and the like. At times, these stores spooked me a little, and more than once I felt uncomfortable enough to want to leave the place as quickly as possible.
But there was something special about the people in these stores. Even though I knew I was there acting out a rehearsed scenario, I felt that had my situation been a real one, I might have easily fallen into their "trap of hope." What was their power? I believe these individuals' strength lies in their engagement with their customer's narrative. These people readily share their own stories, and listen to others attentively. When they speak, they seem to speak from the bottom of their heart. We are all inclined to listen to people who empathize with us, people who seem to speak honestly. This is particularly true if we have been disappointed in the past, an almost universal experience among cancer patients seeking complementary and alternative medicine.
One experience sticks with me in particular. One salesman brought up the death of my supposed mother; I remember leaving the store with a lump in my throat, even though before I left, he had managed to "convince" me that his products would very likely help her. This experience made me realize that conventional medicine needs not only to educate patients but to instill in them the same kind of comfort and trust that complementary and alternative medicine providers aim to provide. Postmodern thought in fields other than health and science, such as the social sciences and humanities, has for some time now recognized that the cool, "disengaged" manner that has characterized science for the last century or so might not always be the best approach. Perhaps it is time for health providers to look for a new vision, one that both retains the objectivity of science when it comes to things like promoting and prescribing medicine and adopts a more subjective style when it comes to dealing with the human being behind the patient.
Honolulu, Hawaii
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Health Food Store Recommendations for Breast Cancer Patients
Carolyn Cook Gotay and Daniella Dumitriu
Arch Fam Med. 2000;9(8):692-698.
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