Dual-phase lagging model is one of the most promising approaches to generalize the Fourier heat conduction equation, and it can be reduced in the appropriate limits to the hyperbolic Cattaneo-Vernotte and to the parabolic equations. In this paper it is shown that the Hamilton-Jacobi and quantum theory formulations that have been developed to study the thermal-wave propagation in the Fourier framework can be extended to include the more general approach based on dual-phase lagging. It is shown that the problem of solving the heat conduction equation can be treated as a thermal harmonic oscillator. In the classical approach a formulation in canonical variables is presented. This formalism is used to introduce a quantum mechanical approach from which the expectation values of observables such as the temperature and heat flux are obtained. These formalisms permit to use a methodology that could provide a deeper insight into the phenomena of heat transport at different time scales in media with inhomogeneous thermophysical properties. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.