Veien mot bedring: Muligheter og utfordringer ved å innlemme kvinners egen kunnskap om fibromyalgi i fysioterapipraksis

This chapter focuses on how gender and different forms of knowl-
edge can play a role in understanding health and illness. Fibromyalgia is mainly
understood and treated as a women's disease, and many patients often find
themselves in marginalized positions when interacting with the healthcare sys-
tem. Women with fibromyalgia frequently seek physiotherapy, a practice deeply
rooted in biomedical science guided by standards, norm values, and evidence-
based practices. Such practice risks creating a gap between women's self-per-
ceived ailments and the therapists' treatment interventions. In this chapter, we
explore how gender and knowledge are negotiated in clinical practice, based
on qualitative interviews and observations of people with fibromyalgia receiving
physiotherapeutic treatment in primary healthcare. Our theoretical approach
is based on concepts developed by the Dutch health researcher Jeanette Pols,
who advocates for `patient knowledge/practical knowledge', which is the prac-
tical knowledge patients build through experiences from living with a disease.
Our findings illustrate a complex interaction between patient and therapist,
and how a mutual understanding can be found in the processes of the patient's
recovery. This chapter discusses the challenges therapists and patients may
experience in clinical encounters. We argue that greater acknowledgement of
women's knowledge in physiotherapy and research literature can contribute to
promoting a more gender-sensitive physiotherapy practice.