IJFAB: International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics

This article contends that the body provides underthematized resources for caring, which health professionals can utilize in creating richer, more satisfying, and ultimately more effective patient relations. The author develops a notion of embodied care drawing on contemporary works of feminist care ethics, philosophies of embodiment, and nursing philosophy. Within this framework, the body is viewed not only as a repository of tacit knowledge regarding how to convey care, but also as a resource for imaginative empathy that can improve patient relations. The article seeks greater reflective attention to embodiment—including the embodiment of the medical practitioner—in medical training, as well as longer and more robust interactions with patients.