UMSL Communication Professors Off to the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication

by Stephanie Van Stee

Drs. Lara Zwarun and Stephanie Van Stee set off for the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication (KCHC) this past April, 2014. The preconference theme was Health Message Design, which represented a good fit with Dr. Zwarun’s interests in persuasion in media messages and Dr. Van Stee’s interests in persuasive health messages. The preconference featured notable presenters in the field of communication, such as Dan O’Keefe, who discussed meta-analysis of message design research, and Robin Nabi, who discussed the role of discrete emotions as message design components as well as responses to viewing health messages.

Presentation topics at the conference ranged from patient-provider communication to health policy research. Dr. Zwarun presented some of her own research at the conference, by sharing her findings from a content analysis of verbal and visual references to substance use in celebrity Tweets. This research was conducted with the help of current and former UMSL Communication undergraduate students Louise Ortman, Sharon Robbins, Michael McAllister, Michael Miller, and Will Colbert. All were students in Dr. Zwarun’s COMM 3330 “Research Methods in Communication I” class who went on to work on the study as a way to apply the concepts they had learned in the classroom and experience research first-hand. The study showed that people who follow the most popular 30 celebrities on Twitter will see allusions to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs in 8% of tweets and many of these references make these substances seem cool or desirable in the way that they are portrayed.

Photo: Van Stee and Zwarun at the conference

Drs. Van Stee and Zwarun at the conference

KCHC proved to be a valuable conference that allowed Drs. Zwarun and Van Stee to learn about recent, relevant scholarship in the discipline, reunite with colleagues, and form new professional relationships. Students in COMM 3330 who enjoy the class and are interested in doing actual research by working with faculty or graduate students should contact their professor to learn more about this opportunity.

 

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