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?
