Attitudes toward coercive treatment in West and East: a review

Physician-patient relationship has been undergoing significant change in recent decades in the Western countries. Based upon a client-centered approach, society has given more autonomy and liberty to the patient. The patient has been regarded as a consumer who is looking for the best and most scientific approach and has freedom to choose among different methods for treatment. The role of the physician is only a guiding role. In other side, in the Eastern countries, we still face a parent-child relationship in the therapeutic setting. Eastern patients expect direct advices from their physician and the family has an important role in decision making. An approach considered coercive in the Western countries, could still be a useful and acceptable one in the Eastern cultures. The main goal of the authors is to compare attitudes toward this topic in Eastern and Western cultures.