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Chapter 7. Patients engaging their doctors in the doctor-patient relationship

Discourse perspectives on relationship-centred care
  • Robyn Woodward-Kron , Emily Wilson and Jane Gall
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Engagement in Professional Genres
This chapter is in the book Engagement in Professional Genres

Abstract

Patient-centred care is considered a cornerstone of effective healthcare. It is an approach that acknowledges the patient as a person rather than a disease and that views the doctor-patient relationship as an alliance. This chapter examines the contributions of patients as co-participants in patient-centred care through a case study of a general practice in Australia: data are 15 audio-recorded doctor-patient consultations which were analysed for features of casual conversation, informed by a functional model of language. The findings suggest that patients actively engaged in contributing to the doctor-patient relationship through social talk, humour, laughter, and reciprocity. Implications are that the construct of ‘relationship-centred care’ may be a better way of envisaging how patients and doctors can collaborate for healthcare goals.

Abstract

Patient-centred care is considered a cornerstone of effective healthcare. It is an approach that acknowledges the patient as a person rather than a disease and that views the doctor-patient relationship as an alliance. This chapter examines the contributions of patients as co-participants in patient-centred care through a case study of a general practice in Australia: data are 15 audio-recorded doctor-patient consultations which were analysed for features of casual conversation, informed by a functional model of language. The findings suggest that patients actively engaged in contributing to the doctor-patient relationship through social talk, humour, laughter, and reciprocity. Implications are that the construct of ‘relationship-centred care’ may be a better way of envisaging how patients and doctors can collaborate for healthcare goals.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Foreword xi
  5. Chapter 1. Networking engagement in professional practices 1
  6. Section I. Monomodal genres
  7. Chapter 2. Positioning and proximity of reader engagement 29
  8. Chapter 3. Authorial engagement in business emails 47
  9. Chapter 4. Challenging the concept of pure objectivity in British and Spanish hard news reports 67
  10. Chapter 5. Rebuilding trust in the banking sector 87
  11. Chapter 6. Interrogative engagement as a pragmatic and textual function in Legal Studies 101
  12. Chapter 7. Patients engaging their doctors in the doctor-patient relationship 119
  13. Chapter 8. “Let’s have that conversation on next quarter’s call” 137
  14. Section II. Intersemiotic genres
  15. Chapter 9. Multiplying engagement 157
  16. Chapter 10. Researchers’ move from page to screen 179
  17. Chapter 11. Recruitment websites and the socialization of new employees 197
  18. Chapter 12. Verbal and nonverbal engagement devices in business persuasive discourse 217
  19. Chapter 13. Scifotainment 243
  20. Chapter 14. How much do U.S. patents disclose? 259
  21. Chapter 15. Gestural silence 277
  22. Chapter 16. Silence and engagement in the multimodal genre of synchronous videoconferencing lectures 297
  23. Chapter 17. Organizational metadiscourse across lecturing styles 321
  24. Chapter 18. Engagement of readers/customers in the discourse of e-tourism promotional genres 341
  25. Notes on contributors 359
  26. Names Index 365
  27. Subject Index 367
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.301.07woo

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Foreword xi
  5. Chapter 1. Networking engagement in professional practices 1
  6. Section I. Monomodal genres
  7. Chapter 2. Positioning and proximity of reader engagement 29
  8. Chapter 3. Authorial engagement in business emails 47
  9. Chapter 4. Challenging the concept of pure objectivity in British and Spanish hard news reports 67
  10. Chapter 5. Rebuilding trust in the banking sector 87
  11. Chapter 6. Interrogative engagement as a pragmatic and textual function in Legal Studies 101
  12. Chapter 7. Patients engaging their doctors in the doctor-patient relationship 119
  13. Chapter 8. “Let’s have that conversation on next quarter’s call” 137
  14. Section II. Intersemiotic genres
  15. Chapter 9. Multiplying engagement 157
  16. Chapter 10. Researchers’ move from page to screen 179
  17. Chapter 11. Recruitment websites and the socialization of new employees 197
  18. Chapter 12. Verbal and nonverbal engagement devices in business persuasive discourse 217
  19. Chapter 13. Scifotainment 243
  20. Chapter 14. How much do U.S. patents disclose? 259
  21. Chapter 15. Gestural silence 277
  22. Chapter 16. Silence and engagement in the multimodal genre of synchronous videoconferencing lectures 297
  23. Chapter 17. Organizational metadiscourse across lecturing styles 321
  24. Chapter 18. Engagement of readers/customers in the discourse of e-tourism promotional genres 341
  25. Notes on contributors 359
  26. Names Index 365
  27. Subject Index 367
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