Interventionism, when discussing the practice of

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

, is generally a derogatory term used by critics of a

medical model ''Medical model'' is the term coined by psychiatrist R. D. Laing in his ''The Politics of the Family and Other Essays'' (1971), for the "set of procedures in which all doctors are trained". It includes complaint, history, physical examinatio ...

in which patients are viewed as passive recipients receiving external treatments provided by the physician that have the effect of prolonging life, or at least of providing a subjective sense of doing everything possible. Interventionism is commonly encouraged by

terminally ill Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced h ...

patients and their family members when they are emotionally unprepared to acknowledge that the patient is going to die. Most healthcare providers are uncomfortable telling people that further cure-oriented or life-extending treatment is

futile medical care Futile medical care is the continued provision of medical care or treatment to a patient when there is no reasonable hope of a cure or benefit. Some proponents of evidence-based medicine suggest discontinuing the use of any treatment that has not ...

, and patients and families are frequently angry with the provider or feel rejected by the provider when they are given accurate, but negative, information about the patient's prospects. In nearly all cases, "something" can be done for the patient, and families often reward and encourage a provider who proposes a string of useless and often directly harmful treatments; as a result, it is easier for providers to substitute worthless and expensive activity than to honestly admit that nothing will extend the patient's life. Interventionism is related to

optimism bias Optimism bias (or the optimistic bias) is a cognitive bias that causes someone to believe that they themselves are less likely to experience a negative event. It is also known as unrealistic optimism or comparative optimism. Optimism bias is commo ...

. This is the belief that the patient will beat the odds, no matter how unlikely this might be. Optimism bias encourages patients to undertake treatments that have only tiny chances of success, in the erroneous and irrational belief that they will be part of the tiny minority that is successful, rather than part of the vast majority who are not. With terminally ill patients, the attitude of interventionism prevents providers and patients from taking full advantage of

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...

options. The primary focus for palliative care is improving the patient's immediate, daily life through better management of medications, practical assistance, planning for possible complications, and other services. Patients who use palliative care services usually live longer, have fewer disruptive medical crises, incur fewer medical expenses, and have significantly higher quality of life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Interventionism (Medicine) Medical aspects of death Palliative care Medical treatments