Are patients able to bear their share of responsibility?

To answer this question we first need to clarify the term "responsibility''. Based on the different meanings of this term, it will be outlined how the expectations of different participants towards the group of patients lead to different demands being placed on their behaviour. Using examples of the interaction between patients and participants of the health care system these different role assignments will be reviewed with a view to their implementation. Subsequently the author derives conditions that need to be met in order to enable patients to act responsibly. (As supplied by publisher)