Communication Practices Research Articles

The Portrayal of Patient-Centered Communication in Popular American Medical Television Programming: An Examination of Patient–Provider Interactions by Gender and Time Period

Patient-centered communication is an optimal practice between physicians and patients in healthcare. Existing literature provides little information about how prevalent such healthcare behaviors are in mass media representations. By employing a content analysis of interactions sampled from the most popular American medical television programs from three 25-year time periods (i.e. MASH, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy), this study examines the presence of patient-centered communication models for health behavior, as well as the degree to which that presence is conditioned by time period and patients’ gender identity. Findings indicate that these popular American medical television programs portray a moderately patient-centered communication practice, and that patient-centered communication prevalence does, indeed, differ by patients’ gender, a pattern that was observed to shift over time.

INDIGENISED LINGUISTIC CODES AND NIGERIANISM IN SELECTED HIP-HOP SONGS OF ADEKUNLE GOLD AND FOLARIN FALANA

The Nigerian hip-hop music industry as a site for popular cultural practices has always played the role of propagating indigenised linguistic codes and structures that project social meaning and entrench language creativity in popular culture. Within the realities of varieties of English, this study examines some features of Nigerianism in selected songs by Adekunle Gold and Folarin Falana (Falz). Selected albums and tracks of these two prominent Nigerian hip-hop artistes constituted the data, and were analysed with the conceptual orientations of William Labov’s variation theory. This framework was preferred because it deals with linguistic differentiations and the description of variations in the speech of members of a social class and in the speech of members of a speech community. Findings show that bilingual pragmatic markers, coinages, semantic contrast, loan words, lexical reduplication, local symbolisms and slangs are some of the linguistic codes and communicative practices that are deployed in these hip-hop songs for local colouration and conveyance of social meaning, especially among the youth population. The study concludes that the interjection of bilingual communicative features into English language usage results in Nigerianism, and hip-hop artists deliberately use these indigenised linguistic codes to create, recreate, and reflect social experiences

Improving the Implementation of Patient-Reported Outcome Measure in Clinical Practice: Tackling Current Challenges With Innovative Digital Communication Technologies

Implementation of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in clinical practice is challenging. We believe effective communication is key to realizing the clinical benefits of PROMs. Communication processes for PROMs in clinical practice typically involve (1) health care professionals (HCPs) inviting patients to complete PROMs, (2) patients completing PROMs, (3) HCPs and patients interpreting the resulting patient-reported outcomes (PROs), and (4) HCPs and patients using PROs for health management. Yet, communication around PROMs remains underexplored. Importantly, patients differ in their skills, knowledge, preferences, and motivations for completing PROMs, as well as in their ability and willingness to interpret and apply PROs in managing their health. Despite this, current communication practices often fail to account for these differences. This paper highlights the importance of personalized communication to make PROMs accessible to diverse populations. Personalizing communication manually is highly labor-intensive, but several digital technologies can offer a feasible solution to accommodate various patients. Despite their potential, these technologies have not yet been applied to PROMs. We explore how existing principles and tools, such as automatic data-to-text generation (including multimodal outputs like text combined with data visualizations) and conversational agents, can enable personalized communication of PROMs in practice.

Internal Communication Patterns in Improving Employee Performance in Macro Planning

This study aims to analyze the communication patterns applied in the Macro Planning Division of BAPPERIDA, West Papua Province to improve the effectiveness of internal communication. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach that focuses on understanding employee behavior, perceptions, and motivations in the context of the organization. The subjects of the study consisted of employees in the Macro Planning Division of BAPPERIDA who were selected through purposive sampling based on their competencies and roles. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews, direct observation, and documentation studies. The results of the study indicate that internal communication in the Macro Planning Division of BAPPERIDA is running well, which is reflected in the improvement of work quality, punctuality, initiative, ability, and smooth interaction between leaders and staff. Employees have completed planning tasks, such as RKPD, RAP, and RPJMD, although there are some minor obstacles faced. Supporting factors for employee performance include discipline, understanding of tasks, and punctuality in completing work. In addition, the leadership communication approach that emphasizes good coordination and active problem-solving also facilitates task completion. This study concludes that effective communication is an important factor in achieving organizational success, with no significant obstacles found thanks to established internal communication practices. These findings underscore the importance of effective communication in optimizing organizational performance, increasing employee productivity, and creating more solid working relationships within the organization.

TRUST IN ALTERNATIVE GOVERNORS: EXPLORING USER CONFIDENCE IN COMPANIES, STATES AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN PLATFORM CONTENT MODERATION

Social media platforms such as Facebook, X and TikTok are the “new governors” or “custodians” of the Internet (Klonick 2018; Gillespie 2018). How they moderate global speech online affects the communication practices of billions of people and it can make or break social movements and political resistance, and generally be a critical risk factor for human rights violations. These platforms are increasingly joined by states, international organizations, civil society, journalists and others in defining and interpreting the limitations of speech online, be it through legislation, guidelines or by helping platforms to distinguish misinformation from legitimate content. In parallel, researchers ponder questions concerning the legitimacy of various approaches of content moderation (Haggart & Keller 2021; Suzor 2019), which must extend to the question of which actors ought to fulfill which function in the moderation of content. A legitimate content moderation constellation (and potentially division of labor) is arguably one that is perceived to be legitimate by the “governed” themselves (for whatever qualities are appraised by them). As of today, however, we have little empirical knowledge about what users actually think about content moderation. The current paper presents novel empirical evidence on how users perceive platform content moderation and how they perceive content moderation roles of different governors of speech. The quantitative analysis is based on a survey of more than 15,000 Facebook and Instagram users in 33 countries in the Global South and Eastern Europe, which was conducted in six languages in late 2022 and early 2023.

Ethics of access in contemporary applied linguistics projects

Increasingly, contemporary research practice is taking place in complex, multi-agency projects with funding from various public agencies and high demands for social relevance. The researcher–practitioner relationship, especially between researchers and stakeholders, plays a vital role in these kinds of projects, representing new challenges for many researchers. Within this field, issues relating to research ethics gain importance beyond established guidelines and institutional regulations. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a methodological debate on research ethics, highlighting the complex communicative practices that constitute the micro-ethics of the early stages of research, in which access to research sites and empirical data is at stake. We discuss three such activities in a project studying professional practice in welfare: (1) joint problematization of key issues; (2) negotiation of the research topic with multiple stakeholders; and (3) collaborative response to emerging ethical dilemmas. By opening up the often-neglected micro-ethical practices of research, we discuss how reflexivity and critical engagement might support the researcher's ethical practices in complex project surroundings. By fostering increased awareness of ethically important moments in the early stages of the research process, researchers might be better prepared to negotiate the many communicative events that form an integral part of the practices of research ethics.

The Epistemic Modes of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Charisma Production on Hybrid Media

Abstract Muqtada al-Sadr’s charismatic authority helps enable his power to emotionally motivate millions from the religious populist Sadri movement to partake in elections, protests, and armed struggle in Iraq. Hybrid media is a significant space that promotes his charisma via ‘epistemic modes’, which are contestations over what types of knowledge are deemed true. This paper conducts a virtual ethnography of Sadri hybrid media, whilst contending for the ‘affective bond’ as a suitable conceptual framework to analyse content that propagates al-Sadr’s image. The affective bond treats charisma as absolute trust, premised upon followers’ recognition of their leader as a symbol of legitimacy, hope, and authenticity. This highlights the interrelationship between these perceptions in creating charisma. Concurrently, the affective bond renders visible how everyday online communicative and interpretive practices transform Sadri hybrid media into a space whereby performance, culture, stories, narratives, structural circumstances, and religio-populist identity, intersect to produce Muqtada’s charisma through audiovisual materials.

Tools to improve discharge equity: Protocol for the pilot TIDE trial.

Written discharge instructions after hospitalization promote patient understanding and positive clinical outcomes. Despite the rising prevalence of patients with non-English language preference (NELP) in the U.S., most hospitals do not routinely provide discharge instructions in their preferred language, thereby placing them at higher risk for medical errors and hospital readmission. Innovative solutions to close this implementation gap at hospital discharge for patients with NELP are needed. The Tools to Improve Discharge Equity (TIDE) intervention leverages communication practices proven effective in addressing communication barriers to create language concordant discharge tools from hospital discharge paperwork. We present the protocol for a type I hybrid implementation-effectiveness pilot randomized trial. The TIDE intervention includes a translated medication calendar, pictographs, and an audio recording of the discharge instructions in the patient's preferred language. We will recruit an estimated 50 patient participants from the hospital's top four non-English language groups-Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Creole, and Vietnamese-as well as the nurse and in-person interpreter caring for them. Outcomes include patient recall of primary diagnosis and overall understanding of discharge instructions using a newly developed 24-point score, patient experience, implementation measures (acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness), and clinical effectiveness (including hospital reutilization). A mixed methods evaluation will identify determinants of intervention uptake to guide selection of multi-level implementation strategies to test in a future hybrid type III trial. The TIDE intervention is the first hospital discharge intervention designed for patients with NELP. Result will inform future efforts to improve the safety and equity of the hospital discharge process. clinicaltrials.gov NCT05988229 (August 14, 2023) https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05988229.

Cultural Interdiscursivity in Managing Corporate Discourse: A Corpus Analysis.

Corporate discourse offers a prime site for the study of interdiscursive performance across linguistic and cultural boundaries. However, there is a dearth of quantitative studies to assess cultural interdiscursivity in corporate discourse. Taking advantage of an LDA model and a dispersion formula, this study provides a corpus-based measurement of the interdiscursivity of corporate cultures as expressed within MD&A texts. The results demonstrate three distinct corporate culture types, namely technology-, resource-, and team-oriented cultures, which are expressed through subject terms, leading to strong culture enclave and culture blending effects. This article reveals the quantitative side of discourse and provides new insight into understanding how interdiscursive performance across linguistic and cultural boundaries is expressed in communicative practices.

Organizational Culture Dimensions and Employee Commitment: A Correlational Study of Educational Institutions in Pakistan

The work environment affects all aspects of an organization and enables people to perform optimally. The current study investigates the relationship between organizational culture dimensions and employee commitment in educational institutions in Pakistan. It was quantitative research with a survey method research design. A convenient sampling technique was used to select 120 teachers and 30 head teachers at secondary schools. For the data collection, a self-developed 25-item questionnaire was used to measure various dimensions of organizational culture and employee commitment. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20 was used for data analysis with descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. The findings revealed a strong positive relationship between organizational culture and employee commitment (r=.932), with communication practices showing the strongest dimensional correlation (r=0.72). Moreover, it is indicated that organizational culture is critical in influencing employee commitment. Specifically, effective communication practices, leadership styles, and recognition systems significantly impact employees' emotional and professional attachment to the organization. Organizations should foster transparent communication, recognize employee achievements, and promote collaborative teamwork to enhance commitment. These findings contribute to understanding how organizational culture can be leveraged to improve employee retention and institutional performance in educational settings.

Resilience Communication of Micro-Enterprise Actors in the Service Sector Affected by COVID-19 in Depok, West Java

Micro businesses are essential to national economic development by generating jobs, increasing income, and reducing poverty. The Covid-19 pandemic had a severe impact, especially on micro businesses in the service sector, with restrictions causing reduced consumer demand and business closures, including in Depok, West Java. Effective communication was critical for their resilience, enabling quick response, accurate information, marketing adaptation, customer engagement, network strengthening, collaboration, and innovation. This research aims to analyze the communication practices of micro business actors in the service sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in Depok, West Java. Using a qualitative approach with an interpretive paradigm, the study employed interviews and observations, applying communication theories from Betts and Buzzanell in an economic context. Findings reveal the importance of effective communication processes for micro business resilience during crises. Key sources of information and discussion for these businesses during the pandemic included micro business communities, family and friends or colleagues, and social media.

Female leadership for sustainability: green, cultural and social impact of the world's best sportswomen

Introduction: Female activism and social responsibility seem to be unnoticed but carries a profound impact on community, business, and green legacy. This research aims to analyze the digital communication practices and ethical initiatives of worldwide top female athletes, with a focus on their international brand image. By studying their online presence and engagement, we will explore convergences and divergences between genders in terms of talent revenue and personal branding. Methodology: Our work provides insights into how these sportswomen interact on the internet-based landscape, their approaches to global leadership, and the causes they support. The applied methodology involves a comparative analysis of top athletes by gender and categories to contrast diversity. Statistical techniques, including ANOVA and regression analysis, are employed to examine the data and derive meaningful insights, finding their remarkable influence beyond their exceptional performance in sports. Results: Sportswomen harness the power of online visibility as a strategical tool to amplify their influence and drive social change, leveraging their talent to go beyond the economic returns of their professional performance.Discussions and findings: The current study discloses how sportspeople serve as role models, exhibiting good practices and leading by example to benefit the community. Their dedication to sustainability, both in terms of people's well-being and the preservation of our planet for future generations, is evident in their actions. Their brand image transcends their athletic achievements, reflecting their commitment, responsibility, and entrepreneurship towards the interests of the community. Their influence extends far beyond the surface, leaving a lasting and positive effect on stakeholders.

Circuito Carioca de Feiras Orgânicas:agroecologia, ativismo digital e segurança alimentar no Rio de Janeiro

This article describes everyday life communication practices by the agroecological movement in the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region. It presents an overview of urban agriculture in Rio de Janeiro, describes the processes of forming short circuits, and follows the adoption of new repertoiresof communicative action, identified in mediated mobilization. Its objective is to understand how this network of movements has promoted citizenship and sustainability through communication and consumption. Methodologically, this is a participatory action research carried out with agroecological social movements in the second largest city in the country. It is concluded that local knowledge, by combining media and everyday life, is capable of promoting conscious consumption, food security, collective health, citizenship, and sustainability in Rio de Janeiro.

Creating a culture of care: What leaders can do to enhance employee engagement and employee advocacy

ABSTRACT The emotional culture of a workplace plays a vital role in organizational success. The present project builds on prior organizational emotional culture scholarship by 1) exploring specific positive communication behaviors derived from the model of positive communication that leaders can employ to facilitate a positive emotional culture (PEC), 2) examining the potential benefits of a PEC, including enhanced employee engagement and increased employee advocacy, and 3) grounding the research in broaden-and-build theory. The findings revealed that although positive communication practices from leaders do not directly impact employee engagement nor advocacy, they do shape the development of a positive emotional culture in the workplace, which in turn does influence those productive outcomes. This study highlights the significance of emotions in the workplace and offers practical insights for leaders to foster a more motivated and loyal workforce, benefitting both organizations and their employees.

The Concept of Communication in the Quran; Analysis of Theory and Practice

From the analysis conducted on the basic concept of Islamic communication, it can be concluded that Islamic communication is formulated as a process of exchanging messages based on Islamic teachings with the aim of achieving truth, harmony, and the pleasure of Allah. Its principles include honesty (as-sidq), trustworthiness, justice (al-'adalah), wisdom, and moderation (wasatiyyah). These principles guide every aspect of communication to be oriented towards moral and transcendental values, distinguishing it from secular communication which often focuses on pragmatic or materialistic goals. Dakwah communication aims to convey Islamic teachings wisely, wisely, and compassionately, as exemplified by the prophets. Prophetic communication, which emphasizes prophetic qualities such as shiddiq (honest), amanah (trustworthy), tabligh (delivering), and fathanah (intelligent), has high relevance in the modern world. In this context, da'wah and prophetic communication can be applied through social media, education, and interactive dialogue that prioritizes Islamic ethics, so that it is effective in countering disinformation, resolving conflicts, and strengthening harmonious social relations. The main sources of Islamic communication are the Qur'an, Hadith, and other sources such as ijma (consensus of scholars) and qiyas (legal analogy) are the main foundations of Islamic communication. The Qur'an provides moral guidelines and principles of fair and honest communication. Hadith exemplifies the communication practices of the Prophet Muhammad SAW which are full of wisdom and compassion. The relevance of these sources in modern life lies in their ability to be a guide to communication ethics, both in interpersonal relationships and in the use of communication technology.

Improving Islamic Communication in Organizations to Improve Large Family Ukhuwah Abituren Musthafawiyah (Dictionary) Medan City

This journal discusses the importance of grounding Islamic communication in the Abi Turen Musthafawiyah Extended Family (KAMUS) organization in Medan City. Effective communication based on Islamic values ??is expected to strengthen brotherhood between members. Through a qualitative approach, this research analyzes existing communication practices in organizations and their impact on relationships between members. The research results show that the application of Islamic communication principles can increase the sense of brotherhood and solidarity among KAMUS members.

Crafting emotional narratives: autoethnography as a tool for reflexive inquiry in healthcare codesign practice during COVID-19

ABSTRACT Autoethnography can be used in design to deepen the reflexive analysis of the participants but also of the researchers, especially in sensible fieldwork. This article analyzes the emotional journey of two researchers in a healthcare co-design context, specifically Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Our research aimed to understand patient experiences with home dialysis and other techniques, while the COVID-19 pandemic (2021 to 2023) required innovative adjustments due to restricted fieldwork. Our mixed-methods approach integrated co-design, research/creation, social innovation by design, and sensory ethnography. We examine how emotional dimensions in autoethnographic research shaped our methodological choices, using a narrative emotional journey as a tool. The practice of narrative tools during and after the fieldwork is analysed as a contribution to autoethnography in design research. Our analysis highlights the relevance of structuring autoethnography around the researcher’s narrative emotional journey, communication practices, and co-design media materiality, to reveal how project conditions influenced methodology. This approach underscored the performative nature of design material culture in fostering relationships with participants. Our findings offer both an autoethnographic tool and a tripartite framework for reflexive analysis, offering insights for research in constrained and sensitive contexts.

The Ethics of Communication in Legal Practice

Communication is central to the legal profession, encompassing activities such as client counseling, advocacy, negotiation, and public representation. This paper examines the ethical dimensions of communication in legal practice, emphasizing its role in fostering trust, maintaining professional integrity, and ensuring justice. Key areas of focus include the importance of ethical communication in upholding the lawyer-client relationship, the influence of professional standards and rules governing legal communication, and common dilemmas faced by practitioners. The paper also outlines best practices for ethical communication, stressing transparency, clarity, and adherence to professional guidelines. Finally, it advocates for enhanced training to equip legal professionals with the skills needed to navigate ethical challenges in an evolving legal landscape. Keywords: Legal ethics, communication in law, lawyer-client relationship, professional standards, ethical dilemmas, legal practice.

Parent’s Involvement in the Education of their Children who have Intellectual Disability: Perception and Knowledge

The purpose of the study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of parents with children who have intellectual disabilities (ID) regarding special education and inclusive education programming. The study employed a qualitative approach that involved semi-structured interviews with four parents of children with intellectual disability who are attending private and public special education schools in Saudi Arabia. The findings indicate parents have diverse and generally positive opinions regarding different aspects of the education and educational services their children who have intellectual disability. Through the coding and analysis of their responses to the 20 interview questions, four themes emerged, which were: Information and Knowledge About Special Education and Inclusion, Communication, the Individualized Education Program (IEP), and Assessment and Instruction. The parents also indicated a desire for stronger communication practices between school and home to better support their students with disabilities. Based on the results, it is recommended that further research on the communication processes between school personnel and parents/caretakers be conducted to identify best practices for achieving good communication for the benefit of students with intellectual disabilities.

Participation of Social Media Influencers in Communicating the Global Health Crisis: An Observation of Chinese-Origin Influencers Across Argentina, the UK, and Spain During COVID-19

This work focuses on the digital communicative practices of influencers, as the COVID-19 pandemic has opened a communicational doorway from diverse perspectives, and social media has emerged as an important tool for people to maintain contact and acquire information. Additionally, the preventive and obligatory social distancing measures have driven us to reconsider methods of human interaction. Digital communication as the primary means of connection in the context of COVID-19 encompasses social interaction, entertainment, and informative channels. These facets usually coalesce within a single space or intersect when the practices of influencers are observed. Therefore, three influencers of Chinese origin residing in different countries are analysed, given that China was the initial epicentre of COVID-19. Influencers of Chinese descent living in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Argentina are selected to enable an exploration of more sociocultural diversity. The significance of influencers in disseminating information and content to society continues, according to observation, particularly among younger demographics. Although their main efforts do not reside in communicating COVID-19 within the context of the pandemic, their contribution indicates a complementary solution to fostering social interaction and debunking discourses of hatred aimed at individuals of Chinese or Asian descent.