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Part of
A Pragmatic Agenda for Healthcare: Fostering inclusion and active participation through shared understanding
Edited by Sarah Bigi and Maria Grazia Rossi
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 338] 2023
► pp. 314–329

Chapter 13
Uncertainty in healthcare

Current challenges and future research directions

| National Cancer Institute

Uncertainty in healthcare is a complex phenomenon that arises from multiple sources, pertains to myriad issues, resides in numerous people’s minds, and has various effects. Language is the primary medium by which uncertainty is both psychologically produced and socially shared; pragmatic approaches can thus be useful in understanding uncertainty in healthcare, and in this chapter I identify promising directions for future research. These include measuring uncertainty, evaluating both its causes and the strategies clinicians and patients use to manage it, and improving the management of uncertainty. I attempt to show how pragmatic approaches can contribute to these efforts and enable researchers as well as clinicians and patients to better understand, manage, and tolerate the many uncertainties that arise in healthcare.

Keywords: uncertainty, pragmatics, uncertainty tolerance
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Measuring and evaluating the causes of uncertainty
  • 3.Evaluating the management of uncertainty
  • 4.Improving the management of uncertainty in healthcare
  • 5.Moving forward: A pragmatic agenda for understanding and managing uncertainty
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
Published online: 17 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.338.13han
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