First, Professor Johanna Ruusuvuori, Professor of Social Psychology and the PI of the project, presented the multimethod study design of Touch & Affect and the key findings from the past four years. By examining how professionals and patients manage touch and affect in healthcare interaction through authentic observational video data from Finland, the UK and China, the project has generated knowledge critical for developing both best practices in professional–patient encounters and user-friendly digitalized healthcare services.
Next, the floor was given to the project’s researchers. Dr Julia Katila started the round of presentations bringing forth two flagship studies of the project: Fear and pain in pediatric dental encounters and Affective participation and touch in postnatal health care check-ups. This was followed by the PhD researcher Juhana Mustakallio, who gave a presentation on Touch and embodied empathy in medical consultations. Thereafter, Dr Tuuli Turja presented multimethodological findings, combining survey and observation data, on Affect-laden problem-telling and perceived reassurance. Concluding the session, Dr Aija Logren delivered a presentation on Invoking worry in primary care consultations.
After closing words by Johanna Ruusuvuori, Professor Charles Antaki from Loughborough University gave a commentary speech complimenting the project’s distinctive and novel approach and its contribution to the theory development of touch and emotions.
In the afternoon, the program featured three most insightful and thought-provoking keynote speeches.
Professor Asta Cekaite: Interpersonal Touch in Institutional Interactions: Trust, Bodily Integrity and Social Relations
Professor of Child Studies at Linköping University, Asta Cekaite, presented on the interplay of touch, affect, and emotion socialization in nursery. Her analysis focused on the fine-tuned negotiation of consent to touch and how teachers addressed it. As an example, she showed a case where one child tried to hug another who did not wish to be hugged; the teacher intervened and explained the rules of consensual touch.
Professor Pirkko Raudaskoski: How is Affective Practice Constituted in Pharmacist-Client Encounters?
In her presentation, Professor Pirkko Raudaskoski from the Department of Communication and Psychology at Aalborg University emphasized the role of mentalizing communication in both ensuring that the patient’s perspective is acknowledged and in actively eliciting it during the interaction.
Professor Marjorie Goodwin: Affect and Emotion in Doctor-Patient Interaction while Learning to Experience Dying as Part of Living.
Research Professor of Anthropology (University of California, Los Angeles) Marjorie Goodwin gave us a memorable presentation of how a cancer patient learns to experience dying as a part of living.
Thank you again to all of our participants and collaborators!
– Touch & Affect research team
