TY - JOUR T1 - The emancipation of patients: a theory whose time has come JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 150 LP - 151 DO - 10.3399/bjgp19X701741 VL - 69 IS - 680 AU - Charlotte Williamson Y1 - 2019/03/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/69/680/150.abstract N2 - A theory can seem unlikely or unwelcome yet make sense of everyday experiences. That patients can be oppressed by doctors and have sought freedom from that oppression — emancipation from it — is such a theory.1 Oppression is the unjust use of its power by a dominant, stronger group over a weaker group.2 Here I argue that patients’ emancipation is taking place and that recognising this would help free doctors and patients from some of the constraints and coercions that hinder medicine from being as humane as doctors’ talents and good motives should ensure.Since the late 1950s, some patients and patient groups have opposed policies and practices that they see as against their interests and those of patients like them. At first they acted intuitively, without an overall goal; however, by the late 1980s, the consistency and coherence of their actions created those actions’ meaning: they were working towards two primary objectives. The first was for patients to be treated as people whose autonomy and moral agency were respected. The second was for patients to have an equal voice with doctors, both in the individual doctor–patient relationship and in wider discourses about policies and standards at various levels of health care. For individual patients, shared decision making can secure equality and voice.3 For patients collectively, the representation of their interests and values through the voices of patient activists (advocates or representatives) can work towards securing equality of voice.4,5 Patient activists’ pursuit of these objectives shows that they are engaged in … ER -