A Pragmatic Agenda for Healthcare

This chapter investigates how uncertainty is communicated in highly-rated medical answers. Particular attention is paid to the discourse elements that may render the use of vague language to be more positively than negatively received during the delivery of helpful answers to health information seekers in online medical consultations (OMCs). We argue that uncertainty does not equate to an evasive answer; instead, uncertainty can be turned into shared understanding with the use of effective strat