In search of experiential knowledge. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Blume, Stuart
• Is Part Of: Innovation. Volume 30:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 91
• Page End: 103
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: experience -- knowledge -- health care -- filtering mechanisms; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 300.5
• DOI: 10.1080/13511610.2016.1210505
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-1610

Abstract

Abstract : In recent years, the concept of "experiential knowledge" has increasingly been used to characterize the distinctive contribution patients make to decision-making in the health field. Even though it seems well-nigh impossible to characterize it precisely, there is no doubting its significance for decision-making contexts ranging from the individual to the political. Since individual experiences of any condition or treatment differ widely, whose experiences come to constitute "knowledge"? In this paper, I argue that, rhetoric notwithstanding, numerous constraints "filter" the experiences which come to function as "experiential knowledge". Looking to the future of health care, likely to be marked by growing inequalities, I suggest that a reflection on the notion of experiential knowledge leads to two challenges for social scientists.