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9 - Gender Norms and Early Modern Healthcare : Barber-Surgeons in Sweden c. 1600–1900
- Edited by Mari Eyice, Stockholms Universitet, Charlotta Forss, Stockholms Universitet
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- Book:
- Health and Society in Early Modern Sweden
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 16 April 2024
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2024, pp 199-224
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- Chapter
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Summary
Abstract
In this article, gender coding will be analysed from a long-term perspective, c. 1600–1900. By following barber-surgeons, a male-coded and guild-based occupation, from 1600 to 1900, it is possible to infer what the gender norms were and how they changed. In Sweden, it seems clear that the regulations of the guild, on a formal level, included everyone in the household of the barber-surgeon; if necessary, the wife could take over her husband's business. This changed over time. At the end of the nineteenth century, it became formally permitted for women to train as barber-surgeons in their own right. Consequently, a long-term perspective reveals that preconceived notions concerning gender order have varied throughout history.
Keywords: gender, early modern, healthcare, barber-surgeon
Health and healthcare in the past
The World Health Organisation's 1946 definition of health, often referred to as fundamental in modern societies, embraces ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.’ This definition is vague. Exactly what should be included in these three named aspects and with which strategies health is to be achieved can be widely discussed. The point here, however, is that the definition includes more than just the absence of disease. Irrespective of the debate surrounding how the definition should be perceived or practised, it is clear that, since the 1940s, concepts of health emphasise the experience of health conditions. This view proclaims a distinct shift in thoughts and attitudes, from a perspective in which disease and illness were natural parts of human life, as was the case in early modern times, towards a perspective in which the normal human condition is the absence of disease. In earlier periods, the overall responsibility for a subject's health was obscure, and the possible measures to ensure health are at best a matter of relief and remedy. In more recent times, health has become a governmental responsibility with attempts for treatment improvements as well as preventive measures. This shift can also be illuminated linguistically. In the Swedish language of the sixteenth century, the concept of health alludes primarily to material welfare and prosperity – something desirable but almost completely dependent on God's will. In the early modern era, disease and poverty were inextricably linked.
The Early Chain of Care in Patients with Bacteraemia with the Emphasis on the Prehospital Setting
- Christer Axelsson, Johan Herlitz, Anders Karlsson, Henrik Sjöberg, Maria Jiménez-Herrera, Angela Bång, Anders Jonsson, Anders Bremer, Henrik Andersson, Martin Gellerstedt, Lars Ljungström
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- Journal:
- Prehospital and Disaster Medicine / Volume 31 / Issue 3 / June 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 30 March 2016, pp. 272-277
- Print publication:
- June 2016
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- Article
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Purpose
There is a lack of knowledge about the early phase of severe infection. This report describes the early chain of care in bacteraemia as follows: (a) compare patients who were and were not transported by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS); (b) describe various aspects of the EMS chain; and (c) describe factors of importance for the delay to the start of intravenous antibiotics. It was hypothesized that, for patients with suspected sepsis judged by the EMS clinician, the delay until the onset of antibiotic treatment would be shorter.
Basic ProceduresAll patients in the Municipality of Gothenburg (Sweden) with a positive blood culture, when assessed at the Laboratory of Bacteriology in the Municipality of Gothenburg, from February 1 through April 30, 2012 took part in the survey.
Main Findings/ResultsIn all, 696 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Their mean age was 76 years and 52% were men. Of all patients, 308 (44%) had been in contact with the EMS and/or the emergency department (ED). Of these 308 patients, 232 (75%) were transported by the EMS and 188 (61%) had “true pathogens” in blood cultures. Patients who were transported by the EMS were older, included more men, and suffered from more severe symptoms and signs.
The EMS nurse suspected sepsis in only six percent of the cases. These patients had a delay from arrival at hospital until the start of antibiotics of one hour and 19 minutes versus three hours and 21 minutes among the remaining patients (P =.0006). The corresponding figures for cases with “true pathogens” were one hour and 19 minutes versus three hours and 15 minutes (P =.009).
ConclusionAmong patients with bacteraemia, 75% used the EMS, and these patients were older, included more men, and suffered from more severe symptoms and signs. The EMS nurse suspected sepsis in six percent of cases. Regardless of whether or not patients with true pathogens were isolated, a suspicion of sepsis by the EMS clinician at the scene was associated with a shorter delay to the start of antibiotic treatment.
,Axelsson C ,Herlitz J ,Karlsson A ,Sjöberg H ,Jiménez-Herrera M ,Bång A ,Jonsson A ,Bremer A ,Andersson H ,Gellerstedt M .Ljungström L The Early Chain of Care in Patients with Bacteraemia with the Emphasis on the Prehospital Setting . Prehosp Disaster Med.2016 ;31 (3 ):272 –277 .