Dr. David Edmonds is a sociolinguist with a background in psychology. Broadly, his research interests lie in the study of social interaction and interpersonal communication. He is primarily interested in the study of healthcare encounters, with a special focus on interactions between doctors, patients, and relatives in end-of-life care settings. In addition, his research also investigates the interactional dimensions of psychology and the construction and negotiation of gender in social interaction. Methodologically, he draws upon sociolinguistic and ethnomethodological traditions and utilizes conversation analysis, video analysis and discourse analysis.
Currently, Dr. Edmonds is a Postdoctoral Fellow and is working on a project examining the challenges that working in end-of-life care settings presents for the mental well-being of healthcare professionals in Hong Kong. The project seeks to disentangle the effects of different socio-cultural and occupational stressors on the well-being of doctors and nurses working in end-of-life care. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide organizations with training and educational resources to help healthcare professionals develop effective skills to cope with the challenges of working in end-of-life care. This project is being undertaken as part of the Research and Impact Initiative on Communication in Healthcare (https://www.hkuriich.org/).