Comparative Effectiveness Research is guided by the goal of creating information capacities regarding the best comparative evidence base on treatment effectiveness, side effects, and benefits of different treatment options. The CER process is one that attempts to de-center the shroud of secrecy and scientific legitimacy that the medical industry (pharmaceuticals, physicians etc.) rely on. What is most important about the CER process is the implicit acknowledgement that is built into it: that the culture of medicine operates often under a great deal of uncertainty, misinformation, and lack of solid information. The CER process therefore seeks to a) foster a scientific evidence base for comparing different treatments, and b) de-center the blindfolded legitimacy patients put in physicians by seeking to put information in the hands of patients. It is precisely in this backdrop that I have witnessed resistance from physicians about CER in one-on-one interactions with them. That the tran...
This blog offers Mohan Dutta's reflections on the theoretical framework of the culture-centered approach, examining the interplays among Structure, Culture, and Agency in shaping marginalisation and the ways in which communities at the margins challenge structures. Writings on the blog are continually being revised to reflect the organic analysis of structure and agency.