The aim of this study was to examine Region Uppsala's health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic by answering the following research questions: In what ways have Region Uppsala practiced health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate with immigrant groups in Uppsala county? How has Region Uppsala collaborated with civil society and local actors to practice health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic? How can Region Uppsala's communicative efforts be understood from a culture-centered perspective on health communication?   A qualitative analysis was conducted on empirical data gathered through qualitative interviews with Region Uppsala employees and representatives from SIU (Samarbetsorganisationen för Invandrarföreningar i Uppsala), Röda Korset (the Red Cross) and the cultural function Gottsunda Kulturhus provided by Uppsala Kommun (Uppsala Municipality. The data was analyzed from the theoretical framework of a culture-centered approach to health communication as described by Mohan Dutta.   From this perspective, I found that Region Uppsala adopted a linear perspective on communication where the main objective has been to provide citizens with information. Region Uppsala has identified different obstacles that could determine whether they reach immigrant groups in vulnerable areas or not. Region Uppsala does, however, reinforce the gap between the organization and immigrant groups since there is a lack of understanding of how context, agency, and dialogue can be implemented in Region Uppsala's health communication to enable participation. Through collaboration with civil society and local actors, Region Uppsala has provided arenas where immigrant groups could engage in a dialogue. This has been facilitated by the local knowledge and relationship ties that the collaborators have in vulnerable areas in Uppsala. The results implicate that Region Uppsala's health communication efforts during the pandemic have been limited to this crisis when they could have been practiced with a broader scope of social change.

Aim and research questions: This study investigates how the corona pandemic COVID-19 has been noticed and presented in the news reporting of a Danish newspaper and a Swedish newspaper in their digital news feed. The study is based on the following questions: ● What discursive themes can be identified in Danish and Swedish news reporting on COVID-19 in 2020? ● What are linguistic features used in the headline of the articles in Danish and Swedishnews media? ● How can the Danish and Swedish media reports on COVID-19 be explained by discourse analysis and theoretical framework? Method and material: The study has used a qualitative method with a critical discourse analysis that uses Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model to analyze a total of 48 articles from Aftonbladet and Kristeligt Dagblad. Main result: The study results show an overview of how news media reporting from Aftonbladet and Kristeligt Dagblad shapes the COVID-19 pandemic with four discursive themes: infection, information, restriction, and immunity. They shaped the discourses onCOVID-19 through a critical perspective in relation to the actions of politicians and authorities and their handling. Linguistic features are used to construct our society during the pandemic to capture readers' attention through the headlines. These have been in the form of metaphorical and charged words that reflect either negative or positive emotional reactions. It also highlights that the media has an influence on how things look; they can consciously or unconsciously make us feel a certain way. As a result, people perceive things differently and can sometimes misunderstand information.

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Thesis (M. A. (Communication Studies)) -- University if Limpopo, 2021 / This study was prompted by the number of people who die daily from tuberculosis (TB) in the study area. The study investigated the perceptions of Mokopane residents, and their level of understanding and knowledge of the disease, tuberculosis (TB). The aim of the study was to profile people’s perceptions of health beliefs, the causes of the increase and spread of TB and its prevention and their knowledge about TB awareness campaigns in the Mokopane area. Data was collected by means of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Ten (10) medical doctors who operate private practices in the Mokopane area were interviewed. Data was collected from four hundred and one (401) participants from both Sandsloot and Tshamahansi villages outside Mokopane. The major findings of this study showed that firstly residents have a firm belief that traditional methods cure TB; secondly, they are largely ignorant of TB, its prevention, and consequences; and lastly that there is a lack of TB related education.

Health communication campaigns in developing countries can take many different forms and make use of a wide range of communication tools. One of these tools are multimedia resources such as videos. Initiatives like the Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO) or the Global Health Media Project (GHMP) have been created for the only purpose of developing videos adapted to different cultures and languages in order to tackle a variety of health issues relevant to developing countries. The present study pretends to focus on the use of such videos for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) behavior in the context of cholera epidemic which hit Haiti in late 2010. By using comparative research procedures, three videos have been selected for content analysis from three different institutions: SAWBO, GHMP, and UNESCO Haiti. The results from this analysis served as guidelines for further survey analysis carried out through field questionnaires to a sample of the video’s target audience, that is, Haitian children aged from about 10 to 13 years old. The purpose of the study was to understand and compare the impact and effectiveness of these resources in transmitting disease prevention practices to the target audience. The results indicate that the videos usually coincided in the issues to inform about cholera, but differed in most of the features portrayed within the issues. Moreover, responses to the questionnaires reflected that the messages portrayed were only retained by an average half of the participants, with more or less success depending on the topic.

During the past forty years, Oregon voters have approved only two tax proposals; both taxes on cigarettes. The subject of this study is the campaign carried out by proponents of H.B. 3064 to pass the most recent Oregon tax referendum measure. Central to the questions asked in the investigation of the 1972 cigarette tax campaign was why the outcome of this proposal was successful. The thesis hypothesizes that the critical variable was the involvement of major socio-economic interest groups in formulating and disseminating persuasive campaign messages. The rationale for entering into such a study was the shortage of information on campaigns which focus not only on the effects of the "new politics" on the electorate, but which fill in details of significance to the historical setting within which the campaign takes place. Further, there is an apparent shortage of information on state-wide referendum campaigns which describe the campaign setting, the structure of the decision-making organization directing the campaign effort, and the voters reaction to campaign strategies. For these reasons two research methods were utilized for the descriptive case study: a field investigation and a two-part opinion survey. The former traced the historical-political situation in Oregon, action taken by the 1971 legislative assembly to correct the state budgetary dilemma, the mobilization of public and private individuals following the successful referral drive to place the cigarette tax on the ballot, and campaign strategies carried out during the 40 day period prior to the special election. By reviewing all available news reports and interviewing those persons active in the campaign, the field investigation revealed that the state was indeed threatened by budgetary crisis and that the proposed tax was the only immediately available solution. An alternative source would have required another special session, another 90 day waiting period, and the threat of another referendum. Without the tax, state agencies depending for support on revenue coming from the General Fund would face a two percent cut in funds for the 1972-73 fiscal year. It was also found in the field investigation that the cigarette tax had support from legislative leaders of both political parties; a collection of large permanent interest groups; and an array of state officials and private citizens with pocket-book interest in passing the ballot measure. Persuasive appeals developed by the involved groups focused on the fiscal impact of a tax defeat on these and other special economic groups in Oregon. Results of the second research method, the voter-leadership survey, indicated that the voters surveyed were generally accurate in assessing the participation of interest groups and were influenced by those groups most visible and state officials most vocal. It also revealed that while the voters professed to being influenced by certain groups or individuals, the reasons they gave for their vote choice were not those emphasized by the influence sources. The leadership survey found that interest group leaders were somewhat more accurate than legislators in ascribing motives to the choices voters made, but that there was a significant discrepancy between opinions of voters and opinions of the state leadership relevant to the reasons people voted as they did. As to the central question of this thesis, the investigation did confirm the proposition that interest groups made the difference in the success of the 1972 cigarette tax measure. Interest groups were effective, chiefly because of the many roles they performed in each phase of the campaign: as initiators of campaign activity, as legitimizers, as fund raisers, and as channel sources for disseminating persuasive messages to both their own members and to the general public. The study strongly suggests that it was the mediating activity of state and local influential, through the mechanisms of special interest pressure and cause groups which provided the critical margin in the vote outcome.

Patient dissatisfaction with the physician/patient relationship and medical care is well documented in both the lay press and the medical literature. This problem appears to stem from communication between physician and patient and is drawing increased attention from the communication discipline. Research conducted in interpersonal communication satisfaction theory provides a basis for this study of patient satisfaction with physician/patient communication and its relationship to the perceived quality of medical care. This paper reports two sets of interviews with a total of 108 respondents on the topic of physician/patient communication which resulted in the identification of nine salient issues which appeared to contribute strongly to patient communication satisfaction. These issues are explained in terms of three areas of communication theory: control, empathy and confirmation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The pursuit of a healthy lifestyle has become an important activity to large portions of the population. Health information and research has become readily available to the general public via the Internet and other communication vehicles and public health programs. As information becomes accessible, so too does the opportunity for individuals to take added ownership in seeking their own health care. The purpose of this research was to examine the role of gender in the decision that leads to individuals seeking regular health care. It focuses on the motivations that influence men and women when managing their regular preventative care. Despite the disparity in health care utilization between men and women, both positive and negative role models positively influence health and wellness. Constructs of masculinity and femininity continue to impact the utilization of health care procurement. Improving our health and providing a role model for our children offers the greatest potential for improving the health of our nation.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Compassion fatigue is an outcome showing a series of popular negative symptoms with an engagement of empathy among caregiving professionals. To fill the gap of related study among professionals working with child sexual abuse survivors in China, the qualitative research method was performed through nine in-depth interviews with four social workers, three psychological counselors, one lawyer, and one prosecutor. The four main results are: professionals are facing challenging working environments; professionals have intense psychological distress; professionals are not aware of their mental status; professionals are not engaged in self-care. In further discussions, the reasons for and implications of the results are explored. First, professionals are at risks of compassion fatigue. Second, cultural and social ideologies affect professionals work in helping child sexual abuse survivors; such barriers can generate compassion fatigue. Third, the language used for (child) sexual abuse impacts social ideology towards sexual abuse and sexual abuse victims. Fourth, undeveloped legislation cannot provide solid backup for professionals’ work. Fifth, there is an absence of cooperation between the public security organs and intervention service providers. In conclusion, people must be alert to compassion fatigue among professionals working with child sexual abuse survivors. The society also needs to sweep potential barriers of professionals’ work from the cultural and social ideologies. Moreover, legislation should refine to build school protection system and boys sexual abuse protection.

M. Tech. (Public Relations Management, Faculty of Human Sciences), Vaal University of Technology / Health communication has become an integral component of quality health care. However, it is not just the process of giving information, but rather an active process that facilitates the use of information to improve decision-making and change behaviour that lead to positive health outcomes. Therefore, effective communication should be encouraged by means of two-way interaction between the health practitioners and the patients. The purpose of this research study was to determine the effectiveness of health communication in the Vaal region, using Levai Mbatha clinic as a case study. The study used the mixed method design consisting of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative research design was done through the distribution of questionnaires to parents in order to ascertain how child immunisation issues are communicated to them. Simple random sampling approach was used to gather the data, and the sample size for this design was 100 parents. For the qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews was used to determine the effectiveness of health communication information as disseminated by health practitioners to parents. Purposive sampling approach was used to select six (6) health practitioners. From the descriptive results (quantitative) it was evident that there is ineffective health communication at Levai Mbatha clinic. Parents are not aware of other illnesses related to child immunisation, and they feel that it would be better if the content of communication mediums were to be written in their mother tongue. It is therefore evident that, due to lack of understanding of the content, parents cannot participate in the discussions related to child immunisation this hinders effective communication. The interviews (quantitative) revealed that health practitioners felt that much needs to be done when it comes to the dissemination of child immunisation information. They indicate that there is not enough health communication material at their disposal to distribute to parents. Furthermore, there seem to be a challenge in language when they have to communicate with parents. Consequently, the efforts to effectively communicate child immunisation to parents effectively becomes insignificant.