Lingua che cura: la relazione medico-paziente in prospettiva linguistica

This paper examines the linguistic dimension of the doctor-patient relationship, showing how the comprehensibility of the medical language is a necessary condition for the effective exercise of patient right and for the quality of the clinic practice. First, it outlines the regulatory framework that recognises linguistic clarity in the care relationship as a legal and ethical obligation and a requirement for the validity of the informed consensus. It then analyses the transition from the paternalistic model of medicine to the participatory model, highlighting the link between health literacy and patient empowerment and emphasizing how the comprehensibility of language in healthcare communication is a tool for making citizens active participants in therapeutic decisions. The interactional aspects of the doctor-patient relationship are then described, highlighting its asymmetrical yet collaborative nature. Afterwards, medical language is outlined as a specialised variety of Italian, internally stratified by levels of specialisation and contexts of use, describing the lexical and morphosyntactic features that characterise it and that can hinder its use by non-specialist users. Finally, two case studies are presented that compare the readability of package leaflet from a (micro)diachronic and synchronic perspective, showing the greater or lesser adherence to the principles of linguistic simplification.