The implicit in the relationship between doctor and patient: strategies for sharing information

Verbal language represents for physicians the essential tool in the prevent ion of AIDS. However, appearing concretely in the form of a variable struct ure, it represents as well a factor susceptible of limiting the effectivene ss of this prevention. It is precisely the aim of this paper to demonstrate the foregoing from the analysis of a certain amount of data resulting from a sociolinguistic inquiry conducted in the French speaking part of Switzer land. The research is based on the responses given by 620 general practitio ners relating to the discourse strategies that the latter have said they us e when they are giving AIDS prevention information.