Dr. Susan Morgan

CHRC Presents Fall 2018 CHRC Distinguished Speaker – Dr. Susan Morgan from the University of Miami

Dr. Susan MorganAbout Dr. Morgan

Dr. Susan E. Morgan (BA, University of Massachusetts, 1990; MA, University of Arizona, 1993; Ph.D., University of Arizona, 1997) is the Associate Provost for Research Development and Strategy at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, USA, where she also holds an appointment as Full Professor in the Communication Studies department. Until 2017, she served as Associate Dean for Research for the School of Communication as well as the Director for the Center for Communication, Culture, and Change.

Dr. Morgan’s research interests involve the design and evaluation of persuasive messages targeting health behavior change in multicultural populations. Her research has been supported by over $12 million in grant funding from state and national sources, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Morgan’s current research uses qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to investigate message design features that increase the effectiveness of health-promotive campaigns. Her current area of primary interest is in cancer communication, particularly the development of multilevel interventions designed to improve clinical trial accrual. Much of her previous research involved developing and evaluating multimedia campaigns to promote organ donation in worksite and community settings. Additionally, Dr. Morgan has conducted large-scale studies of how the mass media frames organ donation and the effects of that framing on public attitudes and behaviors toward donor registration.

Dr. Morgan serves on the editorial boards of five journals and is an active reviewer for 15 journals. She has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the area of health communication. Her research has appeared in medical and leading social science journals including Clinical Transplantation, Communication Monographs, Journal of Communication, Communication Theory, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Health Psychology, and the Journal of the National Medical Association. She is also the author of a book, From Numbers to Words: Reporting Statistical Results for the Social Sciences.

Dr. Morgan’s recorded talk can be viewed here.

 

Mini STOP sign over chalkboard background and table STOP CANCER concept

Introducing CHRCs Cancer Communication Initiative (CCI)

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The Cancer Communication Initiative at the University of Maryland is an ongoing, cross-disciplinary research and educational initiative spearheaded by CHRC, in collaboration with the School of Public Health at UMD, the School of Medicine at UMB, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, and other organizations and individuals committed to reducing cancer burden in the U.S. and worldwide. The goal of this initiative is to advance the science of cancer communication through innovative programs that promote cross-disciplinary collaboration in cancer communication research, cultivate the next generation of cancer communication scientists, and inform and empower disadvantaged communities in their fight against cancer.

For more information about this initiative, click here.

xiaoli nan

Professor Xiaoli Nan Awarded $2.2 Million Grant from NIH

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Department of Communication Professor Xiaoli Nan is the Principal Investigator on a $2.2 Million five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health. Entitled “Framing HPV Vaccination Messages for African American Parents,” this grant is a collaborative effort, involving researchers from Maryland’s School of Public Health and from UMB’s School of Medicine–Nan’s co-investigators include Cheryl Holt, School of Public Health, UMCP; Min Qi Wang, School of Public Health, UMCP’ Shana Ntiri, School of Medicine, UMB; and Clement Adebamowo, School of Medicine, UMB.

Project Description: The 2014 President’s Cancer Panel called underuse of HPV vaccines “a serious, but correctable threat to progress against cancer.” The Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel, more recently, identified expanding the use of HPV vaccines as a top priority for cancer prevention, especially in medically underserved populations. Effective communication is crucial to widespread adoption of preventive measures against cancer like the HPV vaccines. Built upon recent advances in communication and behavioral sciences, the proposed project seeks to to develop and evaluate a novel, theory-based message framing intervention to accelerate HPV vaccine uptake among African American adolescents. This project aims to 1) develop culturally appropriate messages framed in gains and losses and pretest these messages through community engagement; 2) determine whether/how the effects of message framing (gain vs. loss) on African American parents’ acceptance of the HPV vaccine are moderated by their prior beliefs about HPV and the HPV vaccine; and 3) evaluate the efficacy of a message framing intervention rooted in message targeting principles through a clinic-based randomized trial. Addressing a critical aspect of health disparities disadvantaging the African American community, this research represents a systematic and timely effort to address the national urgency of optimizing communication strategies for promoting HPV vaccination among key stakeholders.

Kang Namkoong

Assistant Professor Kang Namkoong Publishes New Article in Heath Communication

Kang NamkoongKang Namkoong, Seungahn Nah, Stephanie K. Van Stee & Rachael A. Record (2018) Social Media Campaign Effects: Moderating Role of Social Capital in an Anti-Smoking Campaign, Health Communication, 33:3, 274-283, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2016.1258616

ABSTRACT
This study examined the effects of an anti-smoking campaign that employs a crowdsourcing method with a social networking service. Drawing upon social capital scholarship and the expression effect research paradigm in eHealth systems, the study also investigated the roles of social trust and community life satisfaction in the social media campaign that has a specific geographical boundary. To that end, we conducted an experiment using a two-group pretest–posttest design. We randomly assigned 201 participants to two conditions: “campaign message reception only” as a control group and “message reception and expression” as a treatment group in which participants fully engaged in the campaign process by sharing their own campaign ideas with other participants. Findings revealed that social trust and community life satisfaction interacted with the treatment condition to positively affect persuasive intentions, but in distinct ways. Social trust moderated the effect of the message reception and interaction condition on participants’ willingness to encourage community members to stop smoking. In contrast, community life satisfaction moderated the effect of the treatment condition on encouraging others to comply with the community’s anti-smoking policy. These results provide theoretical and practical implications related to the roles of social capital in geographically defined social media campaigns.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10410236.2016.1258616?journalCode=hhth20

Samantha Stanley

Graduate Student Samantha Stanley Co-Authors New Article in Health Communication

Samantha StanleySamantha J. Stanley & Margaret Jane Pitts (2018) “I’m Scared of the Disappointment”: Young Adult Smokers’ Relational Identity Gaps and Management Strategies as Sites of Communication Intervention, Health Communication, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2018.1440507

ABSTRACT
While cigarette smoking is decreasing among young adults, rates of nicotine consumption through other devices, most notably electronic cigarettes, are on the rise. Framed by communication theory of identity, this study examines young adult smokers’ experiences with relational others in regard to their smoking. Focus group discussions and individual interviews convened with 20 young adult cigarette and electronic cigarette smokers revealed identity gaps implicating the relational layer of identity, including personal-relational, enacted-relational, and personal-enacted-relational identity gaps. Participants used communicative and behavioral strategies to manage relational discrepancies. The documented identity gaps and management strategies present opportunities for targeted smoking cessation interventions that amplify dissonance created through identity gaps as a motivational tactic.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10410236.2018.1440507?journalCode=hhth20