Health Communication Commons^™

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 …

Communication & The Body Positivity Movement, Alyssa Cannaday

Student Scholar Showcase

The Body Positivity Movement has gained a presence on social media. In this study, social media outlets were examined (such as Twitter and Instagram) to explore the communication within the movement, both from those advocating body positivity and from individuals responding in the comments. A variety of respondents, most of whom were women, give a broad perspective of the movement as a whole. Some respondents who contribute their viewpoints have educational backgrounds in counseling or work in the field. Themes uncovered in this study reveal the Body Positivity Movement to be welcoming, open minded, and expressive of messages of self-love …

Los Microcosmos De La Interculturalidad? Una Mirada Al Cómo Los Trabajadores De La Salud Biomédica De Orígen Indígena Relacionan Con Los Modelos De Salud Tradicional Y Occidental, Taylor Lord

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: How does a biomedical health professional with indigenous roots in Chile relate the biomedical model of healthcare with the alternative indigenous model in their practice?

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to understand how and if a biomedical health professional with indigenous roots relates and integrates two models of healthcare in their daily practice. A Secondary objective was analyzing if integration affects philosophy of care in relation to patients in critical conditions. In sum, it looked to study biomedical health professionals with indigenous roots as potential microcosms of interculturality that can demonstrate the benefits of a …

Internamente Solo: Escuchando Y Resistiendo La Soledad De Adultos Mayores En La Araucanía, Chile / Internally Alone: Hearing And Resisting The Loneliness Of Seniors In La Araucanía, Chile, Grace Ellrodt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: Which current patterns drive or diminish loneliness among seniors of the Region of the Araucanía in the city of Temuco and surrounding rural communes?

Objectives: Understand and interpret the roots and the antidotes of the loneliness phenomenon experienced by seniors in Temuco and surrounding communes in the present moment.

Identify and analyze the drivers of pathological elder loneliness in structural, intermediary, and proximal factors.

Highlight the perspectives and narratives of seniors, community leaders, and health resources with respect to strategies to reduce the crisis.

Background: Currently, the population of seniors has risen and will continue to rise in …

Characterizing Systems Of Reporting And Mitigating Anthrax Outbreaks Near Mto Wa Mbu, Monduli District, Tanzania, Megan Levy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Northern Tanzania has experienced several anthrax outbreaks in the recent past. In Monduli district, an outbreak in 2016 prompted an organization of district officials to create an updated outbreak response action plan. The pastoralist community is often affected by these outbreaks due to their frequent direct contact with cattle and herds’ proximity to wild species potentially affected by the disease. This characterization of the existing systems of reporting and mitigating anthrax outbreaks was accomplished through structured interviews with ward and village officers, local veterinarians, and members of the pastoralist community in Monduli district near Mto wa Mbu. The purpose of …

Sirva Todos Como Un Hermano: Las Filosofías De Los Médicos Tradicionales Mapuches Hacia Los Pacientes Winka, Andrew Turner

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, the popularity of traditional Mapuche medicine has increased drastically among non-Mapuche, Winka, Chileans. This increase in the soliciting of services as well as an expansion of intercultural health programming exists within the context of the ongoing Mapuche conflict in which Mapuche activists in the Araucunía region are fighting for the territorial and societal rights of their indigenous communities. To ascertain the effects of Winka medical solicitation on Mapuche medical practioners, semi-structured interviews were utilized. 8 Mapuche medical practioners and associated community members such as intercultural hospital directors and Lonkos were interviewed. Participants were questioned about the personal …

Vaccine Hesitancy In The United States And Switzerland, Anna E. Lunderberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vaccine hesitancy (VH), or the reluctance or refusal to participate in vaccination programs, is a complex phenomenon with far-reaching impacts on society. VH can impact vaccine uptake and facilitate subsequent outbreaks, as seen with the case of measles. Perceptions of vaccination are similar in the United States and Switzerland, and misinformation in each country contributed to VH through impaired parental risk-benefit analysis; parental analysis and subsequent VH is associated with both anti-vaccination messages gaining prominence and a decrease in the public perception of the health risk from vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). There are many proposed strategies for addressing VH on both …

Source Effects Of Health Information And Digital Health Literacy Among College Students: An Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective, Julia Morton

LSU Master's Theses

While advertising and persuasion is a widely researched area in mass communication, the impact of health marketing on consumer behavior remains a relatively new arena. The complex health information landscape online is comprised of both public health organizations seeking to improve health behaviors as well as businesses seeking to sell their products or services. It is well documented in the communication literature that the source of information can impact the recipient in a multitude of ways. Digital health literacy is undoubtedly an essential skill for anyone interacting with health information online, spurring the question, do individuals with low and high …

Health Information Seeking As A Coping Strategy To Reduce The Stress Of Informal Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease And Other Forms Of Dementia, Nia Francis Mason

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between information seeking and the perceived stress levels of informal Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers. An additional component was added to determine whether health literacy and emotional state moderated the relationship.

The study involved conducting qualitative interviews followed by collecting survey data to answer the following research questions: 1) What motivating factors lead informal AD caregivers to seek out information? How do their information needs change? Why do informal caregivers choose to utilize certain resources more than others? Is there a correlation between information seeking and resulting stress levels? Does health literacy moderate the association between …

Entertainment-Education Has A Potential Source For Comprehensive Sexuality Education: A Content Analysis Of The Netflix Series Big Mouth, Kristina Medero

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Health communication researchers have studied the potential for entertainment-education, to increase health literacy amongst adolescents regarding sexuality education (Moyer-Guse, 2008). This study will analyze the Netflix series Big Mouth with normative theoretical framework laid out by Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (2008) to provide support about the extent to which the series can act as a potential source for comprehensive sexuality education. This content analysis of Big Mouth will potentially provide a significant level comprehensive sexuality education to its audience, p < .05 through a one-way ANOVA that will test topics covered, relevance of social context, and inclusivity of material presented in the series.

Trying To Save The Game(R): Understanding The Meaning-Making Process Of Youtube Subscribers Surrounding Mental Health And Video Game Vlogging, Maria Mickles

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Through technological innovation and the rise of digital media platforms, many young adults are afforded the opportunity to spend their lives on the Internet. Not only is a large amount of time spent on the Internet by most people, but young adults are making media sharing-platforms, specifically YouTube, part of their daily lives (Westenberg, 2016, p. 8). YouTube allows content creators to produce videos that not only attract audiences of different ages and geographic location, but, too, create an intimate bond between creator and subscriber, allowing each party to communicate and engage in content related activities through the comments section …

Language And Culture As Barriers To Healthcare For Chinese Immigrants, Edwin Leung

University Honors Theses

Immigrants and their descendants are projected to account for 88 percent of United States population growth through 2065. Currently, immigrants make up for about 13.5 percent of the US population. In addition, 65.5 million Americans speak a language other than English at home. Language and culture are the two most significant barriers faced by immigrants seeking health care. These barriers have a significant impact on immigrants’ ability to receive quality care, make them more vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Many resources exist to help immigrants with various needs including health care. However, more effort is needed to strengthen the resources …

Translating Antimicrobial Resistance: A Case Study Of Context And Consequences Of Antibiotic-Related Communication In Three Northern Thai Villages, Nutcha Charoenboon, Marco J. Haenssgen, Penporn Warapikuptanun, Thipphaphone Xayavong, Yuzana Khine Zaw

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens to cause ten million deaths annually by 2050, making it a top item on the global health agenda. The current global policy response is multi-faceted, wherein behavioural dimensions like people’s medicine use are being predominantly addressed with education and communication campaigns. The social sciences literature suggests that cross-contextual translation of medical knowledge in global awareness campaigns can create misunderstandings and adverse behavioural responses. However, the consequences of AMR communication in low-income and middle-income contexts remain largely undocumented. In response to the empirical knowledge gap, this study presents the case study of educational activity in three northern …

Simulation Enhances Soft Skills Among Inter-Professionals Participating In An International Service-Learning Experience To A Resource-Limited Country, Suzanne Trotter, Sharon Dunnivan-Mitchell

Physical Therapy Collection

Soft skills are the hallmark of a master healthcare provider. One of the most effective ways to teach soft skills is through service-learning. Evidence suggests that adding simulation as part of a service-learning team’s pre-departure training (PDT) will better prepare them to resolve ethical and cultural dilemmas plus facilitate soft skills. We hypothesized that simulation could improve soft skills of healthcare providers delivering rehabilitation services on a one-week service-learning experience in Guatemala

A convenience sample of 21 physical and occupational therapy students and clinicians who participated in four 1-hour PDTs were included in this qualitative study using grounded-theory methods. Training …

Structural Justice: A Critical Feminist Framework Exploring The Intersection Between Justice, Equity And Structural Reconciliation., Camille Burnett, Michael Swanberg, Ashley Hudson, Donna Schminkey

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Violence against women is a human rights violation (UN, 2006). It affects the health of women globally (UN, 2009) and its elimination is at the heart of many international and national goals. Intimate partner violence (IPV), one of the most common forms of gender-based violence, affects one in three women worldwide (WHO, 2013). The consequences of IPV create negative health outcomes for women that diminish their quality of life and their overall well-being. Abused women access community supports such as shelters to seek safe refuge from the abuse and restore their lives. While shelters play an extensive role in helping …

The Role Of Risk Tolerance In Publics’ Health Risk Perception And Responses, Hyoyeun Jun, Yen-I Lee

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

To better understand how uncertainty influences publics’ risk perception and responses, this study introduced risk tolerance as a new concept to public relations literature and then investigated how publics react to health risks with different temporal distances: climate change and foodborne illness. Through an online survey, this study found out that uncertainty, induced by risk temporal distance, leads to varied risk tolerance, which subsequently influences where and how people seek and share risk information.

Understanding Flu Vaccination Acceptance Among U.S. Adults: The Health Belief Model And Media Sources, Tong Xie, Connor Grady, Michael Cacciatore, Glen Nowak

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

Based on previous studies about the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the reinforcing relationship between media selectivity or preference and individual’s behavior, this study used a national representative adult sample to assess flu vaccination as the result of an appraisal of relevant health beliefs, trust towards the authoritative entities (e.g. CDC & FDA) and vaccine-related media information, in addition to one’s existing behavior pattern. Results showed that not-vaccinated individuals differ significantly in their vaccine-related health believes and the trust towards the authoritative information sources. This group acquired less recommendation from health care providers and more negative sentiments about flu vaccine …

Perceptions Of Risk Of Health Disparities Amid Previously Identified Political Corruption And Ageism In Slovakia, Marta N. Lukacovic, Deborah D. Sellnow-Richmond, Monika Durechova

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

This study examines the role of traditional versus new media’s impact on citizens’ perceptions of risk within elder care. We analyzed survey data from 112 Slovak citizens regarding their social network activity and perceptions of corruption, ageism, and health disparities in the Slovak elder care system. Previous research (Lukacovic, Sellnow-Richmond, & Durechova, under contract) identified three prominent sociopolitical issues present in the Slovak medical system among Slovak UGC discourse regarding Slovak healthcare inequity: corruption, threats to dignity, and discrimination. Here, we examined the extent to which social media users perceive the prevalence and subsequent risk of experiencing health disparities within …

Social Aspects Of Food-Sensitive Adults, Jean Elizabeth Duane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People living with food-related illnesses find themselves subjugated by commonly held ideologies causing awkwardness in social situations. The current study is a qualitative analysis addressing how people with celiac disease (CD) navigate social situations in light of dominant beliefs that influence behaviors. Initially, I identify macro-level patriarchal, religious, sexist, ableist and etiquette-related commensality ideologies that disadvantage those with CD. Drawing from the communication narrative sense making (CNSM) theory that supports storytelling and memorable messages as a sense-making tool for individuals diagnosed with chronic illness and their family members, this work highlights retrospective stories and memorable messages from 20 randomly selected …

Communication In Health Professions (Online Course), Elizabeth Gill

Syllabi

A study of the role communication plays in health professions. The course focuses on the impact of communication on patient-provider interactions and health-related outcomes. Communication skill development and communicative best practices for a variety of healthcare providers are emphasized.