On language and linguistics in health: Christian Matthiessen and health communication research

In this chapter, Christian Matthiessen’s work in healthcare communication is divided into empirical research and theory development. On a theoretical level, Matthiessen draws on Halliday’s concept of instantiation and suggests a functional linguistic approach to the analysis of the patient journey (Matthiessen, 2013). Furthermore, he applies Halliday’s concept of the ordered typology of systems in healthcare and introduces the ordered typology of risk in healthcare as well as a bio-socio-semiotic model of patient-centered care. In this model (Matthiessen, 2013), the patient is defined to have three orders: biological order (patient as organism), social order (patient-as-person), and semiotic order (patient as meaner). Matthiessen’s empirical and theoretical work in healthcare communication is summarized and reviewed. The chapter provides (1) an overview of his empirical work in healthcare communication, (2) a review of his theoretical ideas and models, and (3) a discussion of the potentiality of these ideas in what is referred to as translational research -interdisciplinary research that translates scientific concepts into everyday practice - in healthcare settings.