30DoS 2018 Day 17 - Patty Thille
I am something of a hybrid: a sociologist with a clinical background in physical therapy. While working in clinical practice in Saskatchewan, Canada (1998-2002), I had many questions about why we clinicians do what we do, particularly about how dominant discourses about thinness/fatness, gender, and more shape clinical services. The difficulties I had finding answers led me to pursue advanced degrees in social sciences (Women’s Studies MA; Sociology Ph.D.).
In my research, I aim to foreground the relations – the connections made and unmade – in health care that produce inequalities and inequities. I use varied social theories and qualitative methodologies to identify patterns and influences - structural, discursive, interpersonal, and embodied - on practice. My first focus: how people can be blamed and shamed in clinical care, with a specific focus on fat-related stigmatization and self-management support. Following the actor-network theory sensibility of following connections wherever they lead, my Ph.D. took me out of the clinic to examine attempts to govern clinical practices through strategies such as continuing education and guidelines. Most recently, I have added an intervention angle, co-designing and evaluating reflexivity and transformative educational opportunities for practicing clinicians with CPN colleagues Drs. Barbara Gibson, Thomas Abrams, and Jenny Setchell.
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Manitoba. I so appreciate how the CPN has introduced me to physiotherapists who share interests; please be in touch!
Selected Publications:
Thille P, Gibson BE, Abrams T, McAdam L, Mistry B, Setchell J. (2018). Enhancing the human dimensions of children’s neuromuscular care: Piloting a methodology for fostering team reflexivity. Advances in Health Sciences Education. doi: 10.1007/s10459-018-9834-1
Thille P. (2018). Managing anti-fat stigma in primary care: An observational study. Health Communication. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2018.1439276
Thille P, Friedman M, Setchell J (2017). Weight-related stigma and health policy. CMAJ, 189(6), E223-4. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.160975
Thille P, Ward N, Russell GR (2014). Self-management support in primary care: Enactments, disruptions, and conversational consequences. Social Science & Medicine, 108(May), 97-105. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.02.041
Email address: patty.thille@umanitoba.ca
Location (city/town, country): Winnipeg, Canada
Current position(s): Assistant Professor, College of Rehabilitation Science, University of Manitoba
Links (eg twitter, website, blog – up to 5): Twitter: @Patty Thille
Blog: http://www.thinkupstream.net/response-ability
http://umanitoba.ca/rehabsciences/thille.html