The Media Representation of Doctor-patient Communication in Chinese Context: A Case Study of Documentary Life Matters

Abstract

The establishment and maintenance of a harmonious doctor-patient relationship is of great significance to the implementation of the Healthy China strategy in the new era. Widely disseminated media content will guide the public's perception of the relationship between doctors and patients. By recording real medical stories, Chinese medical documentaries play a humanistic mission of promoting dialogue between doctors and patients to resolve conflicts. The medical documentary "Life Matters", which focuses on doctor-patient communication, constructs the "media reality" of Chinese-style doctor-patient communication through multiple-faceted real stories and using hospitals as the main scene. From the analysis of discourse strategies and discourse framework, it is found that "Human World" presents vivid media images of doctors and patients full of contradictions, and the media discourse of doctors and patients is influenced by the cognitive structure of producers and social and cultural context. The media image promoted the shaping of the public discourse on the doctor-patient relationship, and contributed to the harmonious development of the doctor-patient relationship.