Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to exploring how care is constructed and negotiated in two main aspects: the relationships of informal care, with caregivers within the family and the circle of friends; and the relationship with formal care, that is, with healthcare professionals and the healthcare system.
The first part investigates how care is negotiated in personal relationships, such as with families of origin, partners, and friends. I divide the narratives into four different categories that interpret care as a duty, a form of control, a choice, and a gift. In the second part, I focus on the less explored sides of relationships of care in experiences of illness: in particular, the stories in which interviewees are not just care recipients but also care providers and they learn to take care of their body-mind balance. In the last part, I move to the context of formal healthcare to understand how chronically ill LGBTQ+ patients navigate the power structures of medicalisation, what narrative strategies of (in)visibility they employ, and what pressures they experience.
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Notes
- 1.
Ellie refers to invasive procedures such as injection and douching of the intestine.
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Pieri, M. (2023). Negotiating Care Between Silences, (In)visibility, and Disobedience. In: LGBTQ+ People with Chronic Illness. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22071-5_5
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