Health Communication最新文献

Despite the increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among lesbians, sex education and health services are often heterosexual-focused, leading them to be misinformed about their personal risks. Considering the lack of adequate discussions in offline settings, online spaces allow stigmatized groups to connect, support, and share health information. This study examines how lesbians discuss STIs on Reddit through an analysis guided by the theoretical perspective of the health belief model. A total of 394 posts/comments containing STI-related keywords were observed across six subreddits: r/AskLesbians, r/actuallesbians, r/ActuallyLesbian, r/LesbianActually, r/latebloomerlesbians, and r/lesbian. Results show that users express low perceived susceptibility of STIs and suggest that protection is only necessary when penial intercourse is involved. Despite the belief that protection is effective at preventing STIs, dental dams are not often used due to their inconvenience and testing is an adequate replacement. Perceived barriers to engage in safer sexual practices further complicate users' sexual health decisions. We identify cases where the subreddits serve as cues for action as users actively encouraged others to use protection and get tested. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

As an arts-based cripistemological communication study, we consider how the blind and visually impaired (BVI) manifest wellbeing through sensorial acuities that draw from contextual capacity, affective ranges, and polyvalent meanings through multi-modal offerings. We specifically home in on a context developed for the BVI; that is, the Taha Hussein for the Visually Impaired library (THL), a wing of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) located in Alexandria, Egypt. The BA mission is twofold: to be a center that disseminates knowledge and to be a place of dialogue. Understanding the THL as an institution created through communication practice within a local Islamic culture, we interpret those BVI discursive practices through a cripistemological framework and offer our findings as an arts-based ethnographic communication study. Crip theory rejects comparisons to the able-bodied and seeks to comprehend disability through its agentic possibilities. We present these possibilities via three textual art forms that promote BVI sensorial acuities as exemplars of wellbeing. These exemplars are expressed as passages of opacity. The three passages of opacity include opacities of the contextualized individual, opacities of collective joy, and opacities of polyvalent modalities. These aesthetically cued, evocatively presented opacities demonstrate how BVI positionality and local Islamic context overlap to inspire BVI wellbeing that could arguably be practiced by all.

Previous studies have investigated the effects of metaphors in health communication. Yet, relatively little attention has been given to variations in metaphor usage when people talk about a particular disease, and what functions these metaphors may have in different communication contexts. The aim of this paper is to study the effects of metaphors in the communication of Dry Eye Syndrome (DES), which has developed into a prevalent eye disease. A systematic metaphor analysis was applied to 15 extensive blog entries and 308 survey responses which reflect people's first-hand experiences on having dry eyes. The results showed that communication about DES is highly metaphorical and that metaphors vary in terms of underlying concepts (i.e., journey, war) and in their level of creativity in different communication contexts. When patients talk about treatments and experiences with doctors and about quality of life, conventional metaphors are overrepresented and patients often use metaphors related to a journey. When they talk about symptoms, creative metaphors are overrepresented and patients often refer to eyes/vision as objects. Paying attention to these variations provides deeper insights into how people experience and deal with DES. In a follow-up study, we asked DES patients (n = 66) which metaphors they consider particularly appropriate to describe their experience with DES. We found that personification and war-related metaphors got the highest appropriateness-ratings. Concluding, we discuss how the attention to metaphors might contribute to a more effective communication of DES in different communication contexts.

The current literature lauds patient-centered communication for its potential to improve patient health outcomes, particularly by enhancing social support. However, this study presents a more nuanced and even contrasting narrative. Grounded in Minority Stress Theory and utilizing secondary survey data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 6), the study uncovers three key findings. First, gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals experience greater health disparities than heterosexuals, reporting notably lower levels of patient-centered communication and subjective well-being (both hedonic and eudaimonic) while higher levels of sense of social isolation. Second, patient-centered communication has the potential to either enhance or worsen both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being by alleviating or exacerbating perceived social isolation. Third, this mediation mechanism is not exclusive to gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals but applies to heterosexuals as well. Given that patient-centered communication can both mitigate and exacerbate patients' feelings of social isolation and that sense of social isolation remains a pervasive concern across populations (minority groups in particular), this study underscores the critical need for developing culturally competent healthcare environments for all (minority groups), extending beyond sexual orientation.

Using gendered racism theory, we explored the relations between partner communication, ethnic identity affirmation, and stress appraisal of silencing and marginalizing gendered racial microaggressions (e.g. expressions intended to ignore, challenge, or make Black women feel invisible) on Black emerging adult women's condom-use intentions. We hypothesized that Black emerging adult women with a lower ethnic identity affirmation who rarely discuss safe sex practices with past sexual partners would report lower intentions to use condoms in the future when stress levels from being silenced and marginalized are higher. Participants, 135 Black emerging adult women who have sex with men and live in the United States, completed the survey online. As expected, findings revealed a significant positive relationship between partner communication and condom-use intention. In addition, the interaction between ethnic identity affirmation and silencing and marginalizing gendered racial microaggressions moderated the relationship mentioned above. Findings and implications for sexual health interventions and future research are presented in the context of Black women's sexual relationships.

Stigma interferes with all aspects of opioid use disorder (OUD) recovery. One way to reduce public stigma of OUD is through exposure to a type of digital storytelling, in which the public is exposed to outgroup storytellers sharing their experiences with recovery in short videos or narratives posted online. The past two decades have seen an explosion in digital storytelling projects, but we still have much to understand about why exposure to digital stories reduces public stigma. We drew upon theorizing in narrative persuasion, mediated intergroup contact, and character construction to make a predictive model. In addition, we considered how differences in the end of a recovery plot (e.g., abstinence) shape narrative processes and effects. The theorized model and research questions were tested with an experiment (N = 232) informed by a real digital story from the StoryPowered Initiative. The results showed support for the theoretical model: exposure to a digital recovery story reduced negative stereotypes and promoted willingness to have future interactions with people living with OUD via narrative involvement, character fluidity, intergroup anxiety, intergroup ease, and outgroup variability. The results also showed that, compared to other conditions, a recovery plot that included medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) then abstinence resulted in stronger perceptions of character fluidity, which, in turn, predicted the mechanisms and outcomes of stigma reduction. We consider the theoretical and practical implications of these results.

UK national guidelines recommend how healthcare professionals should communicate with patients. However, the impact of following, or violating, these guidelines on how much the healthcare professional is respected, liked, or trusted, and the mechanisms underpinning, and consequences of, these perceptions have not been tested. To address these gaps, two UK-based, pre-registered studies using within-subjects designs required participants to rate how much they respect, like and trust general practitioners (GPs), as well as how competent, assertive, moral, and warm they are, and their commitment to adhere to their advice. After these baseline assessments, participants were presented with a series of vignettes where hypothetical GPs violated (Study 1, N = 329, and Study 2, N = 329) and followed (Study 2 only) recommended communication guidelines. Violations reduced respect for GPs more than liking and liking more than trust. Following communication guidelines increased liking for GPs the most followed by trust and respect the least. Violations of, and following, communication guidelines impacted (reduced/increased, respectively) patients' commitment to treatment adherence via trust, primarily, as well as respect. Summarizing information and checking patients have understood the most important information impacted how GPs were evaluated more than the other tested communication recommendations, suggesting this specific recommendation could be prioritized over the other tested recommendations. Furthermore, by impacting how much patients trust and, to a lesser extent, respect their GP, how committed patients are to following treatment advice could be affected by how GPs communicate with their patients.

Through the theoretical lens of the Strength of Weak Ties Theory, this study examined medical advice sought within a self-harm subreddit. Using a social constructionist epistemology and employing a Reflexive Thematic Analysis, we explored 596 inquiries for medical advice about nonsuicidal self-injury-related injuries, wounds, and scar care. Five overarching themes were identified: (a) pleading for wound care help from weak-ties, (b) expressing fear of hospitalization deterring requests to strong-ties, (c) seeking validation for harm-reduction from weak-ties (d) asking weak-ties how to navigate unexpected outcomes, and (e) requesting help from weak-ties to conceal wounds, injuries, and scars from strong-ties. Our findings align with previous research by describing Reddit as a valuable resource when strong-ties are inaccessible or unapproachable. They extend the existing literature by highlighting users' frequently asserted preference for online medical inquiries due to stigma and involuntary hospitalization fears often associated with medical and mental health providers. We discuss the need for injury and wound care best practices in accessible spaces while offering theoretical and practical implications for key stakeholders. Given the frequent spread of mis/disinformation on user-generated social networks, we also emphasize the importance of users' verifying the accuracy of medical advice received before implementing suggestions received online from anonymous weak ties connections. Ultimately, this study highlights the nuances between online medical inquiries, social support, and barriers to accessible and empathetic healthcare for individuals engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury.

In May 2023, the Australian Federal Government announced further restrictions on the sale of vaping devices, partly due to concern over widespread use by young people. We conducted a mixed methods study to examine how youth vaping has been reported in the Australian news media and compare these articles to media guidelines on responsible reporting of drug use. Drawing a sample from the Factiva database, we conducted quantitative content analysis on stories published in the Australian news media from 2018 to 2023, comparing them against guidelines published by the organization Mindframe. We also conducted a qualitative social semiotic analysis on four exemplar articles purposively sampled from a 10% subset of the articles analyzed in the content analysis. The content analysis sample included 410 articles. News Corp published 242 stories compared to 74 for Nine Entertainment, 69 for independent sources, 19 for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and six for the Australian Associated Press. News Corp also recorded the highest prevalence of sensationalist language (43.8%), and the lowest frequency of seeking expert opinion (57.9%) or including help-seeking information (4.1%). The qualitative image analysis demonstrated how stock and promotional photography can sometimes glamourise vaping in ways that are reductive and emotive, while also being potentially promotional for younger audiences. The risks of sensationalist coverage include normalizing youth vaping, increased public confusion regarding the likely relative risks of vaping and smoking, and an emphasis on policies that focus on narrow policy goals.

Linguistic research on communication regarding the values, wishes, and needs of patients with advanced cancer in the palliative phase is limited, resulting in an inadequate understanding of clinicians' communication. To explore the verbal expressions used by hospital oncology clinicians regarding the VWN of patients with advanced cancer in the palliative phase and to examine the clinician's speech acts and speech act patterns employed during outpatient consultations. A secondary linguistic analysis was performed. Physicians, nurse practitioners and nurses were previously recruited. Content analysis was performed to explore what clinicians expressed verbally about VWN during semi-structured interviews (N = 7). Functional pragmatic analysis was conducted to identify the clinician's speech acts and speech act patterns employed during outpatient consultations (N = 7). Speech acts encompass words/phrases used to perform functions in communication. Speech act patterns were combinations of speech acts used to achieve communicative goals. Clinicians were interviewed once and/or observed multiple times. Eleven clinicians participated. Three findings reveal clinicians' expressions about VWN: 1) Prioritizing patients' VWN in patient-clinician interactions, 2) Trying to understand perspectives of advanced illness, and 3) Seeking to facilitate dialogue on coping with advanced illness. Four findings describe the clinician's speech acts and patterns: 1) Discussing the treatment goal, 2) Focusing on action, 3) Providing Limited Space to Discuss Patients' VWN and 4) Responding to patient emotions. Clinicians did not adequately address patients' VWN in their communication, thereby limiting opportunities for patients to discuss it. The study's findings contribute to improving communication training materials in palliative care.