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“You don’t like to tell them their job but it’s your foot at the end of the day”: theorising and negotiating ‘resistance’ in clinical encounters

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Abstract

This article draws on the findings of a small-scale, qualitative study exploring patients’ reactions to specialist advice regarding healthy footwear to develop and explore the ways in which the concept of ‘resistance’ can be understood in clinical encounters. Whilst wearing ‘inappropriate’ shoes can cause discomfort and exacerbate existing conditions, foot health professionals may continue to experience resistance to efforts to encourage patients to make footwear changes. Theoretically, resistance to professional advice has been seen not merely as a barrier, but a ‘tool’ to spark further, more personalised consultation to encourage real, long-term changes. Whilst such developments are welcome, we contend that some patients may be more able than others to openly resist, and resistance may not always be overt and obvious, but rather may take the form of an ‘illusion of compliance’. Additionally, some patients may consciously resist advice as a means to retain a sense of control over their treatment and bodies. Our insights extend and develop the concept of resistance in a theoretical and practical sense and have applicability in wider neoliberal healthcare contexts.

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Notes

  1. (2010–2013) ESRC UK Funded Project: ‘If the Shoe Fits: Footwear, Identification and Transition’ (RES-062-23-2252).

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by an Innovation, Impact and Knowledge Exchange Collaboration Research and development award from The University of Sheffield, UK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Portsmouth, St George’s Building, 141 High Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 2HY, UK

    Emily Nicholls

  2. Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York, Heslington, York, North Yorkshire, YO10 5DD, UK

    Victoria Robinson

  3. Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK

    Lisa Farndon & Wesley Vernon

  4. Central Health Clinic, Mulberry Street, Sheffield, S1 2PJ, UK

    Lisa Farndon

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  1. Emily Nicholls
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  2. Victoria Robinson
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Correspondence to Emily Nicholls.

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Nicholls, E., Robinson, V., Farndon, L. et al. “You don’t like to tell them their job but it’s your foot at the end of the day”: theorising and negotiating ‘resistance’ in clinical encounters. Soc Theory Health 19, 246–262 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41285-020-00134-0

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