“Patient” and “Client”: A Study of Terminology in Health Professions, and the Case of Massage Therapy in Ontario

Abstract

This study examines how language used to describe recipients of care shapes power, professional identity, and healthcare relationships within Ontario’s regulated health professions. It is guided by two research questions: (1) How do regulatory documents across Ontario’s health professions use the terms “patient” and “client,” and what do these uses reveal about power dynamics, professional identities, and healthcare relationships? and (2) How are “patient” and “client” used in documents from the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, and in public college program descriptions of massage therapy, and what does this usage suggest about the professional identity and positioning of massage therapy within Ontario’s healthcare system? Poststructuralist and feminist poststructuralist theory (Belsey, 1997, 2002a, 2002b; Foucault, 2003a, 2003b, 2004, 2008, 2013), as well as critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2023) were employed to frame the study and help interpret data. Data was collected between May and July of 2025 and included regulatory documents from 26 colleges representing 27 regulated health professions, with one college counted twice because it governs two professions. Of these, 19 used “patient” exclusively, 4 used “client” exclusively, and 4 used both on their homepages. Massage therapy stood out: the regulatory college used “client” exclusively, while public‑college program pages showed mixed usage. Findings include "client" being utilized by health professions where the majority of practitioners are female, and health professions that do not generally receive public funding. The study considers the potential effects of everyday terminology choices within healthcare, care relationships, and how professions are seen within Ontario's healthcare system.