This study examined the role of humour employed by the speech language graduate student during their one-on-one therapy sessions with people with aphasia (PWA). The students used humour to soften the errors made by the clients; to equalise interactional power; to diminish the errors of the graduate student; to support their own narratives; and to demonstrate affiliation. The study found that humour in clinical encounters helped to promote positive, friendly interactions with PWA and develop good regard for each other. The authors suggest that humour can be used as a device to enable interactants to show their independence and solidarity. Although this study specifically observed graduate students, humour in almost all patient-clinician sessions can help to ‘break the ice’ and improve our interactions with patients in clinical practice.
Humour to improve clinician - patient interactions
Reviewed by Gauri Mankekar
Humour in clinical-educational interactions between graduate student clinicians and people with aphasia.
CONTRIBUTOR
Gauri Mankekar
Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck Surgery, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.
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