Essay on The Logic of Care by Annemarie Mol - 1310 Words

Introduction The Logic of Care is a philosophic book. The book is written from a patient perspective. Therefore it is easy to understand and easy to read. This review is written for people working in the health care and for the patient’s movement. It is important that people in the health care start thinking about the choices the patients have to make. Content of the book The author of the book â€Å"The Logic of Care† is Annemarie Mol. Mol is a Dutch ethnographer and philosopher. Mol describes how the ideal of choosing clashes with the reality of living with a sick body. Her book was published in 2006. The Logic of Care is a philosophical book, with applications and examples from the healthcare. The book investigates what good care is.†¦show more content†¦Rather than engaging in a transaction, they interact so as to best accommodate the exigencies of the disease with the habits, requirements and possibilities of daily life. Thus care is not a limited product, but an ongoing process. The ideal of patient choice presupposes professionals who bound themselves to presenting facts and using instruments. In a consult, a professional is supposed to give information, after which the patient can evaluate his or her values and come to a choice. However, facts do not precede choices and activities, but depend on what is hoped for and on what can be done. Choosing is rarely enough to actually realize it. The logic of choice adopt that we are separate individuals who form a public when we are added together. In contrast, in the logic of care, we do not start out as individuals, but always belong to publics already. The totals of which we are a part may be named and described in various ways. One of the requirements of good care is that such categories are created wisely. But how and for whom are the requirements of good care created? These questions emerge in care practices again and again. Categories are not given once and for all, but need to be made and adapted. They need to be outlined in such a way that they contribute to good care. Care for a population is not just a sum total of the care for a lot of individuals. Individuals require different kinds of care (Mol, 2008). The writer