Health Communication Commons^™

Implementation Of A Debrief “Takeaway” Board, Carly A. Skeath

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

My original focus of my project was to implement Team STEPPS, to help improve the communication and teamwork within our entire perinatal service department. However, as I started I ran into barriers with time and with other projects put out by our management that needed to take president. It is then that I decided to narrow my focus on one aspect of Team STEPPS which we are already implementing, and that is debriefs. As a member of the Perinatal Patient Safety Program (PPSP), I was able to learn about all the takeaway’s we received from debriefs that had occurred, …

The Use Of Exemplars In Audio-Based Media To Increase Behavioral Intent In Adopting Preventive Skin-Cancer Behaviors, Christine M. Lemme

Master of Arts in Communication

Skin cancer is a growing concern in the young-adult population due to the popularity of indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanning and the acceptance of numerous myths that skin cancer is not a major health concern. This thesis aims to look at the use of media exemplar perceived to be similar and credible to the target population in order to persuade the target population to adopt preventative skin-cancer behaviors. College students of both genders and various ethnicities (N = 170) were surveyed after listening to different radio exemplars on skin cancer. Results indicated that similarity and credibility play a key role in …

Intraprofessional Nursing Communication And Collaboration: Apn-Rn-Patient Bedside Rounding, Rita M. Herm-Barabasz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Executive Summary

Leading advisory agencies have long advocated that health care must be safe and effective (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2001). In order for health care to be safe and effective, good communication and collaboration are essential. Research has found that in health care, poor communication and teamwork failures are the major contributors to adverse events (Cornell, Townsend-Gervis, Vardaman, & Yates, 2014; The Joint Commission, 2011; O’Leary, 2012). Such communication-related adverse events can cause avoidable injury, loss of life, and financial devastation. In light of advanced practice nurses’ (APN) increasing contribution in care management, and in order to ensure delivery …

Comfort, Complexities, And Confrontation: Health Care Provider Communication And Prescription Drug Abuse And Misuse, Nicholas E. Hagemeier, Fred Tudiver

ETSU Faculty Works

This presentation describes (1) the role of communication in prescription drug abuse prevention and treatment and (2) the outcomes of 5 focus groups conducted in the Appalachian Region.

Etsu Didarp Project 1: Health Care Provider Communication And Prescription Drug Abuse And Misuse, Nicholas E. Hagemeier, Fred Tudiver

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Telling Stories, Saving Lives: Creating Narrative Health Messages, Lauren B. Frank, Sheila T. Murphy, Joyee S. Chatterjee, Meghan B. Moran, Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increasingly, health communication practitioners are exploring the use of narrative storytelling to convey health information. For this study, a narrative film was produced to provide information about the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer prevention. The storyline centered on Lupita, a young woman recently diagnosed with HPV who informs her family about HPV and the availability of the HPV vaccine for her younger sister. The objective was to examine the roles of identification with characters and narrative involvement (made up of three dimensions: involvement, perceived relevance, and immersion) on perceived response efficacy, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility to HPV and …

Survey Evaluation Of Pharmacy Practice Involving Deaf Patients, Mckenzie C. Ferguson, Leah M. Shan

Pharmacy Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

For a patient that is deaf, providing patient care can be more difficult due to communication barriers. This study was conducted in order to better understand pharmacists’ current means of communicating with deaf patients as well as investigating pharmacists’ knowledge of their legal responsibility to these patients.

Methods

Surveys were used to gather information from pharmacists and were distributed in areas with a large population of deaf patients.

Identifying Professional Development Opportunities For Remote Healthcare Interpreters On A Shared Network, Suzanne M. Couture

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Many healthcare organizations are faced with the challenge of complying with an unfunded mandate to provide language services free of charge to individuals with limited English proficiency or those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One method of increasing efficiencies and reducing disparities for these vulnerable populations is to provide access to remote audio/video interpreters on a shared network. The Health Care Interpreter Network (HCIN) is a non-profit organization based in California that comprises more than forty member hospitals and offers service in twenty languages. To support the need for on-going professional development of HCIN’s interpreters, a front-end analysis …

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends: A Qualitative Study Of Nurse Close Work Friendship And Social Support, Jennifer Ptacek

Masters Theses

The nursing profession is laden with numerous job, emotional labor, and communication stressors, which come from both patients and healthcare organizations. These frequent and simultaneous pressures can result in nurse burnout and turnover (Tracy, 2009). Socially supportive workplace communication has been identified as a solution to reducing nurse stress, burnout, and turnover (Apker & Ray, 2003), but has not specifically considered social support in nurse work friendships. A mixed qualitative method study was conducted with five nurse best friend pairs, using job observations of participants’ work friendship communication and individual and joint interviews. Two major communication themes emerged from the …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Rethinking Aids Website, Jennifer Dettmann

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A group of scientists known as the Group for Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS hypothesis created a web site title, Rethinking AIDS. The group behind the web site argues that AIDS is not a sexually transmitted disease. They even question the existence of the virus entity. My analysis is driven by the critical question: Does the web site construct a reality that affectively alters our perception of HIV-AIDS? In order to answer this question, Goodnight and Poulakos 1981 article, Conspiracy rhetoric: from pragmatism to fantasy to public discourse (Western Journal of Speech), will be utilized.

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 …

Influence Of Family Communication On Organ Donation, Arielle Melino

Honors Projects in Communication

Organ donors are in high demand and although many individuals have a favorable attitude toward organ donation, very few are committed to donating. This study aims to examine the impact of mother-daughter relationships and the conversation that stems from this bond on decisions to donate. Some factors that exist within family communication such as attitudes, willingness to communicate, experience, and knowledge may not just impact the perspectives of adults but also the donation decisions of their college-aged children.

Communication About Hiv In The Black Gay Community: Factors That Influence Willingness To Ask A Partner To Wear A Condom, Ask A Partner's Hiv Status, And Disclose One's Hiv Own Status, Deion Scott Hawkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The CDC (2013) reported an unparalleled 50 percent increase in HIV infections in young Black MSM from 2003 to 2009. Dense, homogenous sexual networks are believed to be a major contributing factor to unparalleled transmission rates; if so, communication within these networks about HIV status and condom use is essential to fighting this epidemic. Yet there is a dearth of research on how Black gay men communicate about condom use and HIV status. This study explored how perceived risk, HIV knowledge, perceived trust, desire for a masculine partner, and perceived mate value influenced three important HIV risk-reducing communication behaviors: willingness …

Vitamin D An Examination Of Physician And Patient Management Of Health And Uncertainty, Keisa Bennett, Brandi N. Frisby, Laura E. Young, Deborah Murray

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

Vitamin D has been a topic of much research interest and controversy, and evidence is mixed concerning its preventive effects and health benefits. The purpose of our study was to explore the decision-making strategies used by both primary care providers and community members surrounding vitamin D in relation to uncertainty management theory. We conducted semistructured interviews with primary care providers (n = 7) and focus groups with community members (n = 89), and transcribed and coded using the constant comparative method. Themes for providers included awareness, uncertainty, patient role, responsibility, skepticism, uncertainty management, and evolving perceptions. Community member …

Communication During First-Time Multidisciplinary Clinic Visits: Navigating Parental Decision Making And Uncertainty Management In Pediatric Chronic Illness, Anna M. Kerr

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Individuals with chronic illnesses must manage long-term uncertainty and decision making as they cope with the ways the illness influences almost every aspect of their lives. In the context of pediatric illnesses, parents assume the burden of uncertainty management and decision making during the diagnosis and treatment of their child’s illness. It is common for children with complex chronic illnesses to see multiple specialists for the treatment of their condition. The first visit to a specialist is often more elaborate than a routine primary care visit. While previous research has explored parents’ decision making and uncertainty management during a child’s …

The Drug Facts Box: Improving The Communication Of Prescription Drug Information, Lisa M. Schwartz, Steven Woloshin

Dartmouth Scholarship

Communication about prescription drugs ought to be a paragon of public science communication. Unfortunately, it is not. Consumers see $4 billion of direct-to-consumer advertising annually, which typically fails to present data about how well drugs work. The professional label—the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) mechanism to get physicians information needed for appropriate prescribing—may also fail to present benefit data. FDA labeling guidance, in fact, suggests that industry omit bene

Using Information To Manage Uncertainty During Organ Transplantation, Anne M. Stone, Allison M. Scott, Summer Carnett Martin, Dale E. Brashers

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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.

The Nature And Perceived Influence Of Lifestyle Discussions With Older Adults In Primary Care, Shoshana H. Bardach

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

The Nature and Perceived Influence of Lifestyle Discussions with Older Adults in Primary Care Rationale: A healthy diet and physical activity help with disease prevention and disease management and can promote quality of life regardless of the age at which an individual begins engaging in these behaviors. Despite the value of these health behaviors, many older adults do not follow lifestyle recommendations. Given that older adults frequently interact with the healthcare system, primary care providers are well situated to counsel older adults to improve their health behaviors. Unfortunately, we do not know how to most effectively engage in this counseling. …

Navigating Family Cancer Communication: Communication Strategies Of Female Cancer Survivors In Central Appalachia, Kathryn L. Duvall, Kelly A. Dorgan, Sadie P. Hutson

ETSU Faculty Works

In a multiphasic study, the stories of 29 female Appalachian cancer survivors were collected through either a day-long modified story circle event (n=26) or an in-depth interview (n=3). Qualitative content analysis was used to identify emergent themes in the data. The analysis revealed 5 types of family cancer communication including both pre-diagnosis and postdiagnosis cancer communication strategies

The Effects Of Message Framing And Denotative Specificity On Students' Opinions Of The Hpv Vaccination, Arielle Tenaya Marie Gout, Katherine Marie Kays

Communication Studies

The purpose of our project is to use various persuasive techniques in order to determine the most effective method to persuade students about the HPV vaccination and the negative effects of the HPV virus. An important component of public health message design is determining the most effective types of messages for a particular audience. The results of this study are intended to be an aid to the creators of health messages regarding HPV and the HPV vaccination, with the ultimate goal of increasing the effectiveness of public health messages to adolescents in regards to these issues.

Implications Of Skinner's Verbal Behavior For Studying Dementia, Jeffrey Buchanan, Daniel Houlihan, Peter J.N. Linnerooth

Psychology Department Publications

Persons with dementia experience continual declines in a number of abilities. Language abilities are particularly hard hit and become increasingly impaired as the underlying disease progresses. These language impairments make verbal communication very challenging for family and professional caregivers. As a result, caregivers may inadvertently punish verbal behavior, thereby exacerbating the deterioration of verbal repertoires. Although the topography of language impairments associated with dementia have been well described, less empirical work has been conducted concerning how to minimize these impairments and their deleterious effects. In 1957 B.F. Skinner outlined his conceptualization of language and cognition in his book Verbal Behavior. …

Speaking Into Silences: Autoethnography, Communication, And Applied Research, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

In 2004, two articles in the Journal of Applied Communication Research (Ashcraft & Tretheway, 2004; Goodall, 2004) celebrated the merits of auto- and narrative ethnography, methods of research grounded in lived experience and evocative modes of representation that seek to engage readers emotionally, aesthetically, ethically, and politically. Despite these and other persuasive calls for auto- and narrative ethnographic works, few have been published in communication journals. More than four years ago, JACR offered readers arguments for this kind of scholarship, yet no full-length autoethnography appeared in its pages—until now. This article, a prelude to its companion essay, “Body and Bulimia …

Body And Bulimia Revisited: Reflections On "A Secret Life", Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

In 1996, the author published “A Secret Life in a Culture of Thinness: Reflections on Body, Food, and Bulimia” (Tillmann-Healy, 1996), an account of her struggle with binging and purging from ages 15 to 25. She came to understand bulimia as a communicative act, expressing fear, anxiety, and grief. From 25 to 35, her recovery from bulimia involved learning to “purge” emotion through other forms of communication (e.g., dialogue, writing, and teaching). At 35, separation and divorce pose the greatest challenge to the author’s 10-year recovery, yet she does not return to bulimic expression. This article invites readers to sense …

Hiv/Aids: An Opportunistic Infection Of Globalization?, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Beyond 'Hot Lips' And 'Big Nurse': Creative Writing And Nursing, Sandra Young

English Faculty Publications

This essay describes a special topics creative writing course designed for nursing students, and argues that creative writing strategies work to improve nurses' compositional skills. Also discussed are other potential benefits from creatively writing patients' lives, notably, the blending of arts and sciences, and the ways in which medical schools are encouraging their students to study the humanities, especially literature and creative writing. The essay includes student creative writing samples.

The essay also discusses the depiction of nurses in popular culture. M*A*S*H*, Richard Hooker’s black comedy about the antics of doctors and nurses during the Korean War, gave us “Hot …

Communication Cues To Action Prompting Central Appalachian Women To Have A Mammogram., Kathryn Bond Mcneill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, mammography screening is the best method of detection for breast cancer, yet many women have never been screened and underprivileged, minority and rural women have lower screening rates then other populations. The purpose of this study, through individual interviews(N=88), was to understand the cues that women perceive to have received spurring them to participate in mammogram screening. The Health Belief Model guided this research. Media influence, Health Care Practitioner recommendation, social networks, and symptoms were the cues to action explored in this research prompting compliance to mammography screening. All four of these cues were found to influence women in …

Assessing Communication Effectiveness In America's Health Care System, Stephen Burkat

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Communicating About Aids-Changes In Understanding And Coping With Help Of Language In Urban Kagera, Tanzania, Aldin Mutembei, Maria Emmelin, Joe Lugalla, Lars Dahlgren

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Faced with the problems of HIV/AIDS, people have to find ways to communicate around them. The aim of this paper is to mirror changes over time in the Kagera people's social cognition regarding HIV/AIDS, using their own language as a tracer of this process. Focus group discussions and personal and group interviews conducted during 1992 to 1995 in urban Bukoba, Kagera, constitute the basis for an analysis of metaphorical expressions in use since 1985. Pronounced uncertainty is later transformed into a deeper understanding of the pandemic and an increased disposition to cope with the situation. Knowledge about the socio-linguistic expressions …