Health Communication Commons^™

Coping With Pediatric Cancer: Conversational Methods Utilized By Parents And Children When Dealing With Pediatric Cancer, Chelsi Morgan Walls

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA)

This thesis sought to analyze how parents communicate with their child regarding pediatric cancer treatments. When dealing with pediatric cancer, it is vital that parents and their child communicate about the illness in order to effectively cope with the cancer. Using Uncertainty Management Theory, along with sub-concepts of the theory (i.e., appraisals, inferences, and illusions), this thesis sought to discover which coping mechanism (i.e., affect-management or buffering) would be chosen to manage the illness. Under UMT, appraisals were assessed, resulting in positive and negative appraisal, which indicated whether the individual handled the issue with either an inference based ...

Developing Standardized Language For Use In Lgbt Health Research, Vaibhav Jain, Marisa Workman, Sara Mostafa, Abigail Wolfe, Stefania Davia, Natalie Terens, Keith Li, Blaine Parrish

GW Research Days 2013

BACKGROUND: In the past two decades, the LGBT community in the United States has been more visible, active, and positively accepted by society. As acceptance progresses, research interests on the LGBT population have increased, driving the need for standard language for researchers to share for comparative and community-based participatory research. "What term is right?" is often the question researchers ask a very diverse LGBT community. In August 2012, the District of Columbia's Office of LGBT Affairs identified incongruent language in a number of published reports commissioned by the Mayor's Office. The Office realized the importance of standardized language ...

Risk Communication And The Disclosure Dilemma: The Case Of Ottawa's Endoscopy Infection 'Scare', Josh Greenberg

Journal of Professional Communication

In 2011, Ottawa Public Health announced that a non-hospital medical clinic had failed to follow proper infection control measures over a period of 10 years, resulting in the potential exposure of several thousand patients to Hepatitis and HIV. This paper discusses the health department's risk communication strategy, in particular its decision to delay the disclosure of information to the public and the reactions this provoked. The case study provides an opportunity to revisit several key themes: the role news media play in framing public health risk events; the ethical obligations that health communicators have in times of health risk ...

The Effect Of Different Types Of Adult Communication Input On Child Output, Bianca C. Harrison

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Lost In Translation Teaching, Translation, And Transliteration Of Amchi Medicine In Nepal, Hannah Mcgehee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As both school and mentsikhang, Lo Kunphen faces the full range of issues encountered by amchi in Nepal today. Youth are migrating to the cities for work, high mountain communities are transforming into cash-economies, and the Nepali government refuses to recognize amchi medicine, making the amchi profession less and less sustainable. Lo Kunphen must work tirelessly to confront these challenges and to preserve their tradition. While trying to educate the new generation of amchi, they must reach out to foreign sponsors and to the Nepali government for support. However, these interactions cannot occur without translation. During November, 2012 the author ...

Commentary: Changing The Channel: Public Health Communication In The 21st Century, Anna Goodman Hoover

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This commentary asserts the need for research examining the use and efficacy of social media as a tool for meeting public health stakeholders’ information needs. The author points to several potential research questions for the field, situates studies addressing these questions within the PHSSR Research Agenda, and introduces the work of Harris et al. that is included in this issue of Frontiers. The commentary closes with a call for horizontal stakeholder communication that supports evidence-based decision-making.

Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated the impact of social influence on weight loss, more specifically, the internal and external elements that effect response and success of those who are trying to lose weight. The research focused on three questions: (1) How great of an influence does self-efficacy have in weight loss success? (2) How great of an influence does social comparison have in weight loss success? (3) Which factor has the largest impact on weight loss: self-efficacy, peer efficacy, or positive social support, or negative social support? Data was collected by the researcher conducting semi-structured interviews. These interview were conducted with ...

Consumers’ Optimistic Bias And Responses To Risk Disclosures In Direct-To-Consumer (Dtc) Prescription Drug Advertising: The Moderating Role Of Subjective Health Literacy, Hoyoung Ahn

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite a substantial body of research in direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) for prescription drugs, what is missing from much of the existing discussion on DTCA disclosure is a focus on the roles of consumers’ individual motivation and ability factors in processing risk disclosures. Guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and the Motivation-Ability- Opportunity (MAO) framework, this research focuses on the roles played by individuals’ optimistic bias as motivation and ones’ subjective health literacy as ability to process and evaluate risk disclosures in DTCA. Specifically, this study examined whether the degree of optimistic bias affected consumers’ risk disclosure processing in terms ...

The Mother-Infant Dyad Study: A Grounded Theory Inquiry Into The Day-To-Day Experiences, Between First-Time Mothers And Their Infants, That Influence Feeding Practices, Jennifer Jean Helvey

Masters Theses

Background: Inappropriate infant-feeding practices linked to excessive, rapid, early weight gain, are potentially powerful intervention points for reducing risk of later obesity. Understanding how and why these behaviors begin is currently the topic of much research. Because breastfeeding has been found to be somewhat protective against early rapid gain, and because low-income, Southeastern U.S. populations are significantly less likely to initiate and maintain breastfeeding, it is critical to focus efforts in these populations. Grounded theory methodology provides the optimal theoretical underpinnings for exploring development of these practices.

Research Objective: The objective was to explore, using grounded theory methodology, the ...

Effectiveness Of Antismoking Campaign Strategies On Smoking Cessation Of Chinese Smokers: An Application Of Taylor’S Six-Segment Message Strategy Wheel, Xizi Cai

Masters Theses

China has the largest smoker population in the world. Since 2006, with China as a member country of WHO FCTC (World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), the country has seen more and more antismoking campaigns on various kinds of media both national and local. However, the effectiveness of these antismoking campaigns is still not clear, especially within Chinese traditional smoking culture background.

Adopting an in-depth interview approach, this study explores how different antismoking campaign strategies in terms of Taylor’s Six-segment Massage Strategy Wheel could influence smoking cessation of Chinese adult smokers who have quitting experience. Research questions ...

The Effects Of Message Quantification: The Modearing Role Of Numeracy, Ilwoo Ju

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

Although the numerical information effects has been reported in persuasive contexts, little research has investigated how numeric information in the drug efficacy appeals may affect consumers' evaluation of DTC advertising. Based on an experiment, the current study revealed that: (a) consumers reported more positive perceived message effectiveness of and attitude toward advertising toward numeric DTC advertising; (b) when consumers were lowly numerate, the persuasive effects of numeric information was stronger. When consumers were highly numerate, however, the persuasive effects of numeric information was significantly reduced; and (c) perceived message effectiveness was found to be a valid indicator of actual DTC ...

Stages Of The Diabetes 'Roller Coaster': A Textual Analysis Of Tudiabetes.Org (R), Jodi Lynn Rightler-Mcdaniels, Lisa Metzer

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

Online virtual health communities have recently emerged to engage people with common medical conditions and experiences. Tudiabetes.org® is an example of a peer-to-peer virtual health community that provides an online social platform to exchange ideas, fears, knowledge, and support about the diabetes experience. This study explored the communication of parents within this non-moderated virtual health community surrounding the diagnosis of a child with type 1 diabetes by analyzing the dialogue of a particular tudiabetes.orgâ discussion thread. Textual analysis revealed four emerging stages of the narrative, which structurally resembled a “roller coaster” ride: catastrophic, social support, cathartic release, and ...

Motherhood As Salvation: The Experience Of Young Appalachian Mothers, Betsy D. Dalton

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

This study explored the meaning of teenage motherhood to young Appalachian mothers using a phenomenological approach. In-depth interviews with 14 mothers between the ages of 18-22 from the southern central Appalachian region were conducted. Findings indicate that the experience of teenage motherhood can be described in terms of filling a void and the pervasive drug culture. Analysis of these findings indicates that the experience of motherhood is characterized by salvation. The salvation of motherhood is shaped by the emotional chasm it fills, as well as the protective barrier it provides between the mother and the drug culture surrounding her. Implications ...

Dtc Advertising And Perceived Importance Of Illness: Two-Sided Message And The Moderating Role Of Dtca Skepticism, Ilwoo Ju

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

To better understand consumers' coping mechanisms of DTC advertising and to address socially important health issues, the current study examined whether perceived importance of sleep disorders is influenced by DTC advertising. Two-sided message order and DTCA skepticism were hypothesized as predictors of the perceived importance. The results showed that there is interaction between order effects and DTCA skepticism. Theoretical, practical, and regulatory implications are discussed.

The Effects Of Statistical Information In Pharmaceutical Product Advertising, Ilwoo Ju

Annual Research Symposium of the College of Communication and Information

In the contexts of prescription drug (DTC) advertising, statistical information has been frequently used. However, little is known about how the statistical information affects consumer attitude toward the advertisement and perceived importance of an advertised illness. Based on an experiment, the present study explored the mechanism of consumers' DTC advertising information processing using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The findings revealed that: (a) the use of statistical information in DTC advertising positively related to perceived message effectiveness; (b) perceived message effectiveness positively related to attitude toward the advertisement and perceived importance of an advertised illness; and (c) message framing (gain ...

Body Mapping With Geriatric Inpatients Receiving Daily Haemodialysis Therapy For End-Stage Renal Disease At Toronto Rehabilitation Institute: A Qualitative Study, Bryn A. Ludlow

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

The innovative research method of “body mapping” was used in this study with geriatric inpatients receiving daily hæmodialysis therapy for end-stage renal disease at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

Five people took part in this study; three participants completed all study phases. They created three body maps each and took part in one follow up, semi-structured interview to share their experiences of body mapping. Two themes were drawn from the data: (1) body mapping gives patients a voice to communicate their experiences in the dialysis unit; and (2) body mapping makes visible participants’ illness adjustment patterns, and levels of connection, or disconnection ...

How Do Parents Use Health Information With The Aid Of A Knowledge Broker When Living With And Caring For Their Young Children With Cerebral Palsy?, Stephanie E. Lagosky

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research aims to understand how parents use health information (such as those developed from the Move & PLAY study) with the aid of a knowledge broker when living with and caring for young children with cerebral palsy. This research was conducted under a qualitative case study methodology and used questionnaires and in-depth interviews to collect data. Findings include the complexity of both parental use of health information and the desire to use a knowledge broker. A provisional model has been created to help describe information use of parents with young children with cerebral palsy. This provisional model is an important ...

The (M)Health Connection: An Examination Of The Promise Of Mobile Phones For Hiv/Aids Intervention In Sub-Saharan Africa, Trisha M. Phippard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis offers an examination of the complex opportunities and challenges that characterize the development of innovative, locally appropriate, sustainable, and scalable uses of mobile phones as instruments to support and advance HIV/AIDS work in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing together the fields of ICT4D and health communication, this thesis establishes a theoretical framework for mobile health (mHealth) interventions in developing countries from a critical media studies perspective. It interrogates the varied applications of mobile phones vis-à-vis health that have been identified, promoted, or piloted in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the Global South, focusing on the potential for mobile phones ...

The Effects Of Diagrams And Relational Complexity On User Performance In Conditional Probability Problems In A Non-Learning Context, Vincent J. Kellen

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Many disciplines in everyday life depend on improved performance in conditional probability problems. Most adults struggle with conditional probability problems and several prior studies have shown participant accuracy is less than 50%. This study examined user performance when aided with computer-generated Venn and Euler type diagrams in a non-learning context. Despite the prevalence of research into diagrams and extensive research into conditional probability problem solving, this study is one of the only studies to apply theories of working memory to predict user performance in conditional probability problems with diagrams. Following relational complexity theory, this study manipulated problem complexity in computer ...