Can I read Knowing the entire story – a focus group study on patient experiences with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease) on EtoBox?

Knowing the entire story – a focus group study on patient experiences with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease) by M. E. Baarsma; S. A. Claassen; H. E. van der Horst; J. W. Hovius; J. M. Sanders is a Health Professions article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Knowing the entire story – a focus group study on patient experiences with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease) about?

## Background Healthcare providers frequently struggle to provide effective care to patients with chronic Lyme-associated symptoms (chronic Lyme disease, CLD), potentially causing these patients to feel misunderstood or neglected by the healthcare system. This study is the first to use a combined medical and communication science approach, and aims to assess patients’ experiences with CLD & CLD-related care, identify themes and repertories in these patients’ narrations, and provide potential ways to improve communication with them. ## Methods Informed by the principles of ‘clean language’, we conducted focus groups with self-identified CLD patients (__N__ = 15). We asked participants about their experiences with CLD and CLD-related healthcare. We performed thematic analyses using a bottom-up approach based in discourse analysis. We also sought to identify specific types of verbalizations (repertoires) across themes. ## Results Participants thematised a heterogeneous set of CLD-associated symptoms, which they frequently labelled as ‘invisible’ to others. Their illness significantly affected their daily lives, impacting their work, social activities, relationships with loved ones, ho

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Author

M. E. Baarsma; S. A. Claassen; H. E. van der Horst; J. W. Hovius; J. M. Sanders

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Published

2022

Language

EN

Field

Health Professions (Health Sciences)