Social Context: A Review of Autobiography of a Disease

Authors

Sean N. Halpin, University of GeorgiaFollow

Abstract

Autobiography of Disease by Patrick Anderson thoroughly examines the author’s life threatening experience with Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) osteomyelitis. Through notes kept by the author and caregiver/mother Anderson tells an evocative ethnography as told from the perspective of MRSA itself. This complex weaving of narratives highlights how multiple social and environmental considerations interact to impact Anderson's experience with illness. This book may be of interest to anyone seeking to learn more about the social context of illness.

Keywords

Ethnography, Social Ecology, Social Relationships

Author Bio(s)

Sean N. Halpin is a gerontologist, Associate Director of Research Studies at Emory University, and student in the Graduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies at the University of Georgia’s College of Education. His research interests include non-pharmacological interventions for maintaining health in older life. Correspondence regarding this review can be addressed to: Sean N. Halpin at snh17325@uga.edu.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Dr. Kathy Roulston for your invaluable guidance in preparing this manuscript. Also thank you to Alison and Abigail Halpin for editorial assistance.

Publication Date

12-2-2018

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3890

Recommended APA Citation

Halpin, S. N. (2018). Social Context: A Review of Autobiography of a Disease. The Qualitative Report, 23(12), 2920-2922. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3890