Focus: Health Communication

Title: Finding Ways to Prevent Salmonella Infections involving Birds and People: An Exploratory Assessment of Behavior, Microbiology, and Climactic Factors Proposal submitted in response to 2021 UGA Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program Total submitted: $137,958 Co-PIs: Sonia Hernandez (UGA Warnell School of Forestry and College of Vet Med), Erin Lipp (Environmental Health Science in UGA College […]

Abstract: The paper presents findings from an international survey of communication professionals on change leadership in communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the strong impact brought by the pandemic, communication professionals adapt quickly in change management by using COVID-19 information to build knowledge, enhance trust, develop strategies and guide actions.

Abstract: This research presents the findings from a large-scale national online survey of Chinese citizens (N = 1,713) about their general knowledge of COVID-19 and the key communication channels that they used both during and after the pandemic. The perceived impact of COVID-19, personal safety concern, and information retention during the times of lockdown and […]

Abstract: A conditional process model for the impact of obesity knowledge on healthy food choice was proposed to examine how consumers’ obesity knowledge and online search for nutritional information (OSNI) in food products jointly influenced their healthy food choice (HFC) and whether consumers’ attitude toward health and nutrition-related (HNR) claims in food advertisement directly or […]

Abstract: Scholars have adopted Street’s (2003) ecological model of communication in medical encounters to investigate the factors promoting patient participation in health care. However, factors demonstrated in the ecological model were bounded in the context of medical care primarily focusing on health care providers and patients. Social factors, such as patients’ relationships and supportive communication […]

Abstract: This study investigated if and how exposure to Facebook comments about vaccines influences one’s attitude toward the vaccines. In this investigation, comments were examined in light of their effect on attitude toward vaccines through perceived distribution of public opinion on vaccines, and perceived vaccine efficacy was tested as a factor moderating relative effects of […]

Abstract: We examined how age and exposure to different types of COVID-19 (mis)information affect misinformation beliefs, perceived credibility of the message and intention-to-share it on WhatsApp. Through two mixed-design online experiments in the UK and Brazil (total N = 1,454) we first randomly exposed adult WhatsApp users to full misinformation, partial misinformation, or full truth […]

Abstract: An improvement in HPV vaccination rates is one of the primary goals of public health organizations. Toward this end, fear appeal communication is commonly used in health interventions, warning individuals of threats of HPV infection and promoting vaccination. However, little is known about how threat-related emotions, such as fear and anxiety, influence the cognitive […]

Abstract: This study examined if and how Facebook user-generated comments about the flu vaccine influenced psychological reactance in conjunction with pre-existing flu vaccine attitude. Psychological reactance was further tested as a mediating factor influencing behavioral intention to receive the vaccine. An experimental study was conducted with 264 college students. The results showed that pre-existing attitude […]

Abstract: Higher education institutions and their students face a wide range of infectious disease threats (IDTs). However, there is a lack of theory-driven research on how to provide communication for multiple IDTs to motivate protective action taking. To close this gap, this study focuses on college students and two IDT types: respiratory and sexually transmitted […]