Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Health and wellbeing are profoundly shaped by communication processes. Language and Health in Action explores these interconnections by bringing together cutting-edge global scholarship from leading experts in linguistic and medical anthropology. The book considers the centrality of language practices and language ideologies in how families and communities navigate illness and pursue health across the lifecourse, in clinical contexts and beyond. Each chapter includes immersive examples from qualitative and ethnographic research, captured in clear and accessible prose. The volume includes a breadth of perspectives on infectious disease and chronic illness, mental health and addiction, disability, dying, and healing. Contributions highlight urban and rural settings, immigrants, and racialized populations. Chapters profile research conducted in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, South Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States. The book is organized into five thematic sections that represent major areas of research: clinical interaction, language access, community and communicability, language and environment, and healing practices. To support student readers and instructors, the book begins with an introduction to key terms in social scientific approaches to language and health, and each chapter includes a series of discussion and reflection questions. The volume demonstrates that linguistic and communicative practices that are often taken for granted nevertheless have far-reaching consequences for health outcomes.</jats:p>