Chapter 16 Intelligence
Intelligence has been described as the ability to: learn from everyday experience; think rationally; solve problems; act purposively and engage in abstract reasoning. Assumptions about intelligence may affect how we treat others and, for a very small minority of people, their intelligence limits their capacity for self-care.
‘Intelligence’ is a value-laden term. No one wants to be categorized as unintelligent and stereotyping patients or students as ‘intelligent’ or ‘unintelligent’ has consequences for how they are treated. When someone is perceived to be unintelligent people may think it is not worth explaining things to them, resulting in communication breakdown, loss of confidence and uninformed decision-making. This can be especially problematic when we want to encourage self-management and adherence amongst patients (see pp. 94–95). Consequently, health professionals should be cautious about making inferences about their patients’ intelligence.
