Annals of Family Medicine
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


Annals of Family Medicine 3:255-262 (2005)
© 2005 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.
doi: 10.1370/afm.313

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow In Brief
Right arrow TRACK Discussion: Submit a Comment
Right arrow TRACK Discussion: View Comments
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when TRACK Comments are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Egnew, T. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Egnew, T. R.
Related Collections
Right arrow Qualitative methods
Right arrow Professional practice
Right arrow Coordination / integration of care
Right arrow Personalized care
Right arrow Relationship
Right arrow Spirituality
Right arrow Complementary / alternative medicine

The Meaning Of Healing: Transcending Suffering

Thomas R. Egnew, EdD, LICSW

Tacoma Family Medicine, Tacoma, and Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Wash

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Thomas R. Egnew, EdD, LICSW, Tacoma Family Medicine, 521 Martin Luther King Junior Way, Tacoma, WA 98405-4238, tom.egnew{at}multicare.org

PURPOSE Medicine is traditionally considered a healing profession, but it has neither an operational definition of healing nor an explanation of its mechanisms beyond the physiological processes related to curing. The objective of this study was to determine a definition of healing that operationalizes its mechanisms and thereby identifies those repeatable actions that reliably assist physicians to promote holistic healing.

METHODS This study was a qualitative inquiry consisting of in-depth, open-ended, semistructured interviews with Drs. Eric J. Cassell, Carl A. Hammerschlag, Thomas S. Inui, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Cicely Saunders, Bernard S. Siegel, and G. Gayle Stephens. Their perceptions regarding the definition and mechanisms of healing were subjected to grounded theory content analysis.

RESULTS Healing was associated with themes of wholeness, narrative, and spirituality. Healing is an intensely personal, subjective experience involving a reconciliation of the meaning an individual ascribes to distressing events with his or her perception of wholeness as a person.

CONCLUSIONS Healing may be operationally defined as the personal experience of the transcendence of suffering. Physicians can enhance their abilities as healers by recognizing, diagnosing, minimizing, and relieving suffering, as well as helping patients transcend suffering.

Key Words: Healing • physician-patient relations • philosophy, medical




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
JCOHome page
S. Daneault, D. Dion, C. Sicotte, L. Yelle, S. Mongeau, V. Lussier, M. Coulombe, and P. Paille
Hope and Noncurative Chemotherapies: Which Affects the Other?
J. Clin. Oncol., May 1, 2010; 28(13): 2310 - 2313.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
W. L. Miller, B. F. Crabtree, P. A. Nutting, K. C. Stange, and C. R. Jaen
Primary Care Practice Development: A Relationship-Centered Approach
Ann. Fam. Med, May 1, 2010; 8(Suppl_1): S68 - S79.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
Power to Advocate for Health
Ann. Fam. Med, March 1, 2010; 8(2): 100 - 107.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Integr Cancer TherHome page
J. R. Geffen
Integrative Oncology for the Whole Person: A Multidimensional Approach to Cancer Care
Integr Cancer Ther, March 1, 2010; 9(1): 105 - 121.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
J Am Board Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
Receptor Sites for the Primary Care Function: Reaction to the Paper by Karen Davis, PhD, and Kristof Stremikis, MPP
J Am Board Fam Med, March 1, 2010; 23(Supplement): S17 - S20.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
Ways of Knowing, Learning, and Developing
Ann. Fam. Med, January 1, 2010; 8(1): 4 - 10.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
A Science of Connectedness
Ann. Fam. Med, September 1, 2009; 7(5): 387 - 395.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
W. R. Phillips
In This Issue: Practice, Research, and Reflection
Ann. Fam. Med, March 1, 2009; 7(2): 98 - 99.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
The Problem of Fragmentation and the Need for Integrative Solutions
Ann. Fam. Med, March 1, 2009; 7(2): 100 - 103.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
T. R. Egnew
Suffering, Meaning, and Healing: Challenges of Contemporary Medicine
Ann. Fam. Med, March 1, 2009; 7(2): 170 - 175.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J Child Health CareHome page
S. L. Eisen, R. S. Ulrich, M. M. Shepley, J. W. Varni, and S. Sherman
The stress-reducing effects of art in pediatric health care: art preferences of healthy children and hospitalized children
J Child Health Care, September 1, 2008; 12(3): 173 - 190.
[Abstract] [PDF]


Home page
Arch Intern MedHome page
L. B. Mauksch, D. C. Dugdale, S. Dodson, and R. Epstein
Relationship, Communication, and Efficiency in the Medical Encounter: Creating a Clinical Model From a Literature Review
Arch Intern Med, July 14, 2008; 168(13): 1387 - 1395.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
C. Hsu, W. R. Phillips, K. J. Sherman, R. Hawkes, and D. C. Cherkin
Healing in Primary Care: A Vision Shared by Patients, Physicians, Nurses, and Clinical Staff
Ann. Fam. Med, July 1, 2008; 6(4): 307 - 314.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
J. G. Scott, D. Cohen, B. DiCicco-Bloom, W. L. Miller, K. C. Stange, and B. F. Crabtree
Understanding Healing Relationships in Primary Care
Ann. Fam. Med, July 1, 2008; 6(4): 315 - 322.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
J. P. Meza and G. F. Fahoome
The Development of an Instrument for Measuring Healing
Ann. Fam. Med, July 1, 2008; 6(4): 355 - 360.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange
Radical Ideas
Ann. Fam. Med, July 1, 2005; 3(4): 369 - 371.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Ann Fam MedHome page
K. C. Stange and P. A. Nutting
In This Issue: Bursting the Bubble on Chronic Disease Management, the Meaning of Healing, PBRN Methods Supplement, and the Annals' 2-Year Anniversary
Ann. Fam. Med, May 1, 2005; 3(3): 194 - 196.
[Full Text] [PDF]

TRACK Comments:

Read all TRACK Comments

Healing and the doctor patient relationship
Hamish J Wilson
Annals of Family Medicine, 1 Jun 2005 [Full text]
Research Agenda for Healing
John G. Scott
Annals of Family Medicine, 3 Jun 2005 [Full text]
Egnew: The meaning of healing:Transcending suffering
G. Gayle Stephens, M.D.
Annals of Family Medicine, 9 Jun 2005 [Full text]
Questions on the implications of the use and meaning of the word "healing"
Phyllis R. Silverman, Ph.D.
Annals of Family Medicine, 15 Jun 2005 [Full text]
Response to Thomas Egnews: The Meaning of Healing: Transcending Suffering
Virginia A Aita
Annals of Family Medicine, 18 Jun 2005 [Full text]
Definitions of Healing
Wayne Jonas, MD
Annals of Family Medicine, 30 Aug 2005 [Full text]



HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2005 by the Annals of Family Medicine.