Rethinking the patient: using Burden of Treatment Theory to understand the changing dynamics of illness

Being sick is sometimes hard and heavy work. Our new paper sets out a rigorous theoretical framework for analyzing this work, and understanding its effects, not just on people with health problems, but on their significant others too. This paper draws together the work of researchers in Southampton, Glasgow and at the Mayo Clinic. It has policy and clinical applications  because it helps us to understand important aspects of health and help-seeking behaviours and health service utilization, and to understand how the work of being sick gets embedded across the boundaries between healthcare and self-care.

You can get the paper here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/281/abstract