Narrative-based Primary Care: A Practical Guide

John Launer

Radcliffe Medical Press, £21.95, pp 272

http://www.radcliffe-oxford.com/

Rating:

ISBN 1 85775 539 1

As a general practitioner, I find the interviewing techniques presented in this book interesting. They look as if they might be useful to my patients and to me. Launer invites readers to structure their clinical conversations making use of the idea that knowledge occurs through the stories—the narratives—that we tell others and ourselves about our experiences.

In a usual clinical encounter the patient brings his story about his condition (which he may get a chance to tell to the doctor). The clinician develops her story on the basis of what the …