Psycholinguistic Issues of Medical Communication

Abstract

The present paper summarizes the available theoretical and empirical data of medical communication scientific research in the addresser-addressee aspect in Russian and foreign works. The information on the study of the psycholinguistic aspect of communication between the medical staff and the patient is systematized not only taking into account differences in the provision of medical services in Russia and abroad, but also depending on the age of communicants, the chosen communication strategies and the conditions of speakers’ effective interaction. The paper shows the scarcity of works dealing with the study of communication between a doctor and a child. The paper also considers some psychological aspects of child/adolescent communication with an adult, which is very important in doctors’ professional activity. It is pointed out that research on communication between a doctor and a parent/a legal representative of a minor patient is relevant, but also scarce. Foreign research is centered on communication of nurses and the patients/their relatives, as well as of patients with loss of voice. Russian scientists’ works, carried out on the basis of the communication analysis between the adult patient and the doctor, can be roughly divided into three types: 1) studies dealing with the strategies of the communicants. These are both communication strategies, conditioned by professional tasks of a doctor, and speech strategies implementing them; 2) works studying verbal, non-verbal and paraverbal means of communication between a doctor and a patient; 3) research describing and comparing effective communication conditions between a doctor and a patient. This study is grounded on the theoretical and methodological basis of psycholinguistics and takes into account the stipulations of communication theory. The methods of analysis, synthesis and systematization have been used to achieve the goal. The analysis and grouping of data confirmed the presence of theoretical and methodological flaws in the study of professional communication between a doctor and other participants of medical communication. The works revealed an unintentional blending of the concepts “professional communicative strategy” and “speech strategy”. The analysis of linguistic means that implement speech strategy tactics in medical communication is important for linguistic research in the future.