IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "Brann, Maria"

Browsing by Author "Brann, Maria"

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"A Lot of People Want to Know, They Just Have No Idea How to Ask": A Needs Assessment of a Reproductive Health Peer Education Program
(2024-07) Comer, Anna Catherine; Bute, Jennifer J.; Brann, Maria; Head, Katharine
Reproductive health education is an important part of having a comprehensive understanding of health as a whole and sexual health specifically; however, reproductive health is often overlooked in university health education. Peer education initiatives have long been used in sexual health to create a comfortable environment for peer learners, while teaching valuable information that impacts both peer educators and peer learners. Students and peer educators are the primary stakeholders in a university reproductive health education program and can provide insight into topics and delivery that are most salient to them. Using a needs assessment framework, I conducted focus groups with stakeholders (n=10) to understand what information participants found important and how they wanted that information to be presented to them. I analyzed the data using thematic analysis and the social ecological model (Stokols, 1996) to better understand what levels of influence where impacting participants’ access to reproductive health education. Results provided practical applications related to content and method of delivery of reproductive health education as well as theoretical applications in regard to the explicit inclusion of communication within the social ecological model.
Am I Broken?: A mixed-method analysis of an ethnotheatrical performance about women’s experiences with infertility and friendship
(Taylor & Francis, 2024) Binion, Kelsey E.; Brann, Maria; Longtin, Krista J.; Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health
Background This study evaluated an ethnotheatrical performance about infertility to bring awareness to the health condition and its impact on friendships. Methods After each performance (N = 2), attendees participated in a talkback session to express thoughts and ask questions about the production; then, they completed a survey describing their overall experience. Analyses included descriptive statistics for Likert questions and a thematic analysis for open-ended responses. Results Eighty-six percent of attendees found the performance informative about the challenges infertility imposes on everyday life, and more than 60% gained new information and advice on how to talk about infertility. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: learn about the complexities of infertility experiences, develop empathy towards individuals with infertility, and respond appropriately to individuals coping with infertility. Conclusion The performance offered a safe environment for attendees to learn, understand, and process infertility’s complex nature. Creating awareness influenced participants’ perceptions and communicative behaviors.
Assessing Communication Effectiveness in Interprofessional Healthcare Teams
(2019-07) Binion, Kelsey Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; Goering, Elizabeth; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista
Interprofessional education and practice is a collaborative approach in equipping health professional students with the skills to become effective team members to improve patient outcomes. This research study used a grounded theory approach to identify the communication characteristics and behaviors that influenced a team’s communication effectiveness. Two-hundred and twenty-two students participated in an interprofessional simulation at a Midwestern university. Ninety-two standardized patients assessed the students’ communication skills and their ability to collaborate as a team using a CARE Patient Feedback form, which served as data for the study. The study found four characteristics of effective interprofessional team experiences: aware of the patient’s situation, participate in the interaction equally, create a safe space, and nurture and strengthen a relationship. Students demonstrated an increase in communication effectiveness between encounter one and two; teams worked collaboratively rather than individually; students demonstrated five of the eight IPEC communication competencies; and negative and positive behaviors had a significant impact on patient outcomes. This study informs educators the need for repeated exposure of interprofessional practice experiences, such as simulation activities. These opportunities allow students to practice, learn, and refine their communication skills before entering their clinical practice.
Assessing the Mental Health of Student-Athletes
(2024-08) Barnes, Jordan Ann; Brann, Maria; Head, Katharine J.; Parrish-Sprowl, John
Mental health has become a major topic of discussion in recent years. Open conversations about one’s mental well-being have become a new norm. That said, there has been a rapid spike in the declining mental well-being of student-athletes at the collegiate level. Professionals urge those involved with athletes to act to improve their overall well-being. Despite the grave concern, there has still been little action taken towards bettering the mental health of athletes. Most existing studies have focused on the collegiate coach-athlete relationship and the athletic performance of athletes rather than the psychological health of athletes. One factor that may affect athletes’ relationships and mental health is how well communication is enacted. To address this gap, 77 current student athletes were surveyed to assess their communication satisfaction, coach confirmation, and mental well-being. Results from Pearson’s correlations demonstrated a relationship between communication satisfaction and reported mental health scores; however, there was no significant correlation found between confirmation and reported mental health scores. This suggests that communication satisfaction can affect student-athletes’ mental well-being, but there may also be other factors that have more of a significant effect than confirmation on the reported mental health of student-athletes. Future research should explore other potential contributing factors.
At a Loss for Words: Using Performance to Explain How Friends Communicate About Infertility
(2023-06) Binion, Kelsey Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; Beckman, Emily; Bute, Jennifer J.; Longtin, Krista J.
In the United States, approximately one in five women are unable to get pregnant after one year of trying. Due to the pervasiveness of pronatalism in Western society, having a child is widely assumed to be a natural and expected part of womanhood. Society’s master narratives reinforce these ideals and stigmatize the experiences of women who have infertility. This multi-phase research study examined how women discuss their infertility journey with their friends. The study’s aims were to understand friendships within the context of infertility, how the relationship affects a woman’s identity, and the communicative behaviors used in conversations. Fifteen interviews were conducted with women who experienced or are experiencing infertility and had discussed their past or current challenges with a friend. Results of a phronetic iterative analysis suggested that women who have personal experience with infertility (a) disclose to close/best friends, (b) communicate their identity as “broken,” (c) desire emotional support, and (d) strategically navigate conversations as they encounter positive and negative messages. These results were transformed into a performance, which included six monologues and a talkback. The purpose of the arts-based methodology was to disseminate results and assess the performance’s impact. Seventy-three individuals attended one of the two performances in April 2023, and 50 attendees completed the post-performance evaluation. The quantitative results suggest that attendees felt informed about the complexities of infertility, gained a new perspective, received advice about how to have future conversations, and did not feel offended by the content. Through a thematic analysis, four themes emerged from the two talkback sessions and evaluation comments: being informed about infertility as a health condition, appreciating the theatrical format to learn, connecting to the performance to understand the illness experience, and feeling comfortable navigating conversations about infertility. Despite the variance in infertility experiences, friends are essential social support figures as women navigate infertility, and there are best practices when having a conversation, as demonstrated in the performance. This study’s implications include providing communication strategies to support women with infertility and recognizing that an arts-based methodology can highlight counterstories, inform about a stigmatized health issue, and engage the community.
Breaking Bad News: A Randomized Trial Assessing Resident Performance After Novel Video Instruction
(Cureus, 2021-06-05) Shanks, Anthony L.; Brann, Maria; Bute, Jennifer J.; Borse, Vyvian; Tonismae, Tiffany; Scott, Nikki; Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
Introduction; Delivering bad news to patients is an essential skill for physicians, which is often developed through patient encounters. Residents in our program participate in objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) on an annual basis to evaluate their skills in these scenarios. Our objectives were to develop an educational video and determine if an educational video provided to residents prior to OSCEs would improve performance. Methods: Previous OSCEs were reviewed to identify best practices and to create a four-minute video highlighting the "do's and don'ts" of delivering bad news. Residents in two post-graduate year (PGY) classes were randomized to watch the video prior to or after a standardized patient encounter. Three masked reviewers assessed resident empathy, attention, and understanding on 10 five-point Likert scales and assigned a total score (scale: 0-50). Hedges' g was used to assess mean scores and effect size. Results: A total of 17 residents participated in the evaluation: nine in the pre-OSCE video group and eight in the control group. Residents randomized to the video prior to the patient encounter had a mean score of 37.01 (SD=3.6). Residents randomized to the control group had a mean score of 35.38 (SD=4.85). Hedges' g was 0.37 (95% CI: -0.59 to 1.33). Conclusion: Residents randomized to the video group had a small increase in OSCE performance, which was not statistically significant. The novel video was helpful and addresses the need for a quick pre-assessment educational tool, though interns and graduating medical students may be a more appropriate target audience for instruction.
Co-Ownership of Private Information in the Miscarriage Context
(2014-12) Bute, Jennifer J.; Brann, Maria
Pregnancy loss due to miscarriage is a pervasive health issue. Although talking about the miscarriage experience with friends and family members has been linked to better adjustment, revealing this loss can be difficult because discussing a miscarriage often makes people uncomfortable. Moreover, couples often manage this information jointly as they decide whether to share the miscarriage with people outside the dyad. We conducted in-depth interviews with couples to explore the nature of co-ownership in the miscarriage context and to identify the privacy rules that couples develop to manage this information. We found that couples frame miscarriage as a shared but distinct experience and that both members exert rights of ownership over the information. Couples' privacy rules centered on issues of social support and others' need to know about the loss. Even though couples described their privacy rules as implicitly understood, they also recalled having explicit conversations to develop rules. We discuss how the management of co-owned information can improve communication and maintain relationships.
Communicating Commitment within Monogamous Romantic Relationships
(2020-01) Leverenz, Alaina Nicole; Goering, Elizabeth; Brann, Maria; White-Mills, Kim
This study sought to better understand the communication of commitment in monogamous romantic relationships, including how one communicates his/her commitment to his/her partner and how one interprets messages from his/her partner. Focusing on the fundamentals of communicating commitment to one’s partner proves beneficial in understanding the commitment processes in daily life. In an effort to understand this concept, I used themes from interdependence theory and the investment model to formulate the interview questions and develop the findings. The findings and interpretations demonstrate that couples are communicating their commitment to each other in words/verbal expressions, especially in the beginning stages of the committed relationship; the commitment global construct employed most to communicate commitment in relationship is relational maintenance behaviors; and people perceive that nonverbal expressions of commitment are the best way to interpret messages of commitment from one’s partner.
Communicating to promote informed decisions in the context of early pregnancy loss
(Elsevier, 2017) Brann, Maria; Bute, Jennifer J.; Communication Studies, School of Liberal Arts
Objective. To evaluate residents’ ability to engage standardized patients in informed decision making during a pregnancy loss scenario. Methods. Forty patient encounters between interns and standardized patients were coded to assess informed decision-making practices, exploration of unexpressed concerns, and support provision. Results. Interns engaged in minimum informed decision making but did not address all of the communicative elements necessary for informed decisions, and most elements were only partially addressed. Patients in this study did not receive information about all management options, their concerns were not addressed, and there was limited support communicated for their decision. Conclusion. This study offers an initial assessment of a communicative approach to evaluate and improve decision making during early pregnancy loss. A comprehensive approach to making informed decisions must include discussion of all management options, exploration of patient preferences and concerns, and support for the patient’s decision. Practice Implications. Healthcare providers could benefit from communication skills training to communicate more effectively with patients to help them make more informed decisions.
Communication to Cultivate a Culture of Health: Lessons From 5-Star Achievewell Organizations
(2021-12) Martin, Natalie R.; Brann, Maria; Bute, Jennifer; Goering, Elizabeth; Staten, Lisa
Creating a culture of health within an organization offers benefits such as reducing costs and supporting employees in becoming and staying healthy. A variety of health and wellness programs within an organization are important for establishing a culture of health. These programs are supported communicatively to encourage employee participation and healthful behavior changes. Recognized for their success in creating a culture of health, a group of organizations, distinguished as 5-Star AchieveWELL organizations, offer an opportunity to identify messaging strategies effective at promoting health and wellness within the workplace and therefore, creating a culture of health. The goals of this study included learning successful organization’s communication strategies utilized to create a culture of health, understanding how new employees are socialized into this culture, identifying how employees may resist the culture, and exploring how resistance is addressed. Based on in-depth interviews with 19 5-Star AchieveWELL organizational representatives and grounded theory analysis of collected data, evident themes related to the goals of this study were identified. Key communication strategies to support a culture of health include using multiple communication channels, demonstrating leadership support, and being willing to adapt and change over time. New employees are socialized into the culture of health during the recruitment process as well as new employee orientation. Resistance to health and wellness occurs in the form of non-participation and employee push-back, with this resistance often being met with compassion. These results offer practical implications for organizations desiring to create a culture of health as well as theoretical implications for scholars studying organizational socialization.

Browsing by Author "Brann, Maria"

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