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Article published In: Online Health Communication: Expert and Lay Dialogic Practices
Edited by Anna Tereszkiewicz and Magdalena Szczyrbak
[Language and Dialogue 14:2] 2024
► pp. 214–238

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Please explain what this diagnosis means because I don’t quite understand

Patients seeking medical expertise and support in online dialogue to deconstruct hospital discharge documents

 | Adam Mickiewicz University
 | Adam Mickiewicz University
Published online: 13 June 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ld.00170.kie
Abstract
Hospital discharge documents (HDDs) containing treatment information and recovery recommendations often cause concern or even stress for patients. Studies have shown that the language used in the document is often incomprehensible to the patient and seems intended mostly for (other) medical professionals. The aim of this article is to examine the discursive process of deconstructing medical knowledge encoded in HDDs through online dialogue between users of an open health-related forum in Polish. The analysis has revealed the discursive ways of sharing information and offering support by translating from Latin into Polish, converting from specialist to lay diction or explaining the way institutional conventions are applied in the document. Providing expertise and implicit reassurance in the course of dialogic interaction facilitates successful recovery. The conclusions from this exploratory analysis are hoped to increase the awareness of the parties involved of the function and significance of the medical documentation genre in question.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Researching HDDs: Literature review
  • 3.Online forums as arenas for (de)constructing meaning
  • 4.Data, aims and methods
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Translation and reformulation
    • 5.2Explanation of institutional conventions
    • 5.3Explicit emotional support
  • 6.Discussion, conclusions and practical implications
  • Notes
  • References
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