Breaking away from a medical model of chronic illness
Catherine Hale advocates breaking away from a medical model of chronic illness.
A response to Mo Stewart – Part One Thank you, Mo, for this very thoughtful and stimulating critique of Reclaiming Chronic Illness: an introduction to the Chronic Illness Inclusion Project. Two really important questions you raise stand out to me:
1. As you say, the meaning we attach to the term “chronic illness” in this project does not reference medical definitions but considers chronic illness as a social identity. Does that make it invalid?
2. And in my struggle to develop a more precise language, such as “energy-limiting chronic illness” or “stamina impairment”, am I creating unnecessary divisions and excluding people who share a common cause, especially people with chronic pain conditions? Why can’t we simply unite under the umbrella of disabled people and fight our common oppression, you might ask?
Victoria Clutton highlights the barriers to work faced by the chronically ill.
