Creating A Healthy Space: Forensic Educators' Sensemaking About Healthy Tournament Management Practices, Heather J. Carmack Dr.

Speaker & Gavel

Organizations are increasingly becoming concerned with the health and well-being of their members. To address these issues, organizations are creating wellness initiatives. One organization concerned with the well-being of its members is collegiate forensics. Forensic organizations have been working since the late 1990s to create formal and informal wellness initiatives to address the health of students and educators at forensic tournaments. The purpose of this study is to explore how collegiate forensic educators understand and implement these initiatives and the tensions they encounter. Collegiate forensic educators who host tournaments completed an open-ended qualitative questionnaire about formal and informal wellness initiatives. …

Sunsafe Health Campaign: Rationale And Planning, Jennifer Gonzales, Michelle Merritt

Communication Studies

In Spring 2016, a team of Communication Studies students researched, planned, and conducted a health campaign on the Cal Poly campus. The goal of the health campaign was to educate fellow students about the dangers of sun overexposure and provide information on how to take preventive measures to protect their skin. Communication theories and concepts were applied while the messages of the campaign were created and distributed.

“Knee High To A Grasshopper”: An Exploration Of Appalachian Youth, Family Communication Patterns, And Depression, Cori Howard

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis examined factors related to family communication and the prevalence of depression in Appalachian youth. Two quantitative studies were utilized to gather data. The first study tested the measures on Virginia college students to determine if family communication and depressive symptomology were related. Study two took place in one Virginia high school and one North Carolina high school that were identified to be in the Appalachian region. Utilizing a conformity orientation family communication style was positively correlated with depressive symptomology in both the college sample and in the Appalachian samples.

Padded Assumptions: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Patriarchal Menstruation Discourse, Kathryn M. Lese

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

In 2015, Rupi Kaur’s photography project featuring a menstruating woman was censored on Instagram, a photo sharing social media platform. The menstruation censorship created a surge in public media discourse about what is and is not appropriate to discuss about menstruation. Menstruation communication is often discrete or invisible in dominant discourse and focuses of medicalization rather than the social norms of “performing menstruation”. This thesis explores menstruation communication in public media discourse and examines how it empowers and disempowers the menstruating female body. Themes including the everyday language of menstruation, patriarchal censorship of women’s bodies, shame and stigma in menstruation …

Superman And Wonder Woman: French Champions For Hiv/Aids Prevention Of Failed Aids Campaign?, Stephen M. Croucher, Terry L. Rentner

Speaker & Gavel

In 2004, the French government sponsored an AIDS/HIV prevention campaign; AIDES.ORG using photos of AIDS infected Superman and Wonder Woman to persuade adolescents to adopt preventative behaviors. This article asserts campaign organizers cancelled the campaign because it failed to provide audience efficacy and incorrectly manipulated fear in its campaign messages. Moreover, this article compares the AIDES.ORG campaign to other AIDS/HIV campaigns and argues effective health communication campaigns must provide efficacy to facilitate adoption of desired preventative behaviors. The Social Norms Approach is offered as an alternative method for developing effective health communication campaigns.

To Vaccinate Or Not To Vaccinate: A Qualitative Description Of The Information Available On Popular Search Engines Regarding The Vaccine Debate., Madeline Rhinesmith

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The current study looks at the assumption that that more information, along with improved access to that information could lead to more informed decisions through evaluating and critically reflecting on the vaccine debate. The research is done through the perspective of Science, Technology, and Society - an interdisciplinary field that analyzes the connection between scientific advancement and its implications on the world. This research seeks to replicate previous studies’ which simple search engine websites were used to look at the websites people, including parents, are likely to encounter when they are researching information on vaccinations. This research seeks assess how …

The Person We Knew: Perceptions Of The Identity Of Loved Ones With Dementia By Family Caregivers, Amber Jannusch, Dena Huisman

Speaker & Gavel

While several studies have looked at the identity of dementia patients, most focus on the point of the view of the patient. However, caretakers’ and family members’ view of the identity of the dementia patient is unstudied. This study attempts to see how family caregivers’ view of their family member’s dementia manifests in communication about the loved one. This study is a preliminary examination of family caregivers’ constructions of the identity of their loved one, revealing that caretakers have one of three views: the patient without an identity, the patient as a different person, or the patient as “not lost” …

Understanding Access To Health Information: The Role And Measurement Of Social Location, Megan S. Kelley

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to explore how application of social location theory may improve data collection on health information access in order to better inform and improve the effectiveness of health communication and messaging. This dissertation proposes a framework to understand how people obtain health information based on the idea of social location, Ritzer and Bell’s (1981) levels of social reality, and Dahlberg & Krug’s (2002) social ecological model. This research addressed the extent to which three studies of health information access support the use of such a framework, and if so, how its application could improve our …

Identity Disclosure In Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Patient-Provider Communication, Nicole Hudak

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have encountered barriers in accessing healthcare. Barriers to accessing medical care can stem from discrimination within healthcare, which includes the medicalization of homosexuality. Literature demonstrates that both providers and LGB patients recognize that there are inefficiencies in the current healthcare system for LGB patients. This thesis sought to find how LGB individuals navigated the disclosure of their sexual identities with their providers and what types of communication barriers existed between them. Qualitative, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 LGB identified participants. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a constant comparative method. Four themes …

Promoting Healthy Behavior Change: Communication Interventions To Lower Risk Of Type Ii Diabetes In Men And Women Under 30, Jessica A. Bruns

Masters Essays

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which one’s blood glucose, more commonly known as sugar, rises to above average levels (American Diabetes Association [ADA], 2015). According to the 2014 National Diabetes Statistics Report, in 2012, 29.1 million Americans age 20 and older have diabetes, up from 25.8 million in 2010, with 90-95% of those diagnosed cases being Type II diabetes (ADA, 2014). As of 2010, diabetes remains the seventh leading cause of death in America (ADA, 2014). Several studies have found regular physical activity and maintaining a normal body mass index (BMI) can significantly reduce one’s risk of developing Type …

The Politics Of Hpv Vaccination Advocacy: Effects Of Source Expertise On Effectiveness Of A Pro-Vaccine Message, Roger Gans

Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association

The Politics of HPV Vaccination Advocacy:

Effects of Source Expertise on Effectiveness of a Pro-Vaccine Message

Persistent public resistance to an apparently safe, effective and life-saving public health practice such as HPV vaccination illustrates a significant issue in the communication of behavioral recommendations based on evidence-based scientific data and consensus views of scientific and medical experts. This study examines the influence of source expertise on pro-HPV-vaccine advocacy messaging effectiveness among audiences of differing political ideologies. The findings support prior research indicating greater resistance to HPV vaccination among political conservatives. Subjects who self-identified politically as Centrists and Conservatives were significantly less …

Toward A Biocommunicable Cartography Of Health Decision-Making In The Amazon Basin Of Ecuador, James Cartwright

Lawrence University Honors Projects

This paper comprises a critical, ethnographic study of health communication in a rural community of Amazonian Ecuador. By synthesizing approaches from anthropology, discourse studies, and public health, the study explores how conversations influence health decisions, how communities understand health systems, and how macrostructural discourse changes the political economy of healthcare in Ecuador. My work draws on the recent theoretical development of ‘biocommunicability’ in anthropology as well as earlier sociological research on knowledge construction. Most importantly, this paper offers a critique of current interventions by NGOs in the region.

Community-Centered Design: Using Applied Research To Develop A New Identity For The Windham Harm Reduction Coalition, Celia E. Poirier

Honors Scholar Theses

This project combines design and communication in the development of a visual identity for a local syringe exchange program. Background research revealed the legal, political, and social controversy that these programs face in the United States. Despite resounding evidence of their effectiveness at preventing HIV, many exchange programs are highly stigmatized in their communities. A new visual identity aims to overcome residents' past misconceptions about Willimantic's syringe exchange, and promotes the program as a valuable resource in town.

Normative Beliefs And Social Support In Weight Loss Communication, Jennifer Anderson, Jennifer Cornacchlone, Erin K. Maloney

Communication Studies Publications

As obesity rates have increased in the past decade, interpersonal communication about weight has taken on greater importance. In this study, we investigate normative beliefs about weight loss communication and the social support provided through such communication. A sample of N = 196 college students reported that they considered weight loss communication to be non-normative in the United States, but that they had positive attitudes toward such communication. In addition, they felt that they would be likely to engage in such conversations themselves. When given the opportunity to respond to a hypothetical weight loss communication scenario, 93% of participants provided …

A Message-Centered Approach To Understanding Young Women’S Decision-Making About Hpv Vaccination, Katharine J. Head

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The HPV vaccine represents an important step in the primary prevention of cervical cancer, yet uptake rates for the vaccine remain below what is needed to establish "herd immunity" from the virus. While many studies have examined both psychosocial and communication factors affecting HPV vaccination decisions, this study adopts a unique approach to understand the communication environment within which this health decision happens, such as the many and sometimes conflicting messages about vaccine efficacy and safety guiding young women's decisions. Using the message convergence framework, this project identifies how further study of converging and diverging messages in the communication environment …

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.

Societal, Expert, And Lay Influences, Roxanne Parrott, Michelle Miller-Day, Kathryn Peters, James Dillard

Communication Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Families are influenced by many messages about genetics and health, which then affect communication with health-care practitioners and communication within the family. Using a discourse approach, this chapter identifies the various sources of these messages and explains the influences they might exert.