Pragmatics in the Health Sciences

Summary

This Element aims to address a gap in literature at the intersection of linguistics, particularly pragmatics, and health sciences such as speech and language pathology. The first section introduces applying pragmatics concepts in healthcare and neuroscience. Section 2 discusses pragmatics development in childhood, focusing on pragmatic communication disorder. Section 3 reviews studies on pragmatic abilities in adolescents, adults, and clinical populations, including pragmatic assessments for ageing. Section 4 broadens the scope to explore pragmatic impairments in new populations. The final section reflects on pragmatics' importance in healthcare practice, introducing mental health and intercultural pragmatics studies. Each section proposes discussion points to contextualise the research within health pragmatics debates. The Element concludes with a glossary to assist interdisciplinary audiences in understanding clinical pragmatics terminology.