The ethics of semantics in medicine

In this paper, we discuss the largely neglected topic of semantics in medicine and the associated ethical issues. We analyse several key medical terms from the informed perspective of the healthcare professional, the lay perspective of the patient and the patient’s family, and the descriptive perspective of what the term actually signifies objectively. The choice of a particular medical term may deliver different meanings when viewed from these differing perspectives. Consequently, several ethical issues may arise. Technical terms that are not commonly understood by lay people may be used by physicians, consciously or not, and may obscure the understanding of the situation by lay people. The choice of particular medical terms may be accidental use of jargon, an attempt to ease the communication of psychologically difficult information, or an attempt to justify a preferred course of action and/or to manipulate the decision-making process.

Natural Matter

Studies of lived religion have shown that from the perspective of the early modern laity, stark divisions between religion, magic, and superstition were largely absent from daily life. This chapter establishes how the division of ‘religious’ objects from secular or ‘magical’ objects in the early modern period is problematic. In particular, it shows how amulets made from natural matter, such as gemstones and animal teeth, can be reintegrated among religious objects. The evidence of amulets and rings reveals the connections of the cosmos, showing how men and women used these items to negotiate the divine and to control the ‘exigencies of daily life’. There was logic to how the divine could work through these tiny shards of stone or animal matter. From a lay perspective, the use of amulets and precious stones was not ‘enchantment’, but part of a developed belief structure that located the divine in the natural environment and that was tied to natural philosophy.

EXPRESS: Consumer Self-Control and the Biological Sciences: Implications for Marketing Stakeholders

The authors argue that appreciation of the biological underpinnings of human behavior can alter the beliefs and actions of multiple marketing stakeholders in ways that have immense welfare implications. However, a biological perspective often deviates from the lay perspective. The realization of improved welfare depends in part on narrowing this gap. The authors review biological evidence on self-control and report 10 empirical studies that examine lay response to biological characterizations of self-control. The authors contrast lay response with scientific understanding and then offer implications of biology—as well as the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives—for policymakers, firms, consumers, marketing educators, and scholars. The authors also identify opportunities for future research. The authors conclude that marketing scholars can and should play an active role in narrowing the gap between the scientific and lay perspectives in the service of both theory development and human welfare.

Mask and Ye Shall Receive

A physician engages in a social media debate regarding mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic and searches for truth and virtue, primarily charity. While wearing masks is commonplace and vital during the COVID-19 pandemic to those working in healthcare, the lay perspective on wearing masks is more varied and can be skewed by politicization, pseudoscience, and misinterpretation. The practicing Catholic physician serves as an important witness to the truth of science and Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The question of mask-wearing is transformed from merely being a scientific question to more of a moral and theological question.

¿Cómo interpretan el envejecimiento activo las personas mayores en España? Evidencias desde una perspectiva no profesional / How do elderly people in Spain assess active aging? Evidence from a lay-perspective

RESUMENLa población española está envejeciendo lo que, unido a una mejora de condiciones de vida, hace aumentar las posibilidades de desarrollar un envejecimiento activo. Investigadores y agentes sociales han intentado medirlo, a pesar de su dificultad. Este trabajo pretende analizar cómo las personas mayores en España construyen su envejecimiento activo, evaluando sus dimensiones, factores y efectos en su estilo de vida. Los datos cuantitativos proceden de la Encuesta Piloto del Estudio Longitudinal Envejecer en España (ELES-EP). Se complementan con 7 grupos focales a 50 personas de 50 y más años, participantes en ELES-EP, y 10 entrevistas en profundidad con responsables de organizaciones de la sociedad civil de personas mayores. Analizados con ATLAS.ti, aportan una visión no profesional sobre el envejecimiento activo. Los resultados muestran que estas personas en España no definen claramente el envejecimiento activo, pero identifican factores condicionantes relacionados con el pilar “participación”, las actividades principales (personales, culturales y sociales, de disfrute de tiempo libre, de participación en iniciativas sociales) y los beneficios que consiguen. Esta visión no profesional puede ser así comparada con la identificada en la literatura científica. Estudios futuros deberían encaminarse a obtener las claves para la conceptualización del envejecimiento activo por los propios protagonistas.Palabras Clave: Envejecimiento Activo, Personas Mayores, Perspectiva no profesional, Metodología mixta, España.ABSTRACTThe Spanish population is becoming older and alternatives for the development of an active living in different social contexts arise. Efforts to make active ageing an operative concept under professional and non-professional views (research, social agents, individuals) have been made. The paper aims at analysing how older adults in Spain build their active ageing, by studying the dimensions, factors and consequences that derive from their way of living. Quantitative data come from the Longitudinal Aging Study in Spain, Pilot Survey, ELES-PS, completed those from seven focus groups, composed by 50 individuals older than 50, participants in ELES-PS, and 9 indepth interviews with senior social organizations officers. Qualitative data have been analysed with ATLAS.ti. Results show that older people in Spain do not clearly define what active ageing is for them, but their discourses allows identifying some conditioning factors of their active behaviour, their main declared activities (personal, cultural, social activities, leisure time in general, involvement in some social participation interests) and the benefits they get. Literature on active ageing will allow comparison with active ageing’s lay vision. Future research should aim to obtain the keys for the conceptualization of active aging by the older people themselves.Keywords: Active Ageing, Older Adults, Lay Perspective, Mixed methods, Spain.