Achieving the promise of digital health information systems

Abstract not require

A Review of Qualitative Methods in Health Communication Research

This paper examines the ways that qualitative inquiry can be especially useful for gathering relevant descriptive data that can provide a deep understanding of health communication issues and processes, as well as to provide evidence-based guidance for addressing key challenges of health care delivery and promotion. This article promotes methodological diversity in research designs and illustrates the value of employing qualitative methods such as ethnography and grounded theory in health communication research. It is also provides calls for the application of less-used, unfamiliar qualitative methods such as phenomenology. Our careful bibliographic review of health communication research studies published over the past twenty years was conducted using the Google Scholar search engine (employing key search terms that included “health communication, qualitative, ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and multimethod”) to guide our analysis of the uses of qualitative inquiry in health communication inquiry. Our analysis identified a breadth of qualitative research applications and opportunities for future inquiry. This article concludes with an analysis of challenges in qualitative research and a discussion of the usefulness of multimethodological research to address complex health communication challenges

Relationship of Media Attention to Colorectal Cancer-Related Risk Appraisals in Older Japanese Americans: Using Structural Equation Modeling to Develop an Explanatory Model

Objectives: The goals of this study were: (1) to explore how personal attributes and media attention are related to colorectal cancer (CRC)-related risk appraisals (i.e., causal attribution, and fatalism/misconception) among Japanese Americans at risk; and (2) to identify segments of the population that should be targeted for education programs, topics of interest, and health communication channels. Methods: Structural equation modeling was used to cross-sectionally test a proposed model derived from the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) and Attribution Theory for understanding the relationship between media attention and cognitive processes related to CRC in a population-based community sample of 341 asymptomatic Japanese Americans aged 50 and over residing in the Greater New York region. Results: Accounting for 30% of the variance in risk appraisals, the data fit a model (χ²(136)=231.41,

Pitching Private Medicare Plans: An Analysis of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Advertising

Analyzes television, print, and radio ads for private Medicare plans to assess what types of information insurers emphasize and de-emphasize, what populations they target, and which type of plan they promote in trying to influence beneficiaries' choices

Aileron Design to Counter Adverse Yaw

The thesis project was chosen to represent an original idea to avoid being an assistant on someone"s research project. This research explores an idea developed several years ago but with no suitable opportunity to test. The fact that the idea worked under test has been very satisfying because the idea can be justified completely from the standpoint of aviation safety. An interest in aviation and aeronautical engineering made the subject of this research an appropriate choice for a thesis. The design proposed is intended for light generaL aviation aircraft flown by pilots with low experience. The basic principle of this design is to add parasite drag to replace lest induced drag on the aircraft wing when ailerons are displaced. Originally it was predicted that the design would have to be optimized for a narrow speed range. The wind tunnel testing showed that the idea works and can be optimized over a large speed range due to a self modulating effect of the drag. The lift and drag characteristics of the wind tunnel model tested showed that it has promiae as a glide path control device also. The design has merit over others used to counter adverse yaw because it is basically a control surface replacement and could be retrofitted to existing aircraft.Mechanical Engineerin

Examining the Influences of COVID-19 Information Avoidance and Uncertainty on Perceived Severity of the Pandemic: Applications from the Health Belief Model and Weick’s Model of Organizing

Public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been insufficient at keeping the virus from spreading rapidly and threatening public health around the globe. Not only has society been challenged by biomedical issues of disease contagion, infection, morbidity, and mortality, but has also confronted complex cognitive challenges to making sense of this health threat, especially related to accurately evaluating and responding appropriately to the severity of the pandemic. Perceived severity is an important cognitive factor associated with public willingness to adopt needed prevention, protection, and treatment behaviors for responding to serious health risks, like COVID-19. Information avoidance and uncertainty are important constructs from powerful public health and communication theories, including the health belief model and Weick’s model of organizing, that guide this study by describing how information influences responses to health threats. We used survey data collected from 561 college students to clarify the relationships among information avoidance, beliefs about unpredictability, and the perceived severity of COVID-19. We found that higher information avoidance was associated with lower perceived severity, and that this association depended on people’s unpredictability beliefs. Specifically, for those who had low assessments about unpredictability, we observed a strong negative association between information avoidance and perceived severity. Among those who had high perceived unpredictability levels, we observed a weak negative association between information avoidance and perceived severity. This study evaluates influences of information avoidance and uncertainty on perceived severity of COVID-19. The findings can help guide strategies for enhancing public response to this pandemic and future health threats

Strategic use of communication to market cancer prevention and control to vulnerable populations

There are significant challenges to communicating relevant cancer prevention and control information to health care consumers due both to the complexities of the health information to be communicated and the complexities of health communication, especially with vulnerable populations. The need for effective communication about cancer risks, early detection, prevention, care, and survivorship is particularly acute, yet also tremendously complex, for reaching vulnerable populations, those groups of people who are most likely to suffer significantly higher levels of morbidity and mortality from cancers than other segments of the population. These vulnerable populations, typically the poorest, lowest educated, and most disenfranchised members of modern society, are heir to serious cancer-related health disparities. Vulnerable populations often have health literacy difficulties, cultural barriers, and economic challenges to accessing and making sense of relevant health information. This paper examines these challenges to communicating relevant information to vulnerable populations and suggests strategies for effectively using different communication media for marketing cancer preventionand control to reduce health disparities and promote public health

Health communication inquiry and health outcomes

This article examines the applications of health communication research to enhancing the delivery of care and the promotion of health. Health communication scholars have the opportunity to inform the work of health care providers and health promotion practitioners to help them accomplish their complex health goals. There are many complex health promotion efforts that might benefit from definitive health communication research, yet are more often guided by good intentions, precedent, and expedience than by strong evidence. The complexity of achieving desired health communication goals, such as influencing health behaviors and guiding health-related decision making, demand strategic guidance from relevant and rigorous research. This article examines strategies for promoting the application of the best health communication research to guide development, implementation, and institutionalization of evidencebased health communication programs, policies, and practices