modesty in medical settings
{{Short description|Concept in medical treatment}}
File:Gynaecology-1822.jpg (1822) shows a "compromise" procedure, in which the physician is kneeling before the woman but cannot see her genitalia.]]
Modesty in medical settings refers to the practices and equipment used to preserve patient modesty in medical examination and clinics.
Tools for modesty
Prior to the invention of the stethoscope, a physician who wanted to perform auscultation to listen to heart sounds or noise inside a body would have to physically place their ear against the body of the person being examined.{{Cite journal | author = Ariel Roguin | title = Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec (1781-1826): the man behind the stethoscope | journal = Clinical Medicine & Research | volume = 4 | issue = 3 | pages = 230–235 | date=September 2006 | pmid = 17048358 | doi=10.3121/cmr.4.3.230 | pmc=1570491}} In 1816, male physician René Laennec invented the stethoscope as a way to respect the modesty of a female patient, as it would have been awkward for him to put his ear on her chest.
Hospital gowns increase modesty as compared to the patient presenting nude, but in the past, there have been odd clothing which exposes the body.{{cite web |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/hospital-gowns-get-a-makeover/389258/ |title=Hospital Gowns Get a Makeover — The Atlantic |first=Shefali |last=Luthra |work=theatlantic.com |date=4 April 2015 |accessdate=13 April 2015}} Some contemporary changes to the design of hospital gowns have been proposed.
Society and culture
In places with more cultural diversity it becomes more likely that people will make new and different requests for modesty in health care.{{cite journal|last1=Seibert|first1=PS|last2=Stridh-Igo|first2=P|last3=Zimmerman|first3=CG|title=A checklist to facilitate cultural awareness and sensitivity.|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|date=June 2002|volume=28|issue=3|pages=143–6|pmid=12042396|doi=10.1136/jme.28.3.143|pmc=1733575}}
Special populations
Sometimes women do not access healthcare because of modesty concerns.{{cite journal|last1=Schoueri-Mychasiw|first1=N|last2=Campbell|first2=S|last3=Mai|first3=V|title=Increasing screening mammography among immigrant and minority women in Canada: a review of past interventions.|journal=Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health|date=February 2013|volume=15|issue=1|pages=149–58|doi=10.1007/s10903-012-9612-8|pmid=22466249|s2cid=6780923}}
Muslims in non-Muslim societies sometimes make requests for modesty.{{cite journal|last1=Rassool|first1=GH|title=Cultural competence in nursing Muslim patients.|journal=Nursing Times|date=April 2015|volume=111|issue=14|pages=12–5|pmid=26182584}}{{cite journal|last1=Boucher|first1=NA|last2=Siddiqui|first2=EA|last3=Koenig|first3=HG|title=Supporting Muslim Patients During Advanced Illness.|journal=The Permanente Journal|date=2017|volume=21|pages=16–190|doi=10.7812/TPP/16-190|pmid=28609264|pmc=5469433}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.patientmodesty.org/ patientmodesty.org/], a United States-based nonprofit organization advocating for modesty