Contested illnesses, as discussed in the previous module, exist on the edges of medicine, where conventional medicine may not understand the cause of a disease, may not have accepted standardized treatment options, and may not be universally accepted among physicians as a "valid" illness. Further, individuals who share such conditions and associated symptoms may turn to networks of fellow sufferers for support and advice, and may often also seek out complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies.

Throughout the course, I have mentioned the importance of understanding the methods by which we come to know about health and illness. As you might guess, measuring the prevalence of something like chronic fatigue syndrome is much more difficult than e..g. diabetes, which has clear diagnostic criteria. In the below prompts, pick a specific contested illness and answer the following below:

In two double spaced pages or less: What is the potential value of illness narratives in improving understanding of contested illnesses? Relevant to this discussion is that these narratives are detailed and in-depth descriptions of the ways that illness impacts people’s lives, how their symptoms are related, what remedies work and do not work, and undoubtedly highlights what factors are most important to each individual. That said, these narratives may not fit well in the standardized medical establishment. E.g., consider typical intake paperwork at a doctor’s office. 

How might you research illness narratives of sufferers in a way that provided useful population perspective on the condition? E.g., what could you do with qualitative interviews, survey interviews, or content analysis of message boards of illness groups?

Points to consider (you don’t have to answer all of these, and probably should not try to).

How might you sort through similar and dissimilar symptoms among people with the same condition?

How could this research aid the larger illness community?

How would you find a sample of people to survey and what potential biases emerge from analyzing illness narratives?

What could you gain from survey questions different from in-depth individual interviews?

What could you gain from in-depth individual interviews different from survey questions ?

Remember that the goal is not to understand a single person’s illness (i.e., as physicians do), but rather, to understand and better define the population of sufferers. You should use at least 2 academic sources to support your discussion. Again, pick a contested illness of your own choosing and work through the issues listed above.