From my understanding discourse analysis seems to be a qualitative method designed to investigate social life through different types of communications, such as simple speech, non-verbal interactions, using pictures and signs, visual language and written communication.
In terms of medicine, discourse analysis is used to estimate the communication between health professionals and people who use healthcare service. For example, how treatment decisions are negotiation in doctor-patient communication, or how to overcome barriers occurred between patients and health professionals.
The study I’ve selected The general practice care of people with intellectual disability: barriers and solutions is aimed to examine communication barriers between general practitioners and patients with intellectual disabilities. Focus group was presented 912 randomly selected GPs throughout Australia. Individual interviews and questionnaires for GPs were used to assess communication difficulties with patients with intellectual disability. In addition, GPs were asked to list the three most significant barriers to providing health care for people with intellectual disability, and methods in which these barriers could be overcome or minimized. After analyzing results it was identified that one of the most common barriers to health care was communications difficulties, associated with difficulties of understanding information from patients because of their poor comprehension and on the other hand GPs' lack of training and experience.
Two main objects this study showed me:
- Communication between health professionals and patients is one of the key aspects, which influence the quality of health care provision. Therefore, health professionals are responsible for provide adequate time and information for their patients.
- Communications that involve difficult, complex and sensitive barriers, like communication with people with intellectual difficulties, health professionals should overcome barriers by increasing their knowledge and background information about disability, and staying calm and patient. In addition, when dealing with people with intellectual disabilities one of the useful methods to build patients understanding is using pictures and signs during the speech.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2788.1997.tb00725.x/abstract
