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Curiosity With Patient: A Hermeneutical Analysis of Pain, Context, and Care

Authors List
Lagerman, P., APM Workcare, Auckland, New Zealand

Introduction
When engaging in acts of care with people living with pain, the range of issues clinicians and clients have to deal with are bewilderingly complex, constantly throwing up new questions and possibilities. A natural curiosity, then, is a necessary prerequisite for any skilled, mature clinician. Most theories of curiosity emphasize the acquisition of information, and chronic pain is commonly understood in biomedical terms with contemporary pain self-management fostering a positivist approach, and, through the acquisition of skills and strategies, proposes recovery (Walumbe, 2022).
 
Aims
To demonstrate the interconnected nature of curiosity and how fostering a curiosity with context can reconcile the delivery of care.
 
Methods
I present a hermeneutical analysis of pain self-management literature and argue the style of curiosity is currently constrained by normative (biomedical, behavioural, and biomechanical) healthcare practices. This affects how care is delivered in pain management programs.
 
Results
In pain management, the dominant delivery of strategies adopts a positivist approach focusing on normative (biomedical, behavioural, and biomechanical) practice. In essence, pain management practices are underpinned by an acquisition of knowledge, a curiosity that is constrained and instructed by predominant models of care. Through an analysis of historical and philosophical texts, it is proposed that curiosity is multiple beyond a singular drive to acquire knowledge (Zurn, 2021). Curiosity can be referred to as a relational practice to cultivate new ways of delivering pain care otherwise.
 
Conclusions
Curiosity is a necessary skill in pain self-management and complements acts of pain care more broadly, yet it can become constrained by predominant normative practices. This presentation proposes that curiosity is less of a skill and more of a relational process. It can cultivate new ways to deliver care that liberates the needs of individuals living with persistent pain.
 
References
Walumbe JN (2022)  Self-management of chronic pain : a critical interpretive inquiry. University of Oxford.
Zurn P (2021)  Curiosity and Power: The Politics of Inquiry. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.


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  • NZPS 2026
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