Health Communication Commons^™

Tales Of The Empathic Support Provider: How Emerging Adult Women Make Sense Of Providing Empathic Support To Female Friends, Emma R. Eslinger

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study explored the stories and reflections of 33 emerging adult women who made sense of their empathic support provider (ESP) identity in the context of female friendships. From the standpoint of the retrospective storytelling heuristic, within communicated narrative sense-making theory, participants told stories about their ESP identity, including how they provide support to others and reflect on the benefits of drawbacks of serving in this role (CNSM, Koenig Kellas, 2022). Under Proposition 1 of CNSM theory, meanings, values, and beliefs (MVBs) that ESP women expressed in this role were depicted as key takeaways gathered. Findings illuminated how ESP …

Giving Voice To Student Grief: Using Community-Based Participatory Research To Develop And Pilot A Translational Storytelling Intervention For Bereaved College Students, Cassidy Rae Taladay-Carter

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to employ community-based participatory research (CBPR, Wallerstein et al., 2018) methods to attend to a pressing issue in the community. In partnership with one local grief center, we identified the need for enhanced grief support for current emerging adult undergraduate students in our area. Nearly 50% of U.S. emerging adults enrolled in four-year residential universities experience the death of an important figure (Cox et al., 2015; Cupit et al., 2021), at a time when they are developing important facets of their narrative identity. Without the coherence and meaning structures provided by narrative identity, students …

Understanding How Family Dynamics Affect Mental Health Communication In Inside Out: A Content Analysis, Kataryna Morton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study examines the impact of open communication between family members on mental health and a child’s sense of belonging in the film Inside Out. Previous research has shown the impact of media on children’s socialization, which can influence stigma and make it less likely for vulnerable communication to occur. It is crucial for children to learn to communicate their emotions, and the media can play a key role in shaping these beliefs. Inside Out provides a positive example of mental health communication, which is specifically explored through Riley’s communication with her parents throughout the film. Using a content analysis, …

"Don't Put Restrictions On Us": The Dangers Of Conservative And Populist Appeals For Abortion Access In Post-Roe America, Kayla Schmitz

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis critically analyzes Kansans for Constitutional Freedom’s campaign ads for their campaign against the Value Them Both Amendment in Kansas in 2022. Value Them Both would have stripped the Kansas constitution of its protection of personal autonomy and therefore abortion rights. Kansans for Constitutional Freedom used populist and otherwise conservative appeals in their ads to reach audiences across the political “spectrum” to gain their votes against Value Them Both. While the campaign was widely successful, there are many things it did not do for the broader concern of reproductive healthcare access in the United States, particularly for those living …

Symbolic Annihilation And Stereotyping Of Native American Women In News: A Content Analysis Of Health, Safety, And Economic Status Related News, Shreyoshi Ghosh

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

This is an exploratory study on the safety, economic, and health challenges of Native American women who constitute about 1.5% of the American population. With the symbolic annihilation and stereotyping of Native American people and women of color, there was a need to study the portrayal of Native American women in news. The findings indicated there was a growth in news coverage during 2018-19 and safety, including missing and murdered, emerged as a key topic. But symbolic annihilation in health and economic status including pay gap news was significant. Health news mostly covered maternal health and deaths but excluded most …

Balloons, Breadcrumbs, And Spoons: Emerging Adults’ Privacy Negotiation And Management Of The (Non)Disclosure Of Chronic Illness-Related Information With A Friend, Robert D. Hall

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Emerging adults (EAs) experience many changes throughout this life-stage, characterized by self-focus, identity explorations, instability, in-betweenness, and possibilities of optimism (Arnett, 2014). As EAs transition from home of origin into independence, they may place more reliance on social networks apart from their family of origin (e.g., friends, Rawlins, 2009). Yet, chronically ill EAs may experience complications due to the biographical disruption, or interference of expectations in one’s life (Bury, 1982), particularly given that chronic illness is typically viewed as an elderly-related issue rather than occurring with youth (Kundrat & Nussbaum, 2003). Through transitions in the EA life-stage, EAs with chronic …

An Investigation Of The Attitudes And Behavioral Outcomes Of Nebraskan Hunters Toward Tick-Borne Disease, Dominic J. Cristiano

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As changes in climate, land-use, and vegetation alter the landscape of the Great Plains, new threats to public health are emerging. Incidences of tick-borne disease in Nebraska have increased nearly 250% over the past two decades – newly established species like Ixodes scapularis may introduce challenges for health practitioners, including more cases of Lyme disease. Strategies for tick-borne disease prevention must incorporate effective health messaging. Audience segmentation may be a useful technique to provide health communication, as it allows for targeted messaging that speaks to specific attitudes and beliefs of a given population. One tool for usefully segmenting populations is …

Understanding Boundary Turbulence And Privacy Rules From The Receiver’S Perspective In Mental Illness Disclosures, Ian Maltas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The present study aims to address a gap in current research focusing on relational outcomes of mental illness disclosures by studying the perspective of people who listen to the disclosures (called “receivers”). This study uses Communication Privacy Management Theory to analyze the process of disclosure, and its main research focus is on motivations for disseminating private information, and how that impacts relationships and privacy rules between co-owners of information. A thematic analysis was conducted to answer this inquiry, and a data conference was held to determine relevant themes in the data. The present study finds that people chose to tell …

Safety Splash: Pool Safety For Children And Adults, Rachel Lofton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This outreach project was made to address the issue of too many children drowning at pools due to a lack of water safety education. The dissemination of pool safety education is imperative to reduce accidental injuries and drownings. The goal of the Safety Splash video and supplemental materials is to provide pool safety education for children and adults. By encouraging conversations between children and adults before going to the pool, there can be an intervention that reduces the risk of injury and drowning once they arrive. Through research, I compiled information to support the effectiveness of a combination video, pamphlet, …

Tales Of Love's Perseverance: Family Bereavement Stories As A Means To Investigating Impacts Of End-Of-Life Care On Sense-Making, Cassidy Taladay

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study explored the stories of 25 participants who had lost an immediate loved one to a terminal illness one or more years ago. Through the lens of the retrospective storytelling heuristic of Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory (CNSM, Koenig Kellas, 2018), participants told their bereavement stories. Findings revealed seven themes of significant meanings, values, and beliefs that defined bereavement experiences which led to the development of a framework of three main types of stories told in bereavement which all centered on time: Past, Present, and Future. These stories reflected what was important to participants in their bereavement, such as …

Wisdom Narratives: Communicated Sense-Making In Emerging Adulthood Autoimmune Disease, Jacqueline Gunning

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Under the umbrellas of Communicated Sense-making (CSM, Koenig Kellas & Kranstuber Horstman, 2015), the current study explored 25 stories of illness told by assigned female at birth individuals with autoimmune disease. Using both the Theory of Memorable Messages (ToMM, Cooke-Jackson & Rubinsky, 2021) and Communicated Narrative Sense-making Theory (CNSM, Koenig Kellas, 2018), findings reveal helpful and harmful interpersonal memorable messages received across their illness journeys, as well as lessons learned and wisdom gained from disruptive chronic illness onset at a young age. Participants identified messages of belief, support, and interest as helpful while navigating disease, whereas they saw messages of …

Spoken Barriers: The Effects Of Spanish-English Interpretation Within The United States Health System, Michelle Lounsbery

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In recent times the prevalence of the Spanish language in the United States has been on a steady incline, and the language barrier created between patients and providers is only growing. Studies display a direct relationship between communication barriers formed by insufficient interpretation methods and negative patient outcomes due to a lack of understanding. This study will evaluate of the effects of Spanish-English interpretation in the United States health system as well as review the significance of direct patient-provider communication and how to improve these methods. Research methods will involve the use of other accredited academic literature and studies, as …

Trust In Media, Institutions, And Health Information In Metropolitan Nebraska: 2021 Nebraska Metro Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy, Timothy Meyer, Steven A. Schulz

Rural Futures Institute: Publications

Overall, most metropolitan Nebraskans have confidence in their local institutions (public safety agencies in their community, public schools in their community, and voting and election systems in their county). However, many have very little confidence in many national institutions (the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Presidency) as well as the Governor.

Metropolitan Nebraskans most trust information received from friends/family/ acquaintances, local news sources (TV and newspapers), public sources (PBS and public radio) and state newspapers. They least trust information from social networking sites, Internet blogs, and Fox News.

Most metropolitan Nebraskans trust local health professionals for …

Listening To The Voices Of Community Health Workers: A Multilevel, Culture-Centered Approach To Overcoming Structural Barriers In U.S. Latinx Communities, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Virginia Chaidez, Caitlyn Wayment, Jonathan Baker, Anthony Adams, Lorey A. Wheeler

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Community Health Workers (CHWs) are often incorporated into efforts to reduce health disparities for vulnerable populations. However, their voices are rarely the focus of research when considering how to increase their job effectiveness and sustainability. The current study addresses this gap by privileging the voices of 28 CHWs who work with Latinx communities in Nebraska through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Using a multilevel, Culture-Centered Approach (CCA) to Health Communication, we identified two key structural communication issues: (a) increasing language accommodation and (b) increasing (and stabilizing) network integration across three ecological levels of health behavior (individual, microsystem, and exosystem …

Contextualizing Transgender Individuals' Discourses About Health Insurance, Jonathan Troy Baker

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Transgender individuals face a variety of disparate health outcomes compared to cisgender individuals within the United States. Additionally, 23% to 52% of transgender individuals do not have health insurance, meaning transgender individuals are two to five times more likely than the general population to lack access to health insurance coverage. Extant research typically treats health insurance as a quantitative (yes/no) variable; thus, we do not know what (not) having insurance contextually means for transgender individuals. The current study addresses this gap by privileging the voices of 17 transgender individuals through in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Using the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA), I conducted …

Getting To The Heart Of It: Examining Intergenerational Sensemaking Of Heart Disease, Sarah R. Petitte

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Theory (Koenig Kellas, 2018), this study tested how grandchildren’s perceptions of risk and knowledge about heart disease in the family, as well as relational satisfaction, changed over the course of 3 weeks as a result of engaging in a storytelling experiment. Participants included 17 grandchild participants who interviewed their grandparents to tell stories about family heart health or discuss everyday events based on random assignment into a treatment or comparison group. Additionally, participants completed measures surrounding their knowledge of heart disease, relational satisfaction with their grandparent, and their perception of risk to develop heart disease in …

Resilience In American Indian And Alaska Native Public Health: An Underexplored Framework, Nicolette I. Teufel-Shone, Julie A. Tippens, Hilary C. Mccrary, John E. Ehiri, Priscilla R. Sanderson

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To conduct a systematic literature review to assess the conceptualization, application, and measurement of resilience in American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) health promotion.

Data Sources: We searched 9 literature databases to document how resilience is discussed, fostered, and evaluated in studies of AIAN health promotion in the United States.

Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria: The article had to (1) be in English; (2) peer reviewed, published from January 1, 1980, to July 31, 2015; (3) identify the target population as predominantly AIANs in the United States; (4) describe a nonclinical intervention or original research that identified resilience as …

Evaluating Family Caregivers' Memorable Messages Of Social Support In The Context Of Cancer, Alexis Johnson

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Caring for a loved one with cancer can be physically and emotionally difficult. Research has established that social support can improve overall mental health (Albrecht & Goldsmith, 2003; Sarason et al., 1994). To understand how caregivers make sense of the supportive messages they receive and the links between those messages and caregiver well-being (e.g. stress, depression, and affect), this study used the communicated sense-making model (CSM, Koenig Kellas & Kranstuber Horstman, 2015). Specifically, the current dissertation focuses on memorable messages, as one significant form of CSM, in order to identify the understudied nature of supportive message content and the ways …

Buying Sex On-Line From Girls: Ngo Representatives, Law Enforcement Officials, And Public Officials Speak Out About Human Trafficking—A Qualitative Analysis, Sriyani Tidball, Mingying Zheng, John W. Creswell

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Federal agencies report the high level of sex trafficking of minors in the United States. This trafficking often occurs on-line with the Internet. Pimps commonly advertise children for sexual exploitation online, and they search social networking sites for young victims. Thus, the high rate of trafficking minors and the increased use of technology have led to a need to better understand purchasing young girls for sex on-line. This qualitative study focused on learning from NGO representatives, law enforcement officials, and public officials their experiences about how men buy girls on-line for sex, and the words that the men use in …

Illness Narratives Of Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus And Family Communication: A Mixed Methods Study, Katherine M. Castle

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prominent, yet under-studied autoimmune condition that is both life limiting and potentially life threatening and affects more than one million Americans, primarily women. Despite this, the disease continues to go undiagnosed and unmanaged, leading to more severe outcomes of the disease process. Though there is growing recognition of the importance of social behaviors in improving health outcomes, particularly family communication and sense-making, there is a paucity of research aimed at understanding the experience of SLE and how women make sense of the disease in family contexts. This exploratory sequential mixed methods project is framed …

Caregiver Perceptions Of Their Influence On Cancer Treatment Decision Making: Intersections Of Language, Identity, And Illness, Janice L. Krieger, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Phokeng M. Dailey, Julianne C. Wojno, Nancy Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett, Mark Dignan

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Serious illness of a loved one can disrupt a caregiver’s sense of self and relationships. We examined the language caregivers use to describe the cancer treatment decision making of a loved one to understand how caregivers frame their own identity relative to a patient’s illness. We analyzed transcripts from in-depth interviews conducted with caregivers (N = 58) of cancer patients to examine the intersection among language, identity, and illness. Caregivers with a patient-level personal identity frame used phrases such as their body, their decision. Caregivers with a relational identity frame used plural pronouns such as we or our when describing …

Comprehension Of Randomization And Uncertainty In Cancer Clinical Trials Decision Making Among Rural, Appalachian Patients, Janice L. Krieger, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Phokeng M. Dailey, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Nancy E. Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Comprehension of randomization is a vital, but understudied, component of informed consent to participate incancer randomized clinical trials(RCTs). Thisstudy examines patient comprehension of the randomization process as well as sources of ongoing uncertainty that may inhibit a patient’s ability to provide informed consent to participate in RCTs. Cancer patients living in rural Appalachia who were offeredanopportunitytoparticipateinacancertreatmentRCT completed in-depth interviews and a brief survey. No systematic differences in randomization comprehension between patients who consented and those who declined participation in a cancer RCT were detected. Comprehension is conceptually distinct from uncertainty, with patients who had both high and low comprehension experiencing …

The Fuzzin' Facts, Rebel Alliance, Mitch Ohnstad, Rebekka Erks, Erin Prohaska, Ryan Mueksch, Rachel Foehlinger, Laura Bergen, Sean Davis

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

The challenge for this campaign is to expose the facts about sexual health and safe sex practices in a light-hearted manner in order to make it a more comfortable topic to talk about so that more people understand the need to get the facts, get tested and get involved to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in Nebraska.

Dancing Around Infertility: The Use Of Metaphors In A Complex Medical Situation, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Janice L. Krieger

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

People use metaphors to cognitively frame their experiences as well as to explain those experiences to others, especially in complex medical situations. However, previous research has not fully explored the extent to which metaphors may be helpful or harmful to achieving well-being. This investigation fills this gap by identifying and explaining metaphor use in the context of infertility. Guided by self-determination theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 women and men who had experienced an inability to conceive a child. Analysis of participant narratives yielded 10 prominent metaphors that reflect how participants’ need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness were (and …

Reconsidering Childfreedom: A Feminist Exploration Of Discursive Identity Construction In Childfree Livejournal Communities, Julia Moore

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This article employs participant definitional analysis, sensitized with feminist poststructuralism and critical ethnography, to understand three identity construction processes that members of childfree LiveJournal communities participate in: (a) naming childfreedom, (b) negotiating childfreedom, and (c) enacting childfreedom. I argue that childfree identities are contested and sometimes activist. Ultimately, I call for scholars to reconsider the definition of childfree to account for the complex and nuanced identities constructed by individuals who identify as such.

How Adolescents Perceive Their Parents' Communication About Sex: Toward Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk, Amanda J. Holman

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The “sex talk” is often one of the most challenging conversations for parents and children during adolescence. Research has established that parent-adolescent communication about sex can greatly reduce adolescents’ sexual risk (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2012; Miller, Benson, & Galbraith, 2001). However, many parents still avoid these conversations due to uncertainty or lack of confidence in how to best educate their children on topics such as sexual health and relationships. Plus, little is known about family communication about sex from the adolescent perspective. In order to develop more comprehensive strategies for parents to engage in these challenging conversations, the present dissertation …

Community Engagement As A Process And An Outcome Of Developing Culturally Grounded Health Communication Interventions: An Example From The Decide Project, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Jessica Krok, Phokeng M. Dailey, Linda Kight, Janice L. Krieger

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Community engagement is a process often used in developing effective health communication interventions, especially in traditionally underserved cultural contexts. While the potentially positive outcomes of community engagement are well established, the communication processes that result in engagement with cultural groups are less apparent. The focus on the outcomes of engagement at the expense of describing how engagement occurs makes it difficult for methods to be improved upon and replicated by future studies. The purpose of the current manuscript is to illustrate the process of achieving community engagement through the development of a culturally grounded health communication intervention. We offer practical …

Review Of Manon Parry, Broadcasting Birth Control: Mass Media And Family Planning, Rose Holz

Women's and Gender Studies Program: Faculty Publications

As Manon Parry explains in her interesting new book, ‘Many of the women who wrote [to the Birth Control Review] noted that they had read about [Margaret] Sanger’s work in the press, confirming the important role of the mass media in publicizing and building support for the movement’ (p. 13). Therein lies the crux of Parry’s project: the use of publicity was central to the family planning movement and a sustained analysis of its use over time is long overdue. To that end, she challenges several long-standing historiographic assumptions and unearths more than a few fascinating stories. For example, …

Keys To Understanding And Addressing Consumer Perceptions And Concerns About Processed Foods, Y. Meneses, K. J. Cannon, R. A. Flores

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

Some processed food products have been targeted lately as “evils” that are preventing us from maintaining healthy lives. From the perspective of the food industry community, it seems as if this is one of those issues that should fade away with time, since the benefits of food processing are very obvious to us. We have never been so wrong! The challenges in front of us are big, and we need to do a better job of communicating with consumers about the benefits food processing offers, including increasing the availability of high-quality foods year round. We also need to promote the …

Trailblazing Healthcare: Institutionalizing And Integrating Complementary Medicine, Barbara F. Sharf, Patricia Geist Martin, Kevin-Khristián Cosgriff-Hernández, Julia Moore

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Objectives — This study examines three integrative health centers to understand their (1) historical development, organizational goals, and modalities, (2) the processes and challenges of integrating complementary and allopathic medicine, while encouraging staff collaboration, and (3) how each center becomes institutionalized within their community.

Methods — We focus on three organizational case studies that reflect varying forms of integrative health care practices in three U.S. cities. Participant-observation and in-depth interviews with center directors were analyzed qualitatively.

Results — Important patterns found within the three cases are (1) the critical role of visionary biomedical practitioners who bridge complementary and allopathic practices, …