Health communication

Chapter discussion 5, 6 & 8

SHOULD BE 3 separate discussions

Chapter 5: Dillon & Basu

African Americans and hospice care

Study tasks:

read chapter 5 of Narrating patienthood and watch Dillon’s video on the broader concerns that this research speaks to. see also the web pages of the authors for their identity as scholars and take a look at their recent publications:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PMTEw7O8A1DCsjk4zZVFVYgJCu6P2PBi/view?ts=5e41b788 (

Link

s to an external site.)

Background to both authors:

see web pages:

https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/departments/communication/people/faculty/abasu.aspx (Links to an external site.)

https://www.kent.edu/comm/patrick-dillon (Links to an external site.)

Discussion questions to address in your reply post:

1. So, why is the use of hospice care an “issue” among African-American people/communities in the US?

2. How does this particular research project speak more broadly to the importance of considering race and ethnicity in health communication and health care use/access/inequity (remember also Orbe’s personal account)?

3. (If it has) how has your race/ethnicity had an impact on health communication and health care experiences?

4. What are the current/borader concerns that Dillon identifies in his video (Note their new book along with Spieldenner [see Narrating patienthood ch 10]: Post Aids Discourse in health communication).

https://www.routledge.com/Post-AIDS-Discourse-in-Health-Communication-Sociocultural-Interpretations/Basu-Spieldenner-Dillon/p/book/9780367430481

5. How is the chapter structured and how do they use narrative(s)?

NEXT

read ch 6 by Meluch: A stage IV breast cancer patient narrative and view her video that acompanies the chapter:

examine her web page and chapter video for background about her scholarly identity.

https://arts.iusb.edu/faculty/communication-studies/andrea-meluch.html (Links to an external site.)

https://uakron.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=4beaa584-d524-4739-b735-ab61010996c3 (Links to an external site.)

Background:

This is one of the few chapters that really speaks to neglect and poor health care provider practices based (partly) on the (class) identity and communication of the patient, as well as the quality of care she receives.

recognze that doctor patient interactions are often (but not always) very “classed” moments–is they involve people of wide disparity in socio-economic status. Sometimes these differences make real differences.

This is a frustrating and quite scary story–but thankfully she survives by finally finding good care.

narrative questions

engage with Riley’s story as told to us by Andrea Meluch within her frame of discussion and address the following questions:

1 what specific differences does Riley’s background, and her communication in health care settings, make to the care she gets?

2 how might disparities relating to cancer diagnosis and treatment (who you are and where you are in America) make a difference in care and even survival rates?

3 how do you think you express your socio-economic  background in doctor patient communication settings and in health care more generally?

4 How is the chapter structured and how does the author use narrative to create an effective chapter?

reflection to post:

post a brief reflection to Riley’s story and Meluch’s framework through the above questions, and explain how if at all this chapter might speak to what you are interested in exploring for your research for this class. What can you take from the scholar and patient featured?

NEXT READ chapter 8

Queer patienthood Narrating Patienthood ch 8

Queer patienthood (Sexual (minority) identity and health communication)

Laura Brown’s web info and video

https://commstudies.utexas.edu/faculty/laura-brownLinks to an external site.

https://utexas.box.com/s/lg9wuya6w74v13f9kjt50ex808cuhas9 (Links to an external site.)

Link

Watch the chapter author–Laura Brown’s video (I love her peaceful  energy/vibe!),

think about the chapter and its implications for health comm more generally. Particularly interaction, messaging (including messages “given off” by health care spaces/web design, etc) and related experience (eg welcomeness), diversity friendly spaces?

here are a few notes and questions from me to help guide your watching and reading. please discuss your thoughts and responses to this chapter and the related vids:

Overview and connections: We move from gendered aspects of health comm /interaction and experience to engage with the interaction and experiences of sexual minorities. Laura brings us inside her world as a queer person/patient.

Her important point: Queerness influences a wide range of health related processes and outcomes…and we can look more deeply into these, and advocate for necessary changes.

Questions to reflect on

She describes better and worse queer patienthood experiences–what makes the difference in terms of communication?

how is “vocabulary” an issue that connects back to the gender chapter (having names for things, and established social/communicative scripts for how we talk about things)?

How do the 4 key themes (memotrable messages) she discovered speak to you and your life of health care so far, if at all? How do these thematic issues impact the health care comm of people she interviewed?

note the important conection laura makes between interaction and the “messaging” aspect of health comm..ie how people are talked to sends them certain “messages” that may be pos or neg received.

I found it fascinating to read of experiences with forms (binary vs spectrum choices) and with waiting room dynamics and Dr-patient interactions. i thought the chapter connected peoples inner thoughts and issues, surface interaction, and broader social/cultural/dsicourse conexts really well.

how can health care comm be more sensitive to disparities and related experiences, as well as issues relating to diverse sexual practices of queer patients?

If you have a specific medical practice that you use regularly, examine their web info, think about forms you filled out, and the design/decor/art/magazine selection/posted materials/signs, as well as anything related to interaction. What clues if any might Laura help us notice to signify welcomeess or not for queer patients?

reflections to post

Briefly respond to the above questions and issues.

How did her chapters work as invitational scholarship that helps also establish theoretical and practical goals?