Health Communication Commons^™

Let’S Chat: Willingness To Communicate And The Development Of A Destigmatizing Campaign, Ethan D. Smith

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Abstract

Low treatment rates for depression are commonly observed among young adults of typical college age in particular. Fear of social judgement makes stigma a commonly identified barrier to depression treatment. What is unclear is how the willingness of university students to communicate about depression may influence or be influenced by stigma. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Health Belief Model, the present thesis investigates the stigma attitudes of students toward depression, as well as their willingness to communicate about depression. To do this, an online survey was conducted with depression stigma scales and adapted willingness to …

The Effects Of Social Status On The Quality And Affordability Of Healthcare, Robert O. Burns

Honors College Theses

Access to healthcare is very important in today's society, as is the quality of said healthcare. The socioeconomic status (SES) of an individual is the most important factor when it comes to determining both the accessibility and quality of said care, and as such has been studied extensively. Across different countries, lower SES has been linked to the decreased affordability and success rates of medical treatments such as coronary heart disease medication or health risk prevention regimes. In many cases, low SES patients were found to be less likely to seek treatment than higher SES patients as the debt they …

The Sentence Continues: Breaking Silences And Becoming Authors Through The Semicolon Project, Brooke E. Covington

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Through its many digital platforms, The Semicolon Project, a suicide and self-harm prevention initiative, offers its users a creative means of using writing to heal. As its name suggests, the semicolon is an essential mark for this group—grammatically a semicolon represents a place in the sentence that an author could have ended and for the members of this prevention initiative, the semicolon acts in a similar way. By tattooing or drawing a semicolon on the body, the semicolon bearer embody a sense of authorial agency, positioning herself as author and using the semicolon as a representation of her dedication to …

Mental Illness Stigma In The Media, Brian Smith

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

The aim of this paper is to explore mental illness stigma and one of its primary causes, the media. Essentially the paper looks at various forms of media (e.g., prime time television, children’s programming, news media) and how they create negative perceptions of both mentally ill individuals, and those who help treat them. Previous research has shown that those with a mental illness are often depicted as violent and socially undesirable by the media. Other previous research has shown that those who treat mental illness are often depicted as unprofessional and untrustworthy by the media, creating a strong negative stigma …

Swords Into Stethoscopes: How The U.S. Military Could Conduct Medical Diplomacy, Oliver Kendall

Political Science Honors Projects

Since the early 1960’s, Cuba and China have won international appreciation by sending doctors abroad to help where they are needed. While there was surprise in some quarters when U.S. military personnel were deployed to combat Ebola in the last months of 2014, the Department of Defense actually has a long history of medical activity. In its current form, DoD medical outreach cannot likely garner soft power in the way that the Chinese and Cuban programs can, but with a few modifications, the U.S. military could be a serious conductor of medical diplomacy that would save countless lives and benefit …

National Collegiate Athletic Association Head Coaches' Satisfaction With Athletic Training Services 2015, Whitney Larson

Master's Theses

Athletic trainers and coaches have a significant amount of interaction regarding the care of an athlete. This communication and cooperation is necessary to providing effective care. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of satisfaction that head coaches have with those providing athletic training services across all three NCAA Divisions. Overall satisfaction and four satisfaction categories (professionalism, communication, knowledge/ability, and accessibility) were examined. A total of 40 head coaches from NCAA Division I, II, and III schools participated in the study. The instrument used was originally developed by Beer (2004) and was modified to fit the current …

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 …

Utilization Of Workplace Health Promotion (Whp) Programming To Improve Health Literacy, Lyric Hayden-Lanier

Symposium of Student Scholars

Organization

The organization is a municipal workplace in metro Atlanta, GA with an authorized strength of 1,500 individuals in a variety of job descriptions.

Summary of the primary program

The organization’s WHP provides knowledge and skills that seek to improve outcomes on several levels: promotion, prevention, treatment, management, and diagnostic, all of which require a certain level of health literacy for acquisition, application, and adherence.

Explanation of the evaluation plan

Health literacy has been identified as a priority area by the Department of Health and Human Services, and the workplace offers an opportunity for improvement with program dissemination of knowledge …

Message Design Logics And Messaging In The Ebola Crisis, Gregory M. Bieger

Symposium of Student Scholars

O'Keefe's (1988) theory of message design logics explains why some messages are more

persuasive than others. The first, expressive design logic, is the most basic and focuses on

expressing individual thoughts and opinions (O’Keefe, 1988). This type of message design

merely states what the persuader wants. The second, conventional design logic, appeals to

typical reasons or emotional appeals that would be suitable for any audience. The third,

rhetorical message design logic, is the most complex and sophisticated message design focusing

on achieving an agreement between the sender and receiver in which the message provides

context. Unlike conventional design logic, rhetorical …

Effect Of Females In Leadership Roles On Menstrual Sanitation In Rural Jamkhed, India, Kirsten Hughes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction: Menstruation is integral to puberty and maturation of adolescent girls. Education about menstruation and menstrual hygiene effects a woman’s physical and psychosocial health through the majority of her life.

Purpose: This study seeks to answer the following questions: Who is providing information to girls before or after their first menstruation? Is this information timely, appropriate and accurate? Is the information effective enough to see changes in menstrual practices through a family and community? In answering these questions, the study attempts to determine the pathways of communications regarding menstruation and menstrual health in the Jamkhed area of the Ahmednagar district …

The Influence Of Instagram On Exercise And Eating Behavior, Bridgette Kosek

Honors Projects in Marketing

The use of social media, specifically Instagram, of 305 Bryant University students ages 18-28 was investigated through student completion of an online survey to examine how following exercise and food related Instagram accounts impacts behavior. Both male and females use Instagram fairly equally, though males are more responsive to food Instagram accounts than females, who have no significant difference in behavior. Both males and females who follow exercise Instagram accounts are significantly more active than those who do not follow exercise Instagram accounts. Given the recent explosive use of Instagram in the population, the implications for this study are enormous, …

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 …

Attitudes Toward A Cancer Coalition: Implications For Coalition Health Communication, Chervin Lam Shih Kian

Open Access Theses

A cancer coalition is a communication hub for cancer patients that may help address cancer by promoting health and mitigating health issues. Attitudes toward a cancer coalition may be important in determining whether or not patients participate or utilize a coalition. However, little is known about the attitudes of cancer patients toward a cancer coalition, its services, and toward participation. This study addresses this gap by investigating these attitudes. The results encourage the development of a cancer coalition in states that do not yet have a coalition. Effective coalition health communication was found to be a pivotal service that cancer …

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.

The Gas Cylinder, The Motorcycle And The Village Health Team Member: A Proof-Of-Concept Study For The Use Of The Microsystems Quality Improvement Approach To Strengthen The Routine Immunization System In Uganda, Dorothy A. Bazos, Lea R. Ayers Lafave, Gautham Suresh, Kevin C. Shannon, Fred Nuwaha, Mark E. Splaine

Dartmouth Scholarship

Although global efforts to support routine immunization (RI) system strengthening have resulted in higher immunization rates, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the proportion of children receiving recommended DPT3 vaccines has stagnated at 80% for the past 3 years (WHO Fact sheet-Immunization coverage 2014, WHO, 2014). Meeting the WHO goal of 90% national DPT3 coverage may require locally based strategies to support conventional approaches. The Africa Routine Immunization Systems Essentials-System Innovation (ARISE-SI) initiative is a proof-of-concept study to assess the application of the Microsystems Quality Improvement Approach for generating local solutions to strengthen RI systems and reach those unreached …

Mymedialife - Population-Driven New Media Social Marketing And Branding, Kenny Shults, Victoria Sterkin, Emily Hanlen

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This workshop is intended for adolescent service providers and anyone interested in discovering new ways to conduct community outreach and marketing. This workshop will:

1. Examine how youth are consuming and utilizing new media in their lives, and the impacts of the new-media revolution on adolescent behavior, learning, and socialization.
2. Demonstrate how behavior science is organically infused into social marketing efforts.
3. Provide practitioners with an overview of a program that both teaches adolescents the fundamentals of social marketing (behavior-change) campaigns, but structures a process wherein youth envision, design, produce, and disseminate the campaign on behalf of the host agency.
4. Present MyMediaLife …

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 …

Validating Estimates Of Prevalence Of Non-Communicable Diseases Based On Household Surveys: The Symptomatic Diagnosis Study, Spencer L. James, Minerva Romero, Dolores Ramírez-Villalobos, Sara Gómez

Dartmouth Scholarship

Easy-to-collect epidemiological information is critical for the more accurate estimation of the prevalence and burden of different non-communicable diseases around the world. Current measurement is restricted by limitations in existing measurement systems in the developing world and the lack of biometry tests for non-communicable diseases. Diagnosis based on self-reported signs and symptoms (“Symptomatic Diagnosis,” or SD) analyzed with computer-based algorithms may be a promising method for collecting timely and reliable information on non-communicable disease prevalence. The objective of this study was to develop and assess the performance of a symptom-based questionnaire to estimate prevalence of non-communicable diseases in low-resource areas.