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Item Supporting Pregnancy After Loss: Health Care Providers’ Use of Trauma-Informed Care Principles in Patient Communication(Taylor & Francis, 2026-02) Binion, Kelsey; Brann, Maria; Bute, JenniferPregnancy after perinatal loss (PAL) requires trauma-informed prenatal care to address patients’ heightened anxiety and stress. We interviewed 26 U.S. health care providers and analyzed their perceptions of their communication practices with PAL patients using Berry’s Perinatal Trauma Informed Care framework. Our thematic analysis revealed that providers prioritize safety, trustworthiness and transparency, and support in their interactions with patients more so than collaboration and mutuality, empowerment and choice, and acknowledgement of cultural, historical, and gender issues. Although providers value trauma-informed care in PAL, additional training is needed to ensure adoption of all principles, which may lead to improved patient outcomes.Item Women’s Preferred Language for Screening for Reproductive Grief(2026-06) Brann, Maria; Bute, Jennifer; Buskmiller, Cara; Fredenburg, MichaeleneObjective: Research suggests that grief after reproductive loss can become a complicated form of grief that persists over time and disrupts daily living. Our goal in the present study was to investigate the wording of items on a previously studied tool, the Reproductive Grief Screen, that could be used to screen patients for complicated grief. Methods: We analyzed data from 27 qualitative interviews and 282 survey respondents to assess the opinions of women who had experienced reproductive loss about the wording of each item on the screening tool. Results: Results confirmed that the language in three of the five items was problematic (i.e., triggering, confusing, or too wordy), requiring revision. Two of the three revised items were supported, but the third item wording still did not reach agreement. Conclusion: Participants were sensitive to the language used in the initial version of the reproductive screening tool. One item still needs additional clarification before determination of the optimal wording. Innovation: Including women who have experienced reproductive loss and grief in the development of a new reproductive grief screening survey is a novel approach for creating and refining a clinical tool. Additionally, using chi-square item testing as part of early scale development offers an alternative to correlational approaches. Findings suggest that the new screening tool is necessary for modernizing the standard of care provided to women who experience reproductive loss and to identify those with complicated grief after reproductive loss in a manner that is compassionate and sensitive to patients’ needs.Item Communication Skills Education for Medical Students(Wiley, 2022) Longtin, Krista; Imhausen-Slaughter, DarlaTeaching communication skills to medical students is a critical component of medical education, since it is through discourse that care is often provided to patients. Advancements in communication skills training in the early 2000s added a theoretical basis and framework to these important education tasks. Communication skills education is usually required by accrediting bodies and includes both communication behaviours and goals for medical students. Medical educators have struggled to effectively assess students’ communication skills since the assessment of these skills can be seen as subjective and situational. Recent developments in communication skills education for medical students have included incorporating more technology and other disciplines within the field.Item Improvisation as a Narrative of Faculty & Learner Growth and Development in Higher Education(Palgrave, 2025-10) Longtin, Krista; Watson, JacobIn this chapter, we explore how improvisational mindsets can transform faculty and graduate student socialization in higher education from narratives of constraint to narratives of growth. Drawing on theories from communication, organizational behavior, and applied improvisation, we argue that faculty development and professional identity formation are inherently relational and co-constructed. Through autoethnographic narratives and a synthesis of literature, we show how principles such as “yes, and…,” ensemble thinking, and bringing “bricks, not cathedrals” can foster greater collaboration, agency, and flexibility. We critique traditional, linear models of academic socialization that prioritize individual achievement and hierarchy, and instead propose a model of critical flexibility that addresses systemic inequities while affirming the potential for institutional change. Ultimately, we view improvisation as both a mindset and a method for enacting cultural transformation in academic life, offering a generative path forward for faculty and learners alike.Item Interpersonal health communication theories(Wiley, 2021) Brann, Maria; Bute, Jennifer J.; Keeley, Maureen; Petronio, Sandra; Pines, Rachyl; Watson, BernadetteThe process of health communication has in many ways traditionally been studied as an interpersonal context. Some of the later chapters in this volume will focus on contexts that are more likely to be mediated, but three theories are used frequently enough to study the interpersonal dimensions of health communication that the editors elected to have experts on each of them describe the theories separately. The three theories are communication accommodation theory, communication privacy management theory, and the theory of negotiated morality. All these theories are dyadic in focus. We combine them into one chapter to allow comparison and contrast, but all are equally useful and must be included in a volume such as this. None of these theories is applied exclusively in the health communication context, but all have seen productive application within it.Item Development of pediatric OSA health communication messaging for and with parents(Oxford, 2022) Honaker, Sarah; McQuillan, Maureen; Binion, Kelsey; Brann, MariaIntroduction Pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is often undetected, due in part to gaps in parental awareness of OSA symptoms. To activate parents to talk to their child’s provider about OSA symptoms, there is a need for effective OSA health communication messaging. Methods We developed a health communication message in the form of an infographic, designed to help parents recognize the link between nighttime and daytime OSA symptoms. The message encouraged parents who saw these symptoms in their child to speak with their child’s provider. The infographic was iteratively reviewed, rated, and refined through a series of twelve virtual focus groups with three types of stakeholder: parents of children with OSA symptoms (n=24), primary care providers (n=9), and sleep medicine specialists (n=4). During groups, we elicited reactions and asked participants to rate various aspects of the message. Results Stakeholder feedback (semi-structured sessions and anonymous ratings) was elicited for the initial draft and two subsequent iterations of the message that incorporated prior feedback. Anonymous stakeholder ratings were measured on a scale from 1-5, with 5 denoting stronger endorsement of the construct. Parents rated the message positively for content (M=4.77; SD=0.44), literacy demand (M=4.92, SD=0.28), graphics/design (M=4.69, SD=0.63), and activation (M=4.77, SD=0.44). Sleep medicine providers perceived the message as accurate (M=5.0, SD=0) and primary care providers rated it as acceptable (M=4.67, SD=0.58) and feasible (M=4.33, SD=0.58) for display and dissemination in primary care settings. Conclusion We developed a pediatric OSA health communication message that was rated highly by parents, primary care providers, and sleep medicine specialists. Next steps are to disseminate and evaluate the impact of the message on pediatric OSA detection.Item Top five listicle assignment(Cognella, 2025) Head, Katharine J.; Brann, MariaThis assignment was adapted from a sample syllabus by Dr. Charee Thompson posted on the NCA website in which she asked students to create a Top 5 list in the form of a 3-5 page paper. We adapted her original idea to the current assignment which asks students to create a Top 5 Listicle (i.e., a portmanteau of list + article) commonly used in media today that is usually a combination of text, statistics, graphics, charts, and other visual elements. We are thankful to Dr. Charee for the inspiration for this assignment and we hope the adaption we’ve described below is something that our fellow Communication scholars may find useful to integrate into their classes.Item Using Narrative to Empower, Educate, and Make Sense of Reproductive Loss(Vernon Press, 2025) Brann, Maria; Leverenz, Alaina; Bute, Jennifer J.; Holman, Amanda; Horstman, Haley K.Reproductive loss is a common, yet often silenced, event that can disrupt the lives of all those involved. Individuals who experience reproductive loss must find ways to make sense of and cope with what has occurred. One way to do this is through crafting and sharing their stories. In this chapter, we argue that narrative has the power to transform people’s understanding of loss, their identity in relation to loss, and their relationships with those around them. Using narrative as a tool for sense-making and educating others is empowering for both the person telling the story and for those with whom it is shared. We offer evidence-based suggestions for empowering storytellers to share their stories and for storylisteners to encourage such disclosures.Item Relationship between health-related quality of life, depression, and anxiety in older primary care patients and their family members(Taylor & Francis, 2024) Fowler, Nicole R.; Perkins, Anthony J.; Park, Seho; Schroeder, Matthew W.; Boustani, Malaz A.; Head, Katharine J.; Bakas, Tamilyn; Communication Studies, School of Liberal ArtsObjectives Patient-family member dyads experience transitions through illness as an interdependent team. This study measures the association of depression, anxiety, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of older adult primary care patient-family member dyads. Methods Baseline data from 1,808 patient-family member dyads enrolled in a trial testing early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in primary care. Actor-Partner Independence Model was used to analyze dyadic relationships between patients’ and family members’ depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and HRQOL (SF-36 Physical Component Summary score and Mental Component Summary score). Results Family member mean (SD) age is 64.2 (13) years; 32.2% male; 84.6% White; and 64.8% being the patient’s spouse/partner. Patient mean (SD) age is 73.7 (5.7) years; 47% male; and 85.1% White. For HRQOL, there were significant actor effects for patient and family member depression alone and depression and anxiety together on their own HRQOL (p < 0.001). There were significant partner effects where family member depression combined with anxiety was associated with the patient’s physical component summary score of the SF-36 (p = 0.010), and where the family member’s anxiety alone was associated with the patient’s mental component summary score of the SF-36 (p = 0.031). Conclusion Results from this study reveal that many dyads experience covarying health status (e.g. depression, anxiety) even prior to entering a caregiving situation.Item “I’m Not Comfortable With COVID, But …”: Dilemmas and Decision-Making to Mitigate Risks Among Mothers Who Gave Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic(Sage, 2024) Johnson, Nicole L.; Brann, Maria; Scott, Susanna F.; Bute, Jennifer J.; Communication Studies, School of Liberal ArtsIndividuals have faced unprecedented uncertainty and risk surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and decision-making dilemmas have been complicated by quickly evolving and often contradictory recommendations for staying healthy. Using tenets of problematic integration theory and risk orders theory, we analyzed interview data from 50 mothers who gave birth during the pandemic to understand how uncertainty and risk perceptions shaped their decision-making about keeping themselves and their infants healthy in the first year after birth. Results describe how some mothers in our sample made sense of their decision-making to prioritize first-order risks to their own and their family’s physical health, and other mothers prioritized second-order risks to their relationships and identities. We also discuss the social nature of mitigating risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and the catalysts for shifting risk perceptions. Theoretical and practical implications include improving public health messaging and clinical conversations to enable individuals to effectively manage social and identity needs alongside serious threats to physical health.