Promoting Online Patient-Provider Communication in China: An Internet-based Intervention

The Chinese health care system has suffered from severe tension between patients and doctors during the past decade. Violence towards health care providers has become a familiar occurrence in China. Faced with the increasing number of deaths and injuries of health care providers from angry health care consumers, Chinese scholars have made great efforts to explore possible ways to improve doctor-patient relationships. Study 1 of the dissertation conducted a cross-sectional survey among 758 Chinese patients to examine pathways through which patient-centered communication (e.g., degree to which doctors are perceived as informative, supportive, and helpful making medical decisions) could influence patient satisfaction and patient trust, variables that could then contribute to better patient-reported health outcomes. The findings showed that patient-centered communication significantly increased patient satisfaction and patient trust. Patient satisfaction in turn significantly improved three types of health outcomes (general, emotional, and physical), and patient trust significantly enhanced emotional health. Bootstrap analyses provided support for the mediation effects of satisfaction and trust. While improving patient satisfaction and patient trust holds enormous potential to mitigate the conflicting doctor-patient relationship in China, another important contributing factor to the crises in the health care system is the difficulties many Chinese patients are facing in receiving affordable health care. Online patient-provider communication may bring a new option for the delivery of affordable health services in a timely way. However, online patient-provider communication is still a relatively new concept to Chinese patients. Thus, to promote this new but important practice, study 2 of the dissertation conducted a four-week blog-based intervention among Chinese patients aged 40 or above. With the randomized control trial design and a general basis of the Social Cognitive Theory, this intervention was effective in promoting online patient-provider communication. Specifically, the findings indicated that this intervention resulted in improvements in the frequency of participants’ online patient-provider communication and related psychosocial constructs from Social Cognitive Theory (e.g., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and awareness)

The Relationship between Face-to-Face and Online Patient-Provider Communication: Examining the Moderating Roles of Patient Trust and Patient Satisfaction

Health Communication353341-34

Pathways Linking Patient-Centered Communication to Health Improvement: A Longitudinal Study in China

10.1080/10810730.2019.1587110Journal of Health Communication242156-16

How does patient-centered communication improve emotional health? An exploratory study in China

10.1080/01292986.2017.1413402Asian Journal of Communication283298-31

Talk to Your Doctors Online: An Internet-based Intervention in China

10.1080/10410236.2019.1692493Health Communication364405-41

The Roles of Worry, Social Media Information Overload, and Social Media Fatigue in Hindering Health Fact-Checking

Health misinformation has become a salient issue on social media. To lower the risk of health misinformation, fact-checking matters. However, most existing studies investigated fact-checking from the journalism angle, while little is known about how information-seekers’ social media use affects their fact-checking behaviors. Also, it remains unclear how individuals’ health worry is associated with health fact-checking. Based on the O-S-O-R model, this study explored the underlying mechanism through which health worry and social media might hinder users’ fact-checking. Specifically, with a two-wave panel survey conducted in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study showed that individuals’ worry about COVID-19 increased social media information overload, which resulted in social media fatigue that could reduce health fact-checking. Also, the direct relationship between worry and fact-checking was not significant, but was completely mediated by social media information overload and social media fatigue. The findings demonstrate the negative roles of worry and social media in inhibiting users’ fact-checking behaviors. Important theoretical and practical implications for promoting effective fact-checking are discussed

Linking Nonverbal Rapport to Health Outcome: Testing an Organizational Pathway Model

10.1080/10410236.2021.1957244Health Communication383522-53

The Effect of Social Media on Stress among Young Adults during COVID-19 Pandemic: Taking into Account Fatalism and Social Media Exhaustion

Health Communication37101337-134

Social Media Communication about HPV Vaccine in China: A Study Using Topic Modeling and Survey

10.1080/10410236.2021.1983338Health Communication385935-94

Intentions to Seek Information About E-Cigarettes: Perceived Risk, Efficacy, and Smoking Identity

10.1080/10810730.2021.1943728Journal of Health Communication265339-34