Human dignity
By exploring the theories that underpin our participants’ experiences, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how these frameworks apply in practical settings.
Summary
- Human dignity is the idea that every person deserves respect and basic rights. It is the foundation of human rights laws. However, some argue that dignity is too abstract and can be difficult to apply in real-life situations.
- In healthcare, dignity should be seen as something that comes from the relationship between caregivers and patients. Feeling dignified means feeling seen, heard, respected, and valued as a person with real needs and desires.
- The opposite of dignity is humiliation, which happens when people are treated like children, objects, or just ‘patients’ rather than full individuals. When healthcare workers act dismissively or make decisions for patients without listening, it can lower patients’ self-respect and make them feel ignored.
- These negative experiences can cause people to lose trust in the healthcare system. Some may avoid seeking care, while others may rely on it more because their real needs are never properly understood or met.
Dignity is a very influential concept in the history of modern philosophy but at the same time it is highly contested. The premise of the concept of human dignity is the Kantian statement that every human being has an intrinsic and inalienable value that ought to be respected and protected. This universal human dignity has been translated in political and moral philosophy to a set of principles such as human rights and respect for autonomy and forms the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example. However, it has been argued that human dignity is a highly abstract concept which quickly becomes problematic when it is applied to concrete practical contexts. Consequently, attempts have been made to translate human dignity to practice by exploring how people experience their dignity – and the ways in which it can be violated in diverse social settings.
In the context of healthcare, it makes sense to treat dignity as a social and relational concept that emerges in the interaction between caregivers and care receivers. The experience of dignity is the experience of being seen, heard, taken seriously and respected as a valuable, mature human being with legitimate needs and desires. Everything considered desirable in good care seems to come together in the conceptualisation of human dignity: being recognised and respected, being treated equally and not discriminated against, but also being treated as unique persons with their own past, emotions and needs. This not only affects people’s social position but also impacts their sense of self-worth and self-respect. The counterpoint of the experience of human dignity is the experience of humiliation, for instance when people feel treated like a child or an object or reduced to their role of patient or care recipient. Paternalistic or indifferent behaviour from care professionals results in diminished self-respect in patients, not feeling heard or taken seriously. These types of experiences have a negative impact on the trust people have in the care system. It may result in care avoidant behaviour or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a more intensive recourse to the healthcare system because the patients underlying needs are consistently not seen and therefore not met adequately.
Further reading
- Rosen, Michael. (2012). Dignity. Its history and its meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Nordenfeld, Lennart (ed) (2009). Dignity in care for older people. Chicester etc.: Wiley Blackwell Publishers.