Katrina #9: Language in Medicine
There is no doubt language has significant impacts on people's lives, but how important is it when communicating about medicine? In an article noting the weight of language in medicine, researcher Andreea Calude at the University of Waikato discusses instances of how people need to be wary of what language they use to describe medicine or illnesses.
Readers can grasp the effects of words when Calude brings up the editorial, from around a decade ago, “Words that harm: words that heal” by Nefyn Williams, Welsh doctor and academic. He demonstrated how his patient, who had pain in his knees diagnosed as “degenerative change,” asked if it was “wear and tear,” Williams indicating as not the most appropriate terms to explain his condition. Degenerative change implies a negative connotation that signifies the patient is stuck in a “passive, helpless state” and is “engulfed in a gloomy prognosis of ensuing pain and disability” when that was not the case for this specific patient. Utilizing this scenario, Williams illustrates how people interpret their medical condition “greatly influences both the outcome of the illness and [their] way of coping with it” along with the multitudes of other studies that support this.
Relating to how this concept of being careful when choosing words to describe medicine relevant to present times, the GotYaDot is a campaign in New Zealand led by the Māori who want to “connect the dots and protect everyone in the community,” uplifting the concept of getting a vaccine for the youth. Leading the campaign is musician Pere Wihongi who observed the word vaccine is becoming a “triggering” word for people. Compared to the pain and “piercing needles” associated with vaccines, a harmless dot seems less intimidating, making the youth more inclined to take the vaccine.
While this is an intuitive way to encourage more youth to take the Covid-19 vaccine, its effectiveness would decline from how it was at the start. The more dot gets used to replace the word vaccine, the more it will eventually accumulate the same negative connotations that some have associated vaccine with. This makes me wonder how linguistic strategies in medicine will change over time to affect the patients and their outcomes.
Readers can grasp the effects of words when Calude brings up the editorial, from around a decade ago, “Words that harm: words that heal” by Nefyn Williams, Welsh doctor and academic. He demonstrated how his patient, who had pain in his knees diagnosed as “degenerative change,” asked if it was “wear and tear,” Williams indicating as not the most appropriate terms to explain his condition. Degenerative change implies a negative connotation that signifies the patient is stuck in a “passive, helpless state” and is “engulfed in a gloomy prognosis of ensuing pain and disability” when that was not the case for this specific patient. Utilizing this scenario, Williams illustrates how people interpret their medical condition “greatly influences both the outcome of the illness and [their] way of coping with it” along with the multitudes of other studies that support this.
Relating to how this concept of being careful when choosing words to describe medicine relevant to present times, the GotYaDot is a campaign in New Zealand led by the Māori who want to “connect the dots and protect everyone in the community,” uplifting the concept of getting a vaccine for the youth. Leading the campaign is musician Pere Wihongi who observed the word vaccine is becoming a “triggering” word for people. Compared to the pain and “piercing needles” associated with vaccines, a harmless dot seems less intimidating, making the youth more inclined to take the vaccine.
While this is an intuitive way to encourage more youth to take the Covid-19 vaccine, its effectiveness would decline from how it was at the start. The more dot gets used to replace the word vaccine, the more it will eventually accumulate the same negative connotations that some have associated vaccine with. This makes me wonder how linguistic strategies in medicine will change over time to affect the patients and their outcomes.
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| https://answers.childrenshospital.org/language-barriers-medical-errors/ |
Hey Katrina, your analysis of the associated connotations with language in medicine reminded me of this experiment I had stumbled upon in the past. A control group was given a harmless needle injection by a doctor and told to simply wait, while another group was given the same injection but instead told it will gradually become more painful within the next thirty minutes (I took half an hour just to find this experiment again). Miraculously, the group who was told the injection was painful reported that there indeed was increasing pain felt in the spot where they were injected, while the control group reported no pain at all. In both scenarios, the only variable that was modified was the doctor’s use of language towards the patient, and that, which logically would have no connotation with the severity of pain felt in the patient, somehow indeed did cause pain. From both your article and this experiment, the power of language, in a physiological sense, is truly a very applicable tool in medicine.
ReplyDeleteHey Katrina! Yes, power comes in so many shapes and forms, and militaristic power is one of the first terms that actually comes to mind, however, power is not limited to only physical oppression, but through words. Words can be one’s strongest weapon, if utilized correctly; however, it can also be misused. Propaganda and false news can all spread hate and create a divided society. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Katrina! Your post brings to mind a phrase called “bedside manner” which is used to describe the manner a doctor has in their dealings with patients. Your post certainly brings up how important words can be even in the hallowed institutions of medicine and can mean the difference between a patient accepting treatment and not accepting treatment. It is also cheering to hear that there are people using these practices to help their fellow humans to be healthier people, although it is sad to hear that even a normal word like vaccine is becoming stigmatized by those who would wish harm on their fellow humans. Even sadder it is that even the alternative is only a bandaid. Let us hope that the Maori figure out a permanent solution to this stigmatization of something so important.
ReplyDeleteHi Katrina! It is super interesting to think about the fact that the way a patient perceives their condition can have an effect on their healing process and how they actually feel. While facts shouldn't be sugarcoated in medicine, it is definitely important for physicians to think about the effect their words will have on their patients and how to comfort and reassure them. This concept reminds me of the placebo effect. However, I am surprised to hear that so many people are uncomfortable with the word "vaccine." COVID has been hard for everyone, but I thought that more people would actually be inclined towards it, as the vaccine and booster shots can protect against the virus.
ReplyDeleteHi Katrina! When I first read the title of your blog “Language in Medicine,” the first thought that came to my mind was the messy handwriting of doctors. However, your blog turned out to be so much more educational and interesting to read. It is so fascinating to see how connotations of words come to play when doctors are describing the conditions of patients and how the interpretation of a patient's condition can affect the patient. I learned so much about how important language and the choice of words are in medicine. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteConnotation in medicine is an intriguing concept. I was first introduced to it when learning socially about "person -first language" when it comes to speaking about not only people with disabilities but any people when using a label or a generalization. I never thought of how this change in language would possibly make it easier to convince people to be more open to medical procedures, it will be interesting to see where this will go.
ReplyDeleteKatriana, what a great topic to choose for your blog post. When reading this post, the first thing that came to my mind was a show called Grey’s Anatomy. On the show, the doctors diagnose many people and whenever they use words such as mass or degenerative the patient starts to freak out and the doctors have to calm them down telling them it is nothing to worry about and it is a simple fix. The power that words carry, to me, is greatest. From the type of adjective you choose to the article can change the way a sentence or phrase is perceived. I definitely think there should be a change to how doctors spread information rather than reading the textbook definitions. Thank you for such an insightful blog post.
ReplyDeleteHi Katrina, I never really thought about how important wording was when interpreting words from the medical field. Oftentimes, people create stereotypes or have false beliefs about certain subjects which can inflict fear or distrust for diseases or medicines. This can have a negative effect for the public because with the example you used with the covid vaccine, people who do not take it have a higher risk of getting severely sick from it or spreading it to others. Thank you for discussing this topic, I found it very interesting to read about the powerful effect of medical terms.
ReplyDeleteHi Katrina, word connotations are extremely important in medicine as well as pretty much anything else we do. The attitude or tone in which you are presented information could make a huge difference in your general outlook towards this subject. Our brains subconsciously take these connotations, whether positive or negative, and associate similar feelings to the said subject.
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