Jing Jun: Medical Social Ecology Viewed from Death Narrative
Medical Social Ecology Viewed from Death Narrative
Thinking, 2022 Issue 1
[Abstract]
Since the CPC Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued the Proposals on Deepening Reform of Medical and Health System in 2009, China's basic medical and healthcare services have become more accessible to the public, providing people with a greater coverage of medical security and a remarkable improvement of their health level. At the same time, medical reform has met challenges from China's medical social ecology. By which we mean the health policies and medical systems that affect clinical medical practice, the values and ideology that dominate policy formulation and system construction, people's health needs and medical behavior, as well as the professional ethics and social trust related to the doctor-patient relationship. Narratives by relatives of deceased patients can be used as a lens to examine this ecology, through which we may find that one of the main problems is the difficulty of death with dignity, which results partly from the market-oriented operation of the medical institutions, partly from the absence of the subjects in major medical decision-making, and partly from excessive dependence on families for last care.
