Beyond expectation: a case for nonpersonal contextual factors in a more comprehensive approach to the placebo effect and the contribution of environmental psychology
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Permanent lenke
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2373792Utgivelsesdato
2015Metadata
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Originalversjon
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S91774Sammendrag
Creating an optimized health care environment to maximize the probability and
magnitude of placebo effects draws on a number of well-researched mechanisms such as the
patient’s positive expectation toward treatment outcome. Patient-centered communication
styles influence expectations and can thus be considered as a form of supplemental treatment.
Unconsciously processed contextual triggering and facilitating placebo effects are omnipresent
in clinical settings as well as in all other social and physical environments. Contextual cues
in both the social and physical domain exert influences on the recipient’s emotional state and
recreational experiences. While the majority of research focuses on improving the patients’
expectations, classical conditioning effects of nonsocial contextual factors have been largely
neglected in discussions on practical implementation of placebo-enhancing environments. Built
on the empirically well-supported argument that conditioning processes act as a powerful tool to
mobilize self-healing resources just as verbally induced expectations do, we argue for a stronger
consideration of the effects of permanent, nonsocial and nonverbal environmental contexts.
Environmental psychology is a new field of research within the psychological domain and offers
a toolbox of opportunities for medical psychological research and health care practitioners to
improve the treatment outcomes and benefits of health care environments