Striking balances: detachment or empathy in the management of Parkinson's disease?

This paper, based on in-depth interviews with a group of 18 GPs, was part of a wider study of what GPs and patients thought about communication between them in the case of Parkinson's disease. Four areas where GPs experienced anxiety and uncertainty in responding to their Parkinson's disease patients were examined: that of sustaining care over time; accepting that patients cannot be cured; managing the task of 'just being there' with patients; and responding to patients with communication impairments. Such uncertainties have to be managed if doctors are to accomplish their work lives. The paper goes on to examine how GPs struck balances for themselves between detachment and empathy to keep uncertainty at bay, enabling some GPs to be responsive to patients' needs and others less so. An understanding of these difficulties and strategies has important implications for doctor-patient communication. Some suggestions for change are discussed.