This is an overview of my ongoing projects. Whereas the conceptual foundations of these projects have been established in my earlier scholarship, they demonstrate ways of building this scholarship through collaborative research. These collaborations have extended the theoretical and pragmatic breadth of my scholarship.
Current research on the culture-centered approach explores the relationship between culture and structure in the realm of health experiences of individuals and communities that exist at the margins of the healthcare system. Individual projects conducted under the umbrella of the culture-centered approach participate in dialogues with members of marginalized communities, and centralize the voices of cultural participants in the articulations of health care problems and solutions. This line of research also provides a critical lens for interrogating the top-down approaches to health communication that undermine the participation of subaltern groups in the realms of health care policies and project implementations that affect their lives. Project collaborators include Iccha Basnyat, Ambar Basu, Rebecca DeSouza, Min Jiang, Induk Kim, and Mahuya Pal.
What is the link between the distribution of communication technologies in society and the health disparities that exist among the various social groups? This line of work explores the intersections between the research areas of digital divide and health disparities, suggesting that the distribution of health disparities mirror the distribution of communication technologies. We suggest mechanisms through which communicative inaccess influences health outcomes. Project collaborators include Dr. Jim Anderson, Graham Bodie, Min Jiang, Induk Kim, and Kyoungrae Oh.
This line of research examines systematic within population variance in the motivation in health-related issues. Based upon my initial work on health orientation published in Health Communication, Health Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and Social Marketing Quarterly, the health orientation research group has developed a variety of projects that explore (a) the demographic predictors of health orientation, (b) the relationship between health orientation and communication channels, (c) the relationship between health orientation and media uses and gratifications, (d) the relationship between health orientation and response to communication appeals, and (e) the health outcomes associated with health orientation. Current and past project participants include Iccha Basnyat, Ambar Basu, Graham Bodie, Hairong Feng.