Privacy

Anchoring Vignettes for Privacy

Questions:

Now, how would you rate they way the health services kept [your/name's] personal information confidential and ensured privacy when talking to health care providers?

Response categories:

1. Very good
2. Good
3. Moderate
4. Very bad
5. Bad

Vignettes:

1. [Renée] is suffering from a highly contagious disease. When she was being treated in hospital, the doctor called a meeting with the nurses on the ward, discussing how they were to treat [Renée] so they don't get infected. The nurses were told to keep this information to themselves and the patient's family as it did not affect anyone but the people looking after [Renée].
   

2. Dr Johnson treated [Mark] who seemed to be suffering from a rare disease. The doctor saw [Mark] and examined him in his private office. Somehow, perhaps through the doctor consulting with some colleagues about the condition, a journalist heard about the problem. The journalist pressured Dr Johnson to give him more information about the patient but Dr Johnson refused.

3. [Ken] was feeling very sad, weak and tired at work. He went to the doctor at work. [Ken] confided that he was worried about his health and the effect it would have on his work. The doctor shut the door before [Ken] started talking so they could talk privately. Ken was worried that the doctor would say something to the people at work and this would affect his chance of promotion but the doctor assured him that their discussion was only between the two of them.

4. [Sarah] recently had a baby. After the birth she started attending sessions at a clinic where she and other mothers would discuss any problems she was having with breast-feeding or just general health problems. The health worker running the sessions told them that all personal matters they discussed were confidential to the group.

5. [Chandikha] is trying to get a job. As part of his job application, he has a medical examination. The doctor conducted the medical examination in his consultation room. The door to the waiting room was left open and other patients could hear [Chandikha's] response to some of the questions about his health. After the examination, [Chandikha] went home. The doctor finished the medical report and sent it to the company as per the instructions on the form, but he did not discuss this with [Chandikha]. When [Chandikha] phoned that afternoon the doctor told [Chandikha] he sent the report to the company.

6. [Alioune] went to hospital to consult the doctor about some worrying symptoms he was having and embarrassed about. [Alioune] met some of his acquaintances in the crowded waiting room. When his turn came, Alioune went in the consultation room, and spoke to the doctor. The doctor's consultation room was not far away from the waiting room. While he was talking to the doctor a nurse opened the door to give the doctor messages. Alioune was not sure whether or not it had been possible for the people in the waiting room to overhear his conversation with the doctor.

7. [Ben] had a high fever. He went to the doctor, who ordered a number of tests. When [Ben] went to get the results, the nurse who attended to [Ben] left the test results on a counter where they were seen by [Ben's] neighbour. The nurse returned, picked up the reports and called [Ben] to the counter to discuss the results within hearing distance of the other people in the waiting room. [Simon] went to the hospital to consult the doctor about some worrying symptoms he was having. He wondered if they were connected with stress at work. The waiting room was very crowded. Simon met a friend and a couple of his neighbours there. The doctor was sitting in a curtained off area at the end of the waiting room. Because of the noise in the room, most of their conversation was drowned out by the background noise but the people nearby could hear what they were saying.

8. [Paul] visits a nurse at the clinic at his work. The clinic is a small room with a solid door and is staffed by one nurse. The patients line up outside and see the nurse one at a time. [Paul] is worried about a private problem he is embarrassed to discuss with his wife. The nurse finds that Paul is suffering from severe stress. The nurse mentions Paul's visit to a common friend they have and asks this friend to find ways to help [Paul] reduce his stress.

9. [Alma] went to the village clinic to take an blood test. All the people wanting that test are told to come once a week in the mornings. After having the test done, [Alma] was told to return the next week the same time. Everybody in the village knows each other so they saw he was having the test done. The villagers started speaking to each other about it. [Alma] also found out that the nurse told people about the results before he knew them.