Discourse and Health Communication

Abstract

The aim of this book is to explore some of the ways in which discourse can be studied in contexts of communication about health and illness. At first, attempting to understand health and illness by studying communication may seem curious; pain, illness, and psychological distress as well as new-found vitality and physical ability can all feel like they are experienced in a primal, corporeal way that is pre-linguistic. In short, our bodies ail and heal regardless of the language we use. Alternatively, we might think that the actions that have the most profound effects upon our health are those carried out wordlessly by clinical technologies—stethoscopes, scanners, scalpels—and the chemical compounds that make up medications. Nevertheless, rendering our bodily experiences meaningful to ourselves and discussing them with friends and family members, recounting them to health professionals, organising healthcare systems, performing surgical operations, saving and improving lives, and shaping health behaviours among the public all depend upon acts of situated communication about health and illness. To put this another way, they all involve health discourse.