Lehtinen2013

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Lehtinen2013
BibType ARTICLE
Key Lehtinen2013
Author(s) Esa Lehtinen
Title Hedging, knowledge and interaction: Doctors’ and clients’ talk about medical information and client experiences in genetic counseling
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Medical EMCA, Medical consultations
Publisher
Year 2013
Language
City
Month
Journal Patient Education and Counseling
Volume 92
Number 1
Pages 31–37
URL Link
DOI 10.1016/j.pec.2013.02.005
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Objectives: The article starts from the observation that professionals in genetic counseling deploy the strategy of ‘hedging’. It shows how hedging is used in a particular sequential position: doctors’ responses to clients’ presentations of personal information during information delivery sequences.

Methods: The data consist of video-recorded sessions of genetic counseling. The methodology is based on ethnomethodological conversation analysis. The analysis identifies interactional patterns in the counseling sessions.

Results: In their responses doctors display an orientation to different access to different kinds of knowledge. In particular, the doctors tread carefully when commenting on the situation of a particular client vis-á-vis the symptoms and prognosis of genetic conditions. Furthermore, the article shows that the doctors’ responses and hedging devices in them are fitted to the form and function of the clients’ presentations of personal experience.

Conclusion: While the focus of the article is narrow in that it concentrates on one type of an interactional sequence, its strength is that it shows how the doctor's talk can be intertwined with the client's contributions.

Practice implications: The results make it possible for genetic counselors to identify an interactional task they recurrently face and reflect on alternative ways of responding to it.

Notes