Ethnographic Interview:
Social Work in health care often involves the care and treatment of individuals with chronic diseases. The purpose of the interview is to understand what it means to “live with” a chronic or serious physical illness from the perspective of the person, also known as the informant, who has a chronic or serious illness or is a primary caregiver of someone with a chronic/serious physical illness. In ethnography, since informants are living day-to-day with the illness, they are considered the “experts,” and you should approach the interview from the position of a naive learner. It is important to let the informant teach you about his/her experience and to identify what he/she thinks is important for you to learn about the daily life of one who is living which a chronic, disabling, or terminal illness.
Part A: The Interview
Select an informant who is NOT related to you and is currently experiencing a chronic, disabling, or terminal physical illness or is the primary caregiver or significant other of someone who has a chronic/serious physical illness.
Unlike a clinical interview which focuses on gaining information for assessment and intervention, the ethnographic interview approach focuses on three main dimensions from the informant’s viewpoint:
The meaning of the illness.
The types of strategies used to cope with the illness;
The way in which the informant organizes his/her world in the context of the illness.
The following are suggestions for what you might want to cover/include in your interview guide:
How did the informant first notice that something was wrong or experience symptoms?
What were the informant’s initial feelings/response to symptoms and/or diagnosis, and what did those mean for the informant?
How did the informant make sense of his/her illness (i.e., what kinds of explanations/theories about “why me?”)
How does the informant’s culture, ethnicity, age, gender, race, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, gender identity, and philosophical or religious beliefs affect his/her illness experience?
How does she/he cope with the illness and of receiving medical treatment oneself, family life, work, career plans, social relationships, etc.?
What is his/her experience accessing health care and of interacting with the health care providers?
Part B: Written assignment of the Interview:
Summarize the informant’s experience of being chronically ill as you uncovered/discovered/understood it from your interview. Write a 3-5-page paper (using APA 7th edition), including at least 3 direct quotes from the informant and 2 to 3 relevant citations from credible, accurate, and appropriate outside references (you may use your textbook as one of these sources) that addresses ALL of the questions below:
What is your understanding of the condition/illness/disease of the informant? (list sources you utilized to gain that understanding)
Discuss the impact on the psychosocial life of the informant from his/her viewpoint. (How does she/he cope with the illness/what strategies does he/she use to cope with/adapt to the illness?)
What was the most compelling thing you learned about the informant’s experience from an insider’s perspective? How will you incorporate this learning in your practice as a professional social worker?
In retrospect, in general, how well do you think you elicited information from the informant about his/her illness experience/role as a caregiver? Looking back, what areas do you wish you had covered in the interview but did not?
How “connected” did you feel to the informant and why, and what part of the interview was the most difficult for you to “stay with” and why?
How was the healthcare service delivery system/provider/agency/managed care system barriers and/or resources for the informant and/or family? Analyze how these systems enhanced, challenged, or were neutral influences on the well-being of the informant and family.
Attach your interview guide to your paper and submit both
