Formulations in medical consultations: Moving beyond mutual comprehension among interactants

Abstract

This article presents the interactional phenomenon known as formulation, initially described by Garfinkel and Sacks (1970) and later elaborated by Heritage and Watson (1979, 1980), which can be understood as a practice used by interactants to explicitly demonstrate their understanding of parts of a conversation or of actions within a conversation. The main characteristics of formulations and the importance of the organizational work they do in conversations are discussed. The article then presents a comparative study undertaken by Drew (2003) of the different interactional tasks performed by formulations in diverse institutional contexts. Finally, interactions of gynecological and obstetric consultations recorded in a Brazilian public health center which presents itself as having bound by the National Humanization Policy of the public healthcare in Brazil are analyzed and a possible relationship between the humanization policy (macro level) and the interactional practice of formulating (micro level) is entertained. That is, the possibility of considering the aims of the humanization policy as translatable into specific interactional practices (in this case, formulations) is entertained.

Key words: formulations, talk, interaction, health, humanization, Policy of Humanization of the Brazilian public healthcare.