Awareness and extent of knowledge of taxonomies of nonverbal communication channels among healthcare providers in South Eastern Nigeria

Communication is vital between health care providers and their clients. Though not often studied, nonverbal communication has been found to be a vital element within the total communication process. Its place in healthcare provision cannot be overemphasized. With various taxonomies or channels of nonverbal communication, the purpose of this study was to ascertain healthcare providers’ ability to identify the taxonomies of nonverbal communication. Participants for the study were healthcare providers at the antenatal clinic of three Tertiary Health Institutions in South Eastern Nigeria. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire. Statistical analysis of data was performed using Chi-square. Significant level was placed at p<0.05. Findings showed that all the healthcare providers were aware of nonverbal communication. Predominant numbers of health care providers use nonverbal communication to interact with their clients (X2=8.167, p<0.05) and significant numbers of the healthcare providers did not show gender bias in attending to their clients (X2=5.638, p<0.05). However, insignificant numbers of healthcare providers did not apply their knowledge of proxemics and chrone Verbalmics (X2=1.333; p=0.248 & X2=1.286; p=0.257) respectively nor did they understand the taxonomies of kinesics, chronemics, haptics and proxemics. The finding in this study, showed poor understanding of taxonomies of nonverbal communication channels amongst the healthcare providers despite widespread awareness of nonverbal communication. This study thereby concludes that nonverbal communication may be poorly taught in medical school possibly due to non-existence of a curriculum tailored to suit the training

The Impact of Online Feedbacks on the Credibility of News Stories (A Study of Saharareporters.Com)

The new media have revolutionized human communication. The traditional means of gathering, processing and disseminating news has been greatly altered. Consequently, the news audience is now sophisticated and highly dynamic. With the new media, the audience members are now equal partners in news business. Though a welcome development, it has raised credibility question. This study, therefore, investigates how online feedbacks affect the credibility of online stories published by saharareproter.com. Using qualitative content analysis and focus group discussion, findings revealed that majority of online feedbacks in the audience platform of saharareporters.com raised the issue of credibility. In most cases, the audience questioned the accuracy of some news stories. It was also found that most of the feedbacks analyzed had ethnic, religious and political connotations. It was therefore, recommended that the managers of saharareporters.com should verify some stories sent in by citizen journalist before they are uploaded. Keywords: Fifth Estate ● saharareporter.com● Citizen journalism ● Free press● Online news credibilit