The third shift: Health, work and expertise among women with endometriosis

Kate Seear
In: Health Sociology Review · 2009 · vol. 18(2) , pp. 194–206 · doi:10.5172/hesr.18.2.194 · W2018526287
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 26 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study examined how Australian women with endometriosis develop expertise in managing their illness, framing this "patient expertise" as a "third shift" of work that can both alleviate and exacerbate their stress.

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Abstract

AbstractThis paper explores the experiences of twenty Australian women living with the chronic and incurable gynaecological condition endometriosis. It examines how women become experts in their own care and the ramifications of these processes for women. Women experience patient expertise as a form of work, described here as a ‘third shift’ performed in addition to women’s paid and unpaid work. It argues that both benefits and problems flow from such work, which involves the acquisition of expertise about a chronic illness and associated processes of self-management. The central argument of this paper is that the responsibilities associated with becoming an expert endometriosis patient can both reduce and compound existing stresses for women living with this chronic illness. It concludes with some suggestions about improvements to support women living with this chronic condition.Key Words: Expert patientshealth workendometriosissociology

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Condition tags

endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (34)

Cited by (26)

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