Routledge Studies in Language, Health and Culture – serie

Jack Pun’s book offers the latest research in a variety of health communication settings to highlight the cultural differences between the East and the West.It focuses on the various clinical strands in health communication such as doctor-patient interactions, nurse handover, and cross-disciplinary communication to provide a broad, comprehensive overview of the complexity and heterogeneity of health communication in the Chinese context, which is gradually moving beyond a preference for Western-based models to one that considers the local culture in understanding and interpreting medical encounters. The content highlights the cultural difference between the East and the West and focuses on how traditional Chinese values underpin the nature of clinical communication in various clinical settings and how Chinese patients and practitioners conduct themselves during medical encounters. The book also covers various topics that are unique to Chinese contexts such as the use of traditional Chinese medicine in primary care, and how clinicians translate Western models of communication when working in Chinese contexts with Chinese patients.This volume will appeal to researchers working in health communication in both the East and the West as well as clinicians interested in understanding what makes effective communication with multicultural patient cohorts.

Jack Pun’s book offers the latest research in a variety of health communication settings to highlight the cultural differences between the East and the West.It focuses on the various clinical strands in health communication such as doctor-patient interactions, nurse handover, and cross-disciplinary communication to provide a broad, comprehensive overview of the complexity and heterogeneity of health communication in the Chinese context, which is gradually moving beyond a preference for Western-based models to one that considers the local culture in understanding and interpreting medical encounters. The content highlights the cultural difference between the East and the West and focuses on how traditional Chinese values underpin the nature of clinical communication in various clinical settings and how Chinese patients and practitioners conduct themselves during medical encounters. The book also covers various topics that are unique to Chinese contexts such as the use of traditional Chinese medicine in primary care, and how clinicians translate Western models of communication when working in Chinese contexts with Chinese patients.This volume will appeal to researchers working in health communication in both the East and the West as well as clinicians interested in understanding what makes effective communication with multicultural patient cohorts.

Language, Health and Culture brings together contributions by linguistic scholars working in the area of health communication in Asia—in particular, in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. Olga Zayts-Spence and Susan M. Bridges, along with the contributors, draw on a diverse range of authentic data from different (primary, secondary, digital) healthcare contexts across Asia. The contributions probe empirical analyses and meta-reflections on the empirical, epistemological and theoretical foundations of doing research on language and health communication in Asia. While many of the medical and technological advances originate from the ‘non-English-dominant’/‘peripheral’ contexts, when it comes to health communication, there is a strong tendency to downplay and marginalize the scope and the impact of the ripe research tradition in these contexts. The contributions to the edited volume problematize the hegemony of dominant (Anglocentric) traditions in health communication research by highlighting culture- and context-specific ways of interpreting different health realities through linguistic lenses.

Language, Health and Culture brings together contributions by linguistic scholars working in the area of health communication in Asia—in particular, in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. Olga Zayts-Spence and Susan M. Bridges, along with the contributors, draw on a diverse range of authentic data from different (primary, secondary, digital) healthcare contexts across Asia. The contributions probe empirical analyses and meta-reflections on the empirical, epistemological and theoretical foundations of doing research on language and health communication in Asia. While many of the medical and technological advances originate from the ‘non-English-dominant’/‘peripheral’ contexts, when it comes to health communication, there is a strong tendency to downplay and marginalize the scope and the impact of the ripe research tradition in these contexts. The contributions to the edited volume problematize the hegemony of dominant (Anglocentric) traditions in health communication research by highlighting culture- and context-specific ways of interpreting different health realities through linguistic lenses.

Drawing on naturally occurring doctor– patient conversations in real- life medical consultations, this book analyzes the similarities and differences in doctor– patient communication and patient satisfaction between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) practiced in China.Little research is available looking at WM being practiced in Asian countries, and misunderstanding about Eastern medicines such as TCM can result in unwarranted claims and suspicions. This volume contributes to research on doctor– patient communication by exploring the communication behaviors between doctors and older patients who are able to communicate independently in both TCM and WM practiced in mainland China and evaluating patient satisfaction with their medical experiences. The book reports findings and insights from three independent and methodologically diverse studies, drawing on data from 69 real- life medical consultations: 30 from TCM and 39 from WM. Using conversation analysis, the Roter Interaction Analysis System, and both quantitative and qualitative methods, Ying Jin examines the differences between TCM and WM to help reveal the dynamics of doctor– patient interactions, the contextual details, and the impact of the clinical culture on medical communication. This insightful book will appeal to scholars and students from linguistics, language, and health communication as well as medical practitioners interested in doctor– patient communication and intercultural communication.The findings reported here will shine a light on the relationship between clinical differences, health communication, and patient outcomes.

Drawing on naturally occurring doctor– patient conversations in real- life medical consultations, this book analyzes the similarities and differences in doctor– patient communication and patient satisfaction between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) practiced in China.Little research is available looking at WM being practiced in Asian countries, and misunderstanding about Eastern medicines such as TCM can result in unwarranted claims and suspicions. This volume contributes to research on doctor– patient communication by exploring the communication behaviors between doctors and older patients who are able to communicate independently in both TCM and WM practiced in mainland China and evaluating patient satisfaction with their medical experiences. The book reports findings and insights from three independent and methodologically diverse studies, drawing on data from 69 real- life medical consultations: 30 from TCM and 39 from WM. Using conversation analysis, the Roter Interaction Analysis System, and both quantitative and qualitative methods, Ying Jin examines the differences between TCM and WM to help reveal the dynamics of doctor– patient interactions, the contextual details, and the impact of the clinical culture on medical communication. This insightful book will appeal to scholars and students from linguistics, language, and health communication as well as medical practitioners interested in doctor– patient communication and intercultural communication.The findings reported here will shine a light on the relationship between clinical differences, health communication, and patient outcomes.

Offering a rarely seen glimpse into the realities of one of the biggest global public health crises in modern time, Wang’s book focuses on doctor–patient interactions in China to demonstrate the potential effects of health communication, doctor–patient relationship, and a matrix of social factors on overprescription of antibiotics.Based on a community-based survey, the book describes empirical findings regarding the high prevalence of non-prescribed antibiotics use for common colds among children in China. It covers the potential effects of overprescription on caregivers' attitudes and how physicians make prescribing decisions in medical consultations. Drawing from evidence in medical interaction data, readers are introduced to further empirical findings regarding the communicative behaviors that patient caregivers use to pressure for antibiotic prescriptions in real medical consultations. Following this, Wang reports findings regarding the communicative behaviors that physicians use to make treatment recommendations and caregivers use to launch treatment negotiations, leading to a discussion of the effect of the doctor–patient relationship on antibiotic overprescription. The book culminates in practice recommendations and provides teaching scenarios in which physicians successfully engage the caregivers into conversations to shape their expectations for antibiotic prescriptions in medical consultations.An important resource for scholars and students in health communication, linguistics, medical humanities, and medical sociology. Practitioners who are interested in understanding and improving clinical practices as well as policymakers aiming to combat antibiotic resistance will also find this book useful.

Offering a rarely seen glimpse into the realities of one of the biggest global public health crises in modern time, Wang’s book focuses on doctor–patient interactions in China to demonstrate the potential effects of health communication, doctor–patient relationship, and a matrix of social factors on overprescription of antibiotics.Based on a community-based survey, the book describes empirical findings regarding the high prevalence of non-prescribed antibiotics use for common colds among children in China. It covers the potential effects of overprescription on caregivers' attitudes and how physicians make prescribing decisions in medical consultations. Drawing from evidence in medical interaction data, readers are introduced to further empirical findings regarding the communicative behaviors that patient caregivers use to pressure for antibiotic prescriptions in real medical consultations. Following this, Wang reports findings regarding the communicative behaviors that physicians use to make treatment recommendations and caregivers use to launch treatment negotiations, leading to a discussion of the effect of the doctor–patient relationship on antibiotic overprescription. The book culminates in practice recommendations and provides teaching scenarios in which physicians successfully engage the caregivers into conversations to shape their expectations for antibiotic prescriptions in medical consultations.An important resource for scholars and students in health communication, linguistics, medical humanities, and medical sociology. Practitioners who are interested in understanding and improving clinical practices as well as policymakers aiming to combat antibiotic resistance will also find this book useful.

As the first of two companion volumes, this book provides a comprehensive collection of applied linguistics studies on health inclusivity, showcasing empirical research and methodological insights on different languages such as British Sign Language, Chinese, Danish, English, German, Japanese, and Spanish.The volume presents studies on health inclusivity based on first-hand patient experiences and explores the representation of health and illness across scientific, institutional, and media discourses. It features a wide range of linguistic methodologies and frameworks such as qualitative discourse studies, corpus-based discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, public involvement, narrative analysis, and metaphor analysis, as applied to a variety of contexts and communities. Integrating examples of projects and campaigns that promote inclusive healthcare, the chapters discuss potential practical implications and offer recommendations for applications to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI).This is an essential resource for academics working in linguistics and discourse studies applied to healthcare, as well as students seeking deeper insights into how health communication, sociology, and health and social care workers can inform institutional practices and shape policy discussions, and broaden social perspectives of health inclusivity across a global scale.

As the second of two companion volumes, this book advances the study of language and health by focusing on communication in action. The volume showcases applications of health communication in real contexts and illustrates how linguistics research and practice can address health inequalities across global contexts.Building on the foundations in Discourses of Inclusive and Exclusionary Health Communication: Healthcare, Language, and Inclusivity, Volume 1, this volume examines scientific and institutional discourses, community health campaigns, and health education initiatives, while addressing topics such as AI technologies, gender-inclusive language, graphic medicine, and youth health education. The contributors employ a range of linguistics and health communication methods, including corpus-assisted discourse analysis, multimodal and narrative approaches, and participatory research. Contributions include cross-cultural case studies, community-based projects, and innovative applications of machine learning. The volume emphasizes how strategies of inclusive communication can help counter structural barriers and promote more equitable practices.Together with Volume 1, this is an essential resource for academics working in linguistics and discourse studies applied to healthcare, as well as students seeking to understand how language both reflects and transforms health inequalities, while providing globally relevant perspectives and practical tools for effective healthcare communication.

Yue’s book explores the nature of translation using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the TCM classic Huangdi Neijing and its various translations. Yue examines in great detail and depth the important factors that cause the differences in the translators’ treatment of language indeterminacies.Apart from having multi-faceted and fine-grained linguistic analysis, this book also serves as a good model of methodology, in terms of corpus building, contrastive analysis, exemplification, and glossing following systemic functional linguistics (SFL) convention. This book is an argument for greater emphasis on the linguistic notion of register in translator’s expertise, specifically in the way that professional experience and training – with their registerial demands – may be the key to semantic decisions forced on a translator by the inevitable vagaries and indeterminacies of establishing a working “equivalence” across languages and cultures and deep time. It probes the issue in an extreme case: the debate over who is the “ideal” translator in Chinese medicine translation through various case studies. The result suggests it is possible to demonstrate, empirically, that clinical experience in translators is likely to have consistent, or even measurable, consequences.This book will be of interest to three different fields: translators in training, applicable systemic functional linguistics, and traditional Chinese medicine communication.Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Yue’s book explores the nature of translation using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the TCM classic Huangdi Neijing and its various translations. Yue examines in great detail and depth the important factors that cause the differences in the translators’ treatment of language indeterminacies.Apart from having multi-faceted and fine-grained linguistic analysis, this book also serves as a good model of methodology, in terms of corpus building, contrastive analysis, exemplification, and glossing following systemic functional linguistics (SFL) convention. This book is an argument for greater emphasis on the linguistic notion of register in translator’s expertise, specifically in the way that professional experience and training – with their registerial demands – may be the key to semantic decisions forced on a translator by the inevitable vagaries and indeterminacies of establishing a working “equivalence” across languages and cultures and deep time. It probes the issue in an extreme case: the debate over who is the “ideal” translator in Chinese medicine translation through various case studies. The result suggests it is possible to demonstrate, empirically, that clinical experience in translators is likely to have consistent, or even measurable, consequences.This book will be of interest to three different fields: translators in training, applicable systemic functional linguistics, and traditional Chinese medicine communication.Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book examines language and communication in a novel area of digital health. Situating itself within the sociocultural paradigm of literacy research, the book proposes a discourse-oriented approach to genetic literacy and applies it to the study of public engagement with direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing—an emergent biotechnology operating at the intersection of personal genomics, consumer culture, and online health.The author draws on a rich dataset comprising marketing materials from a leading genetic company in China, interviews with genetic test users, and online forum interactions involving consumers and members of the genetic company. Using in-depth analyses of authentic discourse data, the book examines how key stakeholders in DTC genetic testing discursively construct and negotiate socially situated knowledges about genetics and health to pursue a range of interactional goals. Challenging the static and cognitive view of genetic literacy as a set of decontextualised knowledge and skills in scientific and medical fields, this book argues for a reconceptualisation of genetic literacy as a dynamic and socially situated discursive practice. Building on key insights from medical sociology, the author discusses genetic literacy within the context of broader societal shifts, including the biomedicalisation of health and the rise of neoliberal ideologies and practices in contemporary healthcare.Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will appeal to researchers and students working in the areas of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and health communication. It will also be of particular interest to practitioners in genetics and health, as well as members of the general public seeking to understand the social aspects of public engagement with genetics and health.

Sheng- Hsun Lee develops a new way of understanding public health crisis communication through the lens of multimodal classification. He draws on examples from COVID- 19 press conferences in Taiwan and public online comments to outline multimodal classification as sorting pandemic phenomena into categorical types.Lee argues that when public health officials classify health crisis phenomena into categories, they also set parameters for official responses and shape public perceptions of a crisis. He illustrates the argument by examining Taiwan’s initial successes in keeping most infections at bay and subsequent challenges of obtaining enough vaccines for international border reopening. The successes and challenges are closely linked to multimodal classification, which includes using speech, gestures, and objects to make some categories travel broadly and impede the circulation of other categories. The book discusses a wide range of crisis categories from the three dreadful first times— the first confirmed case, the first community-acquired case, and the first death— to the politicized debate over vaccine brands. Lee emphasizes the importance of understanding how crisis categories are produced, circulated, and received. The comprehensive coverage looks beyond initial responses to the COVID- 19 pandemic and outside English- dominant places to redefine effective public health messaging. Based on the findings, the book highlights implications for communicating official messages and offers a list of ready- to- use strategies for updating existing guidelines on public health communication.The book is an essential read for public health practitioners, researchers, and advanced students in discourse analysis and public health communication.