Health disparities by race in the United States have been persistent over decades and one possible reason for that could be that physicians are communicating differently with different races. The purpose of this study was to systematically review literature regarding the relationship of patient race/ethnicity with physician-patient communication. The overall project of which this is a part is a mixed methods review, but my part of the study involved only studies using observational data such as audio and video recordings of physician-patient encounters. This study investigated research that compares physician communication with patients across a wide range of ethnic groups, including multiple communication behaviors. Eighteen different content analysis-based studies were identified and analyzed. Most of the studies drew a comparison between White patients and Black patients. Physicians were more likely to use more positive affective behavior with White patients than Black patients. All of the other analyses did not show a difference by race. Overall, few studies showed whether any racial differences affect health outcomes of patients.

This paper outlines the development of a second screen marketing campaign to raise awareness of the importance of hydration among male students at The University of Texas at Austin. Existing literature, communication theories, and current second screen campaigns are used to inform campaign development. The development process and key recommendations for this, and future second screen marketing campaigns, is then discussed. / text

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which elements of culture (values, beliefs, and behaviors) have contributed to the construction of health meaning in regards to 2014 Ebola outbreak in Guinea. I conducted 14 interviews with people who lived in Guinea during the 2014 Ebola outbreak about their own experiences of the crisis and how health related messages were received by the general population. All the participants in this study were between 25 and 56 with an average age of 41. All participants agreed that culture played a crucial role in how people perceived the disease. It has also impacted the way people responded the prevention plans. When the ones did not believe in the existence of the disease, others did believe but because of certain customs, they were unable to follow public health safety recommendation.

This study analyses warehoused data collected by Georgia State University and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (GSU/CDC) researchers after developing an HIV testing message for urban adults with low functional health literacy. It expands previous work by examining data collected when 202 primarily African-American homeless clients of an urban community based organization (CBO) reviewed both the low literacy brochure (Wallace et. al., 2006) and a standard HIV brochure (Georgia Department of Human Resources, 1997). Participants’ health literacy was assessed using 2 measures; the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine or REALM (Davis, Crouch, Long & Green) and the Test of Functional Health Literacy Assessment or TOFHLA (Nurss, Parker & Baker, 2001). HIV risk was determined using an interview questionnaire developed by the research group (Belcher, Deming, Hunter & Wallace, 2005) which allowed participants to self-report recent alcohol and drug use, sexual behavior, sexually transmitted disease (STD) history and exposure to abuse and sexual coercion. Open-ended response questions regarding readability, understanding, main message, and importance for each brochure provided the qualitative data.This analysis confirms previous work showing accessibility, readability, cultural sensitivity and user-friendly formatting are important when attempting to engage at-risk adults with varying levels of functional health literacy in an HIV testing message. The visual aspects of the brochure can be essential in capturing the reader’s attention and should be relevant to the target audience (Wallace, Deming, Hunter, Belcher & Choi, 2006). Mono-colored graphics may be perceived as dated and irrelevant or worse yet, threatening to some readers. Whenever possible culturally appropriate color photos of people depicting relevant content should replace excess text and difficult medical terms should be eliminated. Wording on the cover and within the brochure should be used to focus the reader on a single main message.This data also shows that many participants considered the quantity of information just as important. For reasons not elucidated here, many respondents equated quantity of information with message quality. Based on these results it is important to further clarify how much information is enough to maintain legitimacy and the reader’s attention while simultaneously avoiding confusing mixed messages.

<div> <div> <div> <p>Mental illness historically has had a stigma surrounding it. For years that was my understanding of mental illness as well. To be able to see mental illness and its treatments in a healthy way, I had to suffer a radical change to my life. The beginning of this paper is my story as to how I came to understand mental illness in a different light. Following that, Ch. 2 explores a brief history of mental illness and how it has been treated in society. Next, it delves into the current social narrative about mental health and what the entertainment industry is doing to either help or hurt the de-stigmatization. Lastly, the personal narrative is analyzed. The story an individual tells themselves is influenced by many different elements. </p> <p>This is something on which more research needs to be done. Individual’s perceptions about mental health impact their likelihood to seek help. To explore this, I surveyed 379 people to address their personal beliefs of mental illness. To analyze the data, I split the respondents into groups of those diagnosed and those that have not been diagnosed. Of the four hypotheses, only one group was supported. After that, I ran a post hoc analysis looking at perceived societal views and that came out much stronger. Additional research needs to be done on perceived societal views and how that impacts an individual’s decision to express concerns or seek help for mental illness. </p> </div> </div> </div>

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This thesis examines how trade unions are meeting the two-fold challenge of a fall in youth unionisation and a changed media usage amongst youth. The researcher attempts to answer this question by examining how three different trade unions (Sveriges Ingenjörer, SI, Kommunal and Hotell och Restaurang facket, HRF) are communicating with a younger generation for the purpose of recruiting them. The thesis is based on a theoretical framework derived from communications theories and practices specifically aimed at youth, as well as theories about union recruitment strategies, civic engagement and the logic of collective action (since unions represent collective interests). The researcher has applied a qualitative approach where the thesis rests on in-depth interviews with different respondents. The findings of the thesis reveal that all the unions have started to face up to the challenge of falling youth unionisation (by applying the advice put forward in literature on youth and health communications, and union recruitment literature). However, the findings note that the unions have applied the advice to varying extent, with Sveriges Ingenjörer being furthest ahead. In addition, the findings illustrate that the unions seem to be responding to the challenge of a changing media usage amongst youth. Yet, the researcher believes that the unions might do well in exploring a more participatory style of communication, since youth today have started to expect a higher degree of participation in their communication online. The findings also highlight that both Kommunal and HRF seem to be facing tougher challenges than Sveriges Ingenjörer in communicating with youth for the purposes of recruiting them because of differences between the sectors the unions organise.Finally, the findings reveal that the unions communicate with youth in accordance with Olson’s theory of logic of collective action (Congleton, 2015), which highlights that individuals will only join a union if there is an individual gain to offset the union fee.

Dans nos sociétés modernes, la santé et le bien-être des individus occupent une place de plus en plus grande, ce qui a conduit les chercheurs en marketing à s'intéresser aux problématiques liées à la promotion de la santé (Block et Keller, 1995; Cox et Cox, 2001; Keller et alii, 2003; Zhao et Pechman, 2007). Sur la base des recherches qui étudient les stratégies de communication susceptibles de provoquer le changement comportemental, ce travail doctoral cherche à répondre à la problématique suivante : comment améliorer l'efficacité des communications de santé ? Par le biais de deux expérimentations menées aux Etats-Unis entre 2009 et 2010, cette recherche étudie l'effet de deux caractéristiques du message, à savoir, le cadrage des conséquences du message (gains versus pertes) et l'objectif annoncé de la communication (prévention versus dépistage). Les résultats soulignent notamment qu'un cadrage de gains provoque une attitude plus favorable envers la recommandation, une intention plus élevée de la suivre ainsi que des intentions d'échanges et de recherche d'information plus élevées, ce qui est d'autant plus vrai lorsque l'objectif annoncé est celui du dépistage. Cette recherche apporte également une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes impliqués en montrant qu'un message de pertes provoque une imagerie mentale de valence plus négative et que la valence des images mentales est médiatrice de l'effet du cadrage. Ce travail doctoral donne lieu à des contributions théoriques, qui permettent d'éclairer la littérature sur les communications de santé, ainsi qu'à des contributions managériales, qui apportent des enseignements aux décideurs des communications de santé. / In our modern societies, individuals' health and well-being is a major concern which elicits marketing academics' interest to health promotion research questions (Block and Keller, 1995; Cox and Cox, 2001; Keller et alii, 2003; Zhao and Pechman, 2007). Based on research studying communication's strategies that could induce behavioral change, this doctoral work aims at answering the following research question: how to improve health communications effectiveness? Using two experiments conducted during 2009 and 2010 in the United-States, this research studies two message's characteristics, the message frame (gains versus losses) and the communication's promoted objective (prevention versus detection). Results highlight that a gain-framed message produces a more favorable attitude toward the recommendation, a higher intention to follow it and higher intentions to converse and to look for information, results that are even truer when communication's objective is detection. This research brings a better comprehension of depth processes involved, showing that a loss-framed message induces a valence of mental imagery which is more negative than a gain-framed message and that the valence of mental imagery mediates the effect of message framing. This doctoral work brings theoretical contributions, which add to health communications literature as well as managerial contributions, which bring learning to health communications managers.

Disaster victims and vulnerable populations are audiences that communications professionals and scholars have ignored. Public relation practices dominate current disaster communication policy. This study examines the disaster communication network, including policy and practice, of the Thai Red Cross, before, during, and after the Asian tsunami. Disaster communication(s) is defined as the sharing and exchange of information with the victims immediately affected by a disaster. This definition focuses specifically on the vulnerable audience and allows response efforts to emerge from multiple disciplines. Focusing response efforts on victims' assessed needs and abilities allows for a multi-disciplinary approach to mitigate further suffering. The disciplines of health, development, and communications converge for efficient disaster management. This case study gives great insight into the cultural chasm between policy making and practical application and also reveals the value of personal initiative. A proposed model of disaster communication is offered. Significantly more research is needed in the area of disaster communications.

Il 40 per cento degli intervistati afferma che non ha trovato informazioni esaustive sui rischi e benefici dei farmaci trovati, mentre il 52 per cento afferma che le informazioni trovate hanno aiutato a seguire le indicazioni e i consigli del medico. Tra i rispondenti che si sono sottoposti a visita medica e che hanno discusso le informazioni trovate online con il proprio medico di fiducia, l'84 per cento ha ricevuto la prescrizione di farmaci. Di questi, solo il 17 per cento riporta che il farmaco prescritto era lo stesso trovato online, il 74 per cento è stato inviato da uno specialista e l'80 per cento ha ricevuto una prescrizione per test diagnostici. Più della metà dei rispondenti ha anche riportato azioni intraprese dal medico diverse dalla prescrizione del farmaco trovato online. Il 20 per cento degli intervistati afferma che le informazioni trovate sul farmaco da prescrizione in Internet hanno ridotto il suo / la sua fiducia nel medico, mentre il 41 per cento afferma che lo ha aiutato ad avere una comunicazione migliore con il proprio medico di fiducia. Nonostante le preoccupazioni sulle conseguenze negative della comunicazione di salute online, non abbiamo riscontrato differenze in termini di effetti sulla salute tra i pazienti che hanno assunto i farmaci “menzionati” online e coloro che hanno preso altri farmaci da prescrizione. / We conducted a national online survey about health care experiences associated with digital communication of prescription drugs. 46 percent of the sample (265 adults) found information about prescription drugs during their online search in the last 12 months. 40 percent of respondents agreed they didn’t find exhaustive information about risks and benefits while 52 percent agreed it helped in following their physician’s indications and advise. Among the respondents who had a physician visit during which health information found online was discussed, 84 percent received a drug prescription with only 17 percent being the same drug found on internet, 74 percent was sent to a specialist and 80 percent received a diagnostic test prescription. More than half also reported actions taken by their physician other than prescribing the drug brand found online. 20 percent respondents states that info found on the prescription drug in Internet reduced his/her trust in the physician while 41 percent states it helped in his/her communication with physician. Despite concerns about online health communication’s negative consequences, we found no differences in health effects between patients who took “advocated”/”mentioned” drugs and those who took other prescription drugs.