Relationship building in oncological doctor-patient interaction
The use of address forms as ‘Tie Signs’
This paper studies practices of relationship building between oncologists and their patients during consultations
when a diagnosis of malignancy is communicated. The analysis – with its focus on physicians’ uses of terms of address – aims
to provide a better understanding of the sequential construction of the doctor-patient relationship in highly sensitive
consultations.
In our data, oncologists frequently address their patients by name – even when recipiency is not at issue. They use
this communicative resource to contextualize the heightened attention they are giving their patients and to lend the
interaction a more personal quality.
Drawing on methods of Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, I will show that relationship building
is an ongoing task doctors are confronted with in the process of interactions.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Methodological framework
- 3.‘Doing social relationships’: The use of address forms as ‘Tie Signs’
- 4.Addressing patients by name during oncological consultations
- Post-positioned address term
- Pivot-positioned address term
- Pre-positioned address term
- 5.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
Bibliography
References
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