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Background: Most healthcare encounters take place in a dyadic encounter between a patient and healthcare practitioner, and improving dyadic communication has been the object of much health communication research. However, it seems that an alternative to the dyadic encounter – group consultations – may have distinct advantages for the promotion of patients’ wellbeing. Aim: This article focuses on antenatal group consultations (AGCs), where groups of pregnant women meet with one or more healthcare practitioners instead of meeting their midwife individually, and explores how the presence of other pregnant women in AGCs may promote wellbeing. Methods: Adopting a post-intentional phenomenological approach, we analysed the transcripts of 16 semi-structured interviews undertaken with pregnant women who attended AGCs in Denmark, focusing on their accounts of being with each other. Results: The presence of other pregnant women helped to generate trust, with the participants’ pregnant bodies symbolising their common situation. The presence of peers prompted feelings of identification and solidarity, generally decreased the women’s concerns, and normalised their experiences of pregnancy. Discussion and conclusion: This article develops understandings of how patients experience interpersonal healthcare encounters, and suggests the value of alternatives to the clinical dyad, such as group consultations, for promoting the wellbeing of other patient groups.

This systematic meta-narrative literature review aims to explore the narratives of trust evident in literature on public (mis)trust relating to climate science published up until May 2021, and to present the main findings from these papers. We identified six narratives of trust: attitudinal trust, cognitive trust, affective trust, contingencies of trust, contextual trust and communicated trust. The papers’ main findings spanned theoretical conclusions on the importance of positionality to trust and morality to trustworthiness, to qualitative findings that the scientific community was mainly trusted, to quantitative findings that explored how trust functioned as an independent, dependent or mediating variable. This literature review sheds important light on the interrelationship between climate science and publics, highlights areas for further research, and in its characterisation of trust narratives provides a language for conceptualising trust that can further interdisciplinary engagement.

The aim of this paper is to present a methodological approach that provides analytical, critical and normative purchase on nudges’ bypassing of reflection, using a combination of multimodal analysis, Foucauldian theory, and Habermas’s (1996) concept of deliberative democracy. The approach is demonstrated using an example of a health-related nudge from the Danish context: healthy product placement in a supermaket. Multimodal analysis highlights how various modes (colour, symbol, front and back, positioning and discourse) contribute meanings to the nudge. A Foucauldian perspective provides critical perspectives on nudges as shaping practices, as short of epistemic content and thus potentially difficult to resist, and as representing a politicisation of public space. Nudges’ lack of transparency is discussed in relation to Habermas’s normative framework of deliberative democracy where recognising public perspectives and ensuring consensus are key. Limitations of the article include a smaller data set; however, the data are used to illustrate the methodological approach. On the basis of the findings, I argue for the importance of furthering critical public discourse on nudging. That way, nudgees may be better positioned to spot nudges, and the implications of policymakers using this technique of governance can be more effectively scrutinised.

In recent years and throughout the developed world, policymakers have encouraged the implementation of digital patient-clinician interaction. Our focus is on the Danish general practice setting where email consultations were implemented as a mandatory service in 2009 and now constitute 21% of all consultations in general practice. Drawing upon strong structuration theory (SST), our analysis sets out to explore how email consultations are represented in structures on macro, meso and micro-levels and how the interplay between structures and agents plays out with respect to possible alignments, tensions and adjustments. We analyze data from policy documents on the macro and meso-levels, data from clinics’ websites (meso-level) and data from interviews with GPs and patients (micro-level) (n = 53). Our findings show that the introduction of email consultation as a new health technology is a key site for development in email consultation practice, professional boundary setting and adjustments within the doctor-patient relationship. Our findings thus demonstrate that email consultation can be considered a dynamic component of a socio-technical network rather than a static medium for simple health transactions or information delivery. Based on these findings, we recommend that, for future implementation of patient-clinician digital communication it is important to investigate the multiple sources of influence on telecare practices and to see its intended users as agents who actively shape their own care motivated by opinions, relationships and values.

Summary Nudging has been discussed in the context of public health, and ethical issues raised by nudging in public health contexts have been highlighted. In this article, we first identify types of nudging approaches and techniques that have been used in screening programmes, and ethical issues that have been associated with nudging: paternalism, limited autonomy and manipulation. We then identify nudging techniques used in a pamphlet developed for the Danish National Screening Program for Colorectal Cancer. These include framing, default nudge, use of hassle bias, authority nudge and priming. The pamphlet and the very offering of a screening programme can in themselves be considered nudges. Whether nudging strategies are ethically problematic depend on whether they are categorized as educative- or non-educative nudges. Educative nudges seek to affect people’s choice making by engaging their reflective capabilities. Non-educative nudges work by circumventing people’s reflective capabilities. Information materials are, on the face of it, meant to engage citizens’ reflective capacities. Recipients are likely to receive information materials with this expectation, and thus not expect to be affected in other ways. Non-educative nudges may therefore be particularly problematic in the context of information on screening, also as participating in screening does not always benefit the individual.

This article introduces student readers to the realm of the interdisciplinary, with a primary focus on the humanities. We first introduce interdisciplinarity and other related terms as concepts. We then present eight specific examples, on which we illustrate interdisciplinary research. Finally, we address the question of when one should be interdisciplinary.

NEW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE FACILITATED DOCTOR–PATIENT EMAIL CONSULTATIONS (E-CONSULTATIONS). GUIDELINES FOR E-CONSULTATION USE IN DENMARK STATE THAT THEY SHOULD BE USED FOR SIMPLE, CONCRETE AND NON-URGENT QUERIES; HOWEVER, A SMALL-SCALE DANISH STUDY SUGGESTED THAT DOCTORS ENCOUNTER E-CONSULTATIONS THAT DO NOT MATCH THE GUIDELINES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE IS TO EXPLORE WHETHER E-CONSULTATIONS IN DENMARK REFLECT RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY SHOULD BE SIMPLE, SHORT, CONCRETE AND WELL DEFINED, AND IF NOT, WHAT FORMS OF COMPLEXITY ARE EVIDENT. WE INDUCTIVELY ANALYSED 1,671 E-CONSULTATIONS FROM 38 PATIENTS AGED 21–91 YEARS COMMUNICATING WITH 28 DOCTORS, 6 NURSES, 1 MEDICAL STUDENT AND 8 SECRETARIES. RESULTS SHOWED BOTH QUANTITATIVE COMPLEXITY IN TERMS OF NUMBER OF INTERACTION TURNS, COMMUNICATIVE PARTICIPANTS, AND QUESTIONS ASKED, AND QUALITATIVE COMPLEXITY RELATING TO PATIENTS’ PSYCHOSOCIAL CONTEXTS AND GPS’ BIOMEDICAL DISEASE PERSPECTIVE. THUS, DESPITE EXISTING GUIDELINES AND THE LEANNESS ASSOCIATED WITH THE EMAIL MEDIUM, MULTIPLE FORMS OF COMPLEXITY WERE EVIDENT. THIS MISMATCH HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS THE VALUE OF RE-EXAMINING EXISTING POLICIES AND GUIDELINES REGARDING EXPECTATIONS FOR E-CONSULTATION USE.

Poststructuralist discourse analysis (PDA) that draws on Foucauldian discourse theory enables researchers to analyse cultural aspects of health communication, as it makes it possible to identify the discourses and subject positions available to and used by those who communicate about health-related topics. This chapter presents and illustrates the methods of statement function analysis to analyse discourses, and subject position analysis to analyse the identities associated with discursive statements, using data from an online forum where HPV vaccination was debated. The findings show that constructing the basis for knowing is central in the posts, with the diverging perspectives legitimized in various ways. The chapter ends with a discussion of the usefulness of employing poststructuralist discourse analysis to map out broader cultural meanings in health communication texts when values are at the heart of the matter.

Background The concept of nudging has been imported from behavioral economics into the public health context to correct 'unhealthy behaviours' and produce health-promoting behavior changes in individuals. However, there is lack of clarity as to what constitutes a nudge and whether nudging techniques in public health lifestyle interventions are effective. The aim of this literature review is to identify nudging techniques used in public health lifestyle interventions and to investigate whether nudging techniques induce expected healthy lifestyle changes in interventions that relate to diet, exercise, sleep, alcohol and smoking. Methods A systematic literature review on the concept “nudging” in public health lifestyle interventions was conducted, applying a free text search strategy on a set of search terms in three databases: PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were included in our data set, and we performed a meta-synthesis to construct interpretative explanations. Results 66 original studies published in international peer-reviewed journals were identified. The findings showed that most nudging interventions involved diet/nutrition (n = 55), were carried out as single experiments, lasted for a short period of time and that the majority had the intended effects. Specific nudging techniques were identified and sorted into eight broader categories. The most commonly used nudging technique involved making healthier food items more apparent and accessible than less healthy foods. Conclusions The synthesis showed that these studies were limited with regard to their design, target groups, duration of the intervention, measures of effectiveness and critical reflection on ethical issues. Key messages Nudging may be effective in producing immediate behavioral changes; however, there is little evidence that nudging interventions result in lasting behavioral changes outside the setting of the studies. Further critical discussions about the implications of nudging in public health lifestyles intervention are required.

Nudging is increasingly used in public health interventions in Western societies to produced health-promoting behavior changes; however, there is lack of clarity as to what constitutes a nudge, scant knowledge of the effectiveness of nudging techniques in public health lifestyle interventions and a number of ethical and value-based concerns. The aim of this review is to address these research lacunae and identify the characteristics of nudges in empirical research on public health interventions intended to induce healthy lifestyle changes, including whether they are effective. We conducted systematic searches for relevant articles published between January 2008 and April 2019 in three databases, PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO, and combined this with a metasynthesis to construct interpretative explanations. A total of 66 original studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings of the systematic review showed that most nudging interventions involved diet/nutrition, most were carried out as single experiments, and the majority had the intended effects. Specific nudging techniques were identified with respect to the broader nudging categories of accessibility, presentation, using messages and pictures, technology-supported information, financial incentives, affecting the senses, and cognitive loading; several studies included more than one nudging technique. Although many nudging techniques had the intended effects, it is unclear whether they would work outside the study setting. The synthesis revealed that the studies lacked critical reflection on the assumptions about health that were implicit in nudging interventions, the cultural acceptability of nudges, the context-free assumptions of nudging theory, and the implications of these aspects for the public health context.

The EU’s cultural policy of creating a recognisable, common European identity is exemplified by the EU’s cultural programme, European Capitals of Culture (ECOCs), whose official purpose is to highlight similarities and differences across European cultures to generate a greater sense of European identity among the citizens of Europe. To date, there has been little qualitative investigation of how ECOC attenders perceive the representation of European culture in the events and what they think about using ECOC events to promote Europeanisation. In this article, I use the methodology of intercept interviews at four Aarhus 2017 events to explore these two aspects. Findings indicate that the inclusion of European culture in Aarhus 2017 events often went unnoticed by the event attenders, and there was uncertainty about what European culture might actually comprise. Instead of perceiving ECOC events as promoting Europe, event attenders tended to interpret Aarhus 2017 events within a local, national or international framework, with ECOC events perceived as promoting tolerance and intercultural understanding. The findings are discussed in relation to the value of ECOC as a political-cultural initiative for generating European citizens’ identification with the EU.

The internet has revolutionised the ways in which patients acquire medical information, a development which has clearly been welcomed by patients: seeking out health information online is now the third most popular activity after internet searches and e-mail (Timimi 2012). However, it has led to concerns about the quality of the information, the ability of lay people to understand it (Gerber/Eiser 2001) as well as potential cyberchondria (Starcevic/Berle 2013). In light of these conflicting perspectives, this paper examines one such source of online information, namely, the patient forum where patients communicate with other patients about a particular medical condition. Although doctor-patient communication in the clinical situation has been extensively researched, little is known about how patient-patient communication is managed in online situations such as patient forums. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research in that relatively un-researched area by examining how patients manage relational and informational aspects of communication in online patient forums. Whilst a typical interactional structure of the patient forum exchange is question and answer, we focus on responses to questions on patient forums.This paper reports on the findings of a thematic analysis (Braun/Clarke 2006) of an online thyroid disease patient forum, investigating how interpersonal aspects are negotiated where patients share condition-related knowledge. We identify themes that relate both to informational and relational aspects as well as themes that fit under a new category which we call ‘info-relational’ as it subsumes informational and relational elements. We discuss a number of theoretical implications, which are valuable as existing health communication models and understandings of patient expertise have yet to catch up with the effects of new media such as online patient forums.

There is wide recognition that the communication of risk in Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) – the instructions that accompany medications in Europe – problematises the reception of these texts. There is at the same time growing understanding of the mediating role of trust in risk communication. This paper aims to analyse how risk is discursively constructed in PILs, and to identify and analyse discourses that are associated with trust-generation. The corpus (nine PILs chosen from the British online PIL bank, www.medicines.org.uk) is analysed using Foucauldian (1972) discourse analysis: specifically, this involves identifying the functions of the statements that constitute the discourses. A discourse analysis of the corpus of PILs reveals that the discourse of risk revolves around statements of the potential harm that may be caused by taking the medication, whilst trust is constructed through three discourses: the discourses that relate to competence and care, in accordance with the trust theories of Poortinga/Pidgeon (2003) and Earle (2010), and a third discourse, corporate accountability, which functions to construct an ethical (trustworthy) identity for the company. This paper contributes to PIL literature in the following ways: it introduces a methodology that has not been used before in relation to these texts, namely, Foucauldian discourse analysis; it helps to identify the presence of trust-generating discourses in PILs; and analysing the discourses of risk and trust at statement-level facilitates a better understanding of how these discourses function in texts that are generally not well-received by the patients for whom they are intended.

In hegemonic risk discourses, hospital obstetric units are represented as the safest and best birth settings; however, a minority of women in England and Wales (2.3% in 2014) still opt for home birth. In this article, I analyse pro-home birth discourses on a UK-based online discussion group for pregnant women covering the period 2010–2015 and collected in March 2016, to identify how individuals making pro-home birth posts on the site represented home birth as a morally responsible choice. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, I identify three main themes: home births as a normal process, representing an intimate, existential life moment which meets women’s needs for care and personal autonomy, and is convenient and relatively safe, in contrast to hospital births which are characterised as risky; home births as morally legitimate and justified by discourses of evidence-based risk assessment, woman centredness and empowerment; and home birth as not risky and the mothers who opt for it were not taking unnece...

An event in Denmark resulted in healthcare professionals using the hashtag #detkuhaværetmig [“it could have been me” in English] to express professional solidarity with a junior doctor who was initially declared negligent after oral instructions were not written down and followed up. This study explores how the functionalities of Twitter facilitated the expression and propagation of solidarity with a fellow medical professional. To capture all tweets that included #detkuhaværetmig and alternative orthographic variants, we set up a Twitter crawler using the Twitter Stream API via DMI_TCAT. In all, 1634 tweets that included the hashtag or variants were posted. Using a mixed methods approach, we explore, amongst other things, who the conversants were, when the hashtag was most frequently used, and the content of tweeted statements. Solidarity was expressed through the hashtag itself, tweeted statements and photos. The hashtag’s propagation potential was promoted by mentioning politicians and news media and including co- hashtags that linked to related concerns. The hashtag #detkuhaværetmig served as a nodal point for the sharing of personal statements and photos that helped to express professional solidarity by mainly HCPs, but also politicians, professional associations and news media. In facilitating expressions of solidarity with a fellow HCP, Twitter became at the same time a means of communicating a politically resonant message about working conditions.

Objective This article investigates the perspectives of pregnant women attending antenatal group consultations to gain their understandings of whether and how peer learning is facilitated in this setting. Methods We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 16 women who had participated in group consultations at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, and analysed the data using qualitative content analysis. Our research design also included observations and patient guest book data. Results Women who were pregnant for the first time greatly appreciated the experiential knowledge of multiparous women in the group. Group consultations provided new learning opportunities, as individuals’ questions prompted learning within the groups, as well as questions and answers. There was more time for reflection in group consultations than in dyadic communication. Midwives played a key role in facilitating peer learning. Some topics were not deemed appropriate for discussion. Conclusion Antenatal group consultations can support learning, as individuals participate positively both in their own knowledge acquisition and that of others. We call such peer learning patient-patient education. Practice implications Our study indicates the strengths of group consultations for learning from the perspective of the group members. It highlights how learning may be facilitated in group consultations, and thus has broad practical relevance.

Violence against women constitutes a significant public health problem affecting an estimated 35% of women worldwide (WHO, 2013); the scale of the problem and its ongoing intransigence indicate the need for critical and transformative approaches that confront the cultures that support gender violence and lead to change. The present paper analyses a program run in Scottish primary schools for 10–12 year olds called RESPECT that was successful in making pupils alert to and critical of gendering norms and practices. Analysis reveals that the teaching plans and activities of RESPECT are highly consistent with a critical pedagogical approach (Freire, 2005; Matthews, 2014), and indicates the value of combining the theoretical approaches of critical pedagogy, feminism and critical health literacy in public health campaign materials aimed at challenging the cultural bases of gender violence in ways that promote health in an educational setting.

Sleep apps installed on smartphones are increasingly being used to help people overcome sleep problems. The purpose of this chapter is to identify the discourses that underpin discursive constructions of the potential sleep app user in sleep app marketing communication. According to critical marketing theory, discursive constructions of the potential consumer in marketing communication promote the potential consumer’s identification and alignment, priming the potential consumer to consider positively the product being marketed. In that sense, marketing (of sleep apps, or indeed anything) is culturally significant, as it provides templates for forms of identity, and affects the meanings and objects that circulate within a culture. A data set consisting of the promotional material that was used to market acclaimed sleep apps was analysed using Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA). The following discourses were identified in the data: disempowerment, pathologisation, ignorance, behaviourism, responsibilisation, mindfulness, seduction, convenience or common sense, empowerment and individualisation. These discourses indicate how sleep apps are legitimised as technical appendages to be installed into people’s phones and integrated into their lives. They also underpin the discursive identities that summon potential consumers into alignment. This chapter contributes to our understandings of the discursive mechanisms that lie behind the growing uptake of sleep apps. It also demonstrates the value of combining discourse analysis with relevant critical theory to gain insights into the emerging phenomenon of app culture.

Package leaflets (PLs) have been legally required to accompany medicines in the EU since 1999. Despite the best intentions and efforts, however, they are generally not well-received by the public for whom they are intended. This paper picks up on the challenges that medical regulatory writers face in producing quality PLs using the official PL template when research indicates that patients would prefer a more personalised genre that incorporated their experiences and knowledge. This paper advocates greater inclusion of patients’ perspectives, as this is currently achievable given the current legislation. The paper also notes the tantalising prospect of replacing the template with a set of recommendations that draws on knowledge of what works best for patients.

Background Health communication research and guidelines often recommend that medical terminology be avoided when communicating with patients due to their limited understanding of medical terms. However, growing numbers of e-patients use the Internet to equip themselves with specialized biomedical knowledge that is couched in medical terms, which they then share on participatory media, such as online patient forums. Objective Given possible discrepancies between preconceptions about the kind of language that patients can understand and the terms they may actually know and use, the purpose of this paper was to investigate medical terminology used by patients in online patient forums. Design Using data from online patient–patient communication where patients communicate with each other without expert moderation or intervention, we coded two data samples from two online patient forums dedicated to thyroid issues. Results Previous definitions of medical terms (dichotomized into technical and semi-technical) proved too rudimentary to encapsulate the types of medical terms the patients used. Therefore, using an inductive approach, we developed an analytical framework consisting of five categories of medical terms: dictionary-defined medical terms, co-text-defined medical terms, medical initialisms, medication brand names and colloquial technical terms. The patients in our data set used many medical terms from all of these categories. Discussion and conclusions Our findings suggest the value of a situated, condition-specific approach to health literacy that recognizes the vertical kind of knowledge that patients with chronic diseases may have. We make cautious recommendations for clinical practice, arguing for an adaptive approach to medical terminology use with patients.

The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluative model of patient-centredness for text and to illustrate how this can be applied to patient information leaflets (PILs) that accompany medication in the European Union. Patients have criticized PILs for sidelining their experiences, knowledge and affective needs, and denying their individuality. The health communication paradigm of patient-centredness provides valuable purchase on these issues, taking its starting point in the dignity and integrity of the patient as a person. Employing this evaluative model involves two stages. First, a Foucauldian Discourse Analysis is performed of sender and receiver and of the main discourses in PILs. These aspects are then evaluated using the perspectives of patient-centredness theory relating to the medical practitioner, patient and content. The evaluative model is illustrated via a PIL for medication for depression and panic attacks. Evaluation reveals a preponderance of biomedical statements, with a cluster of patient-centred statements primarily relating to the construction of the patient. The paper contributes a new method and evaluative approach to PIL and qualitative health research, as well as outlining a method that facilitates the investigation of interdiscursivity, a recent focus of critical genre analysis.

Gender violence is a major public health issue in Europe; it is normalized and partly legitimized by gender stereotypes. An example of a primary prevention education programme designed to challenge the attitudes that underpin gender violence, particularly violence against women, is the Zero Tolerance Respect (ZTR) programme developed for Scottish pupils. Given the importance of early preventative action in this area, this paper analyses how gender stereotypes were challenged in ZTR materials for primary pupils aged 10-12 years. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the content of the seven lessons in the ZTR primary school programme; the materials were also evaluated in relation to best practice within attitudinal change promotion. Analysis shows that ZTR empowers pupils to reflect on and confront gender stereotypes by developing pupils’ social awareness, as respect is characterized as a right and a responsibility, and empathy for others and an awareness of the potentially discriminatory effects of difference in society are underlined. Facts and figures help pupils challenge prevailing myths of gendered violence, and a gendered perspective on history is also indicated. ZTR material involves a variety of methods aimed at engaging pupils, including brainstorms, puzzles, quizzes, cases for discussion and imaginary scenarios. Whilst much of the ZTR material reflects best practice advice regarding attitudinal change promotion, there could have been more focus on the implications of gender stereotypes for the individual pupil. Moreover, further attention could have been given to surrounding powerful discourses and media representations that may be at odds with the messages of the programme. The present study illustrates that the growing field of public health can be supported through an “all for health” interdisciplinary approach that draws on fields such as discourse studies, health communication and ethics.

Email communication is being integrated relatively slowly into doctor–patient communication. Patients have expressed enthusiasm for the medium, while doctors are generally more reluctant. As existing health communication models have characteristically assumed the copresence of doctor and patient and primarily reflect medical practitioners’ perspectives, their suitability in relation to email communication and patients’ perspectives warrants further investigation. Following a two-step process and using the methodology of the integrative literature review, 29 articles from 2004–2014 are analysed with the aim of investigating the advantages and disadvantages of the medium of email from the patient’s perspective. The findings are compared to the health communication models of biomedicine, patient-centeredness, patient education and patient empowerment to investigate these models’ relevance for doctor–patient email communication. Results show that patients identify numerous advantages with email communication, including improved convenience and access, more detailed informational exchanges, greater reflection opportunities, freedom from the medical gaze and the potential to level out power imbalances, as well as a number of primarily medium-related disadvantages. The findings indicate that email can counteract some of the communicative problems associated with biomedicine and suggest the ongoing relevance of aspects of the models of patient empowerment, patient-centeredness and patient education for email communication.

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Existing research reveals that patients’ perspectives are missing from mandatory patient information leaflets (PILs). At the same time, there is overwhelming consensus that they should be included in this genre, and a corresponding need for potential approaches to tackle this problem. This paper examines the appropriateness of perspectivist theory as a means of conceptualisingthe underrepresentation of patients’ perspectives in PILs. It also offers a framework for a possible solution that draws on polyocular theory, as polyocular approaches can support communication across perspectival asymmetries. The paper contributes theoretically in its innovative use of perspectivist theory in relation to text, and in identifying that the insights of polyocularity could valuably inform a new health communication paradigm, as current health communication paradigms do not fully recognize patients’ perspectives. Apart from its theoretical contributions, the paper includes guidelines to support the production of PILs where patients’ perspectives are included. The guidelines are informed by practices that have characterised previous polyocular communication events, as well as research into how to maximize patient participation in contexts where various forms of expertise are at play.

Although job advertisements have developed to incorporate an important array of functions, they are not well understood and there has been little documentation of evolution in the genre (Rafaeli & Oliver; 1998, 342). The purpose of this article is to address this gap by analysing changes in the genre over time, in this way revealing the background for current practice. Examples of Danish job advertisements for communication positions from 1961, 1991 and 2011 are analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis, and a rich format for job advertisements is developed on the basis of the findings of the analysis and existing theory. The results are likely to be of interest to producers of job advertisements who want a broader knowledge of how this genre with its increasingly complex functionality has evolved and for whom genre features of contemporary job advertising practice is relevant.