Evelyn Y. Ho

University of San Francisco | USFCA · Department of Communication Studies

Type 2 diabetes affects Chinese Americans at an alarming rate. To address this health disparity, research in the area of cultural sensitivity and health literacy provides useful guidelines for creating culturally appropriate health education. In this article, we use discourse analysis to examine a group of locally available, Chinese- and English-la...

Purpose: Chinese Americans are at high risk for type 2 diabetes and face some health disparities that can be attributed to language barriers, cultural differences, and access to care. The purpose of this article is to review current literature and establish best practices regarding health communication about type 2 diabetes for Chinese Americans....

Objective: Patient-physician communication patterns may influence discussions around depressive symptoms and contribute to engagement in depression care among racial/ethnic minority adults. We examined patient-physician communication about depressive symptoms during routine primary care visits with Chinese and Latino patients with and without lang...

Complementary and integrative health (CIH) use is diverse and highly prevalent worldwide. Prior research of CIH communication in biomedical encounters address safety, efficacy, symptom management, and overall wellness. Observational methods are rarely used to study CIH communication and avoid recall bias, preserve ecological validity, and contextua...

Objective Chinese-American patients use CIH at high rates but disclosure of CIH use to clinicians is low. Further, the content of CIH talk between patients and their clinicians is not well described. We aimed to characterize CIH talk between Chinese-American patients and their primary care clinicians. Methods Discourse analysis of 70 audio-recordi...

In this article, we use grounded practical theory to develop a practical theory for using “difficult data” in Language and Social Interaction university classes. “Difficult data” are transcribed, audio/video-recorded data that contain language and ideologies that could be offensive, bigoted, or otherwise disturbing. We provide contextual literature...

This entry discusses terminology, definitions, and research examining communication about complementary and integrative healthcare (CIH) between patients and clinicians. The terminology of modern CIH is deeply intertwined with the history and acceptance of CIH forms as legitimate therapies worldwide. Health communication scholarship began with exam...

Addressing patient-clinician communication barriers to improve multiple chronic disease care is a public health priority. While significant research exists about the patient-clinician encounter, less is known about how to support patient-clinician communication about lifestyle changes that includes the context of people's lives. Data come from a la...

Stakeholder advisory boards are recognized as an essential and useful part of patient-centered research. However, such engagement can involve exchanges of diverse individual experiences, multiple opinions, and strong feelings in the face of researchers’ limitations, deadlines, and agendas. Yet, little work examines how these potential tensions occu...

Health communication scholarship is quite varied in the ways it deals with culture. Theoretical approaches used to explain culture are equally variable, coming from different disciplines and not always easily compared. In this chapter we present one way of organizing and cataloging theories and approaches, recognizing that others may propose differ...

Assessment has become increasingly integral to college and university accreditation. While formal assessment has become more of a responsibility for instructors as related to their individual classes and assignments, program assessment is also at the center of these conversations. However, few guidelines and resources are being shared with regard t...

Objectives: This study describes the development and feasibility of Integrative Nutritional Counseling (INC), a Chinese medicine (CM)+biomedicine-based nutrition curriculum for Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes. Although Chinese Americans often incorporate CM principles into their diet, scant research has explored how to integrate CM with biom...

Objectives A systematic review to analyze communication rates of complementary and integrative health (CIH) and analyze how communication terms, such as “disclosure,” are measured and operationalized. Methods We searched seven databases for studies published between 2010-2018 with quantitative measurements of patients’ communication of CIH to a bi...

Objectives: As part of a pragmatic effectiveness trial of integrative pain management among inpatients with cancer, the authors sought to understand the clinical context and adaptations to implementation of two study interventions, acupuncture and pain counseling (i.e., pain education and coping skills). Design: The larger study uses a 2 × 2 facto...

Purpose: Current biomedical cardiovascular disease nutrition counseling does not incorporate Chinese medicine principles. Methods: A heart-healthy integrative nutritional counseling (H2INC) curriculum consistent with Chinese medicine principles and biomedical nutrition guidelines was taught to Chinese Americans in group education sessions. Chinese...

Objectives To examine audio-recorded primary care interactions with patient-initiated photo sharing around food and diet choices. Methods Data were 13 audio recordings of primary care visits with English-, Chinese-, or Spanish-speaking patients 60+ with two or more chronic conditions. Patients and clinicians completed pre-intervention surveys and...

Purpose: Chinese Americans (CAs) with diabetes and limited English proficiency often struggle to adhere to standard diabetes diets focused on food measurement/restriction. Chinese medicine principles commonly inform food choices among CAs but are rarely acknowledged in nutritional interventions. We developed and tested feasibility of a theoreticall...

This paper examines Chinese Americans’ intergenerational sharing of important family soup recipes in audio/video-recorded cooking sessions. Three main themes emerged: 1) Construction of hygiene around Chinese meal preparation; 2) questioning the authenticity and Chineseness of particular food practices; and 3) claiming cultural capital as part of a...

The high prevalence of medical residents' stress and burnout raises important questions about how to address this issue effectively and feasibly. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a stress management intervention on residents' burnout and stress management behaviors and outcomes. We conducted a 1-day workshop for residents in Qatar....

Chinese Americans (CAs) are at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) compared to White Americans at the same BMI. In this chapter, we use a Culture-Centered Approach to investigate patient agency as it intersects with structure and culture in the talk during focus group interviews. The interviewees were CAs with T2DM discussing...

Objectives: Current cardiovascular disease (CVD) nutrition guidelines do not take into account Chinese medicine (CM) principles. We created a heart healthy integrative nutritional counseling (H2INC) curriculum consistent with CM principles and current nutrition guidelines. Methods: We conducted three phases of semi-structured interviews with key...

This paper explores discursive ways Chinese American older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) take ownership of their health management. Fifteen patient stakeholders with T2DM took part in four focus group interviews. We used qualitiative discourse analysis to examine how participants used the phrase, “We (Tong) Chinese,” and variants, to...

Background: Health-care providers (HCPs) find facilitating end-of-life (EOL) care discussions challenging, especially with patients whose ethnicities differ from their own. Currently, there is little guidance on how to initiate and facilitate such discussions with older Chinese Americans (≥55 years) and their families. Objective: To explore comm...

Introduction: Older Chinese Americans often defer end-of-life care discussions. Researchers sought to explore how to engage older Chinese Americans and their families in end-of-life care discussions and to understand the optimal timing to initiate such discussions. Methods: Individual, semistructured interviews were conducted with 14 community-d...

This study aimed to describe the experiences of stress and burnout and sociodemographic factors associated with dimensions of stress among medical residents at Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar. Medical residents participating in a stress management course were asked to complete an anonymous survey. The survey included demographic questions, the Abb...

Type 2 diabetes affects Chinese Americans at an alarming rate, and many Chinese Americans use the principles of Chinese medicine to manage this condition. In this article, we analyze interviews with Chinese medicine practitioners to demonstrate how they negotiate and practice integrative medicine, in particular as this relates to treatment for type...

In a period of only one decade in the United States, the neti pot shifted from obscure Ayurvedic health device to mainstream complementary and integrative medicine (CIM), touted by celebrities and sold widely in drug stores. We examine the neti pot as a case study for understanding how a foreign health practice became mainstreamed, and what that pr...

As part of the ongoing CRISP project (Communicating Risk in Internet Security and Privacy), we conducted a user study in a marginalized community to better understand community members' interactions with computers and the Internet in terms of security and privacy. We used the Health Belief Model to understand what factors affect members' behavior w...

This paper applies practically oriented discourse analysis to focus group interviews using conversation analytic principles to show how interac­ tional qualities demonstrably different to analysts are also treated as such by participants. We take a grounded practical theory perspective to claim that the empirical and practical distinction is an exp...

Based on three case studies in organizational, health, and institutional settings, we show that research processes and outcomes can have different logics for scholars in the field, for clients, and other participants. We illustrate how applied work prompts researchers to reflect on their shifting research goals and outcomes in the context of intera...

In this publication, Evelyn Ho (first author) and I outline the history and development of communication between providers and patients about Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and critique current research in light of recent contributions of discourse analysis to studying this important area of research.

Purpose: Use of complementary, alternative and integrative medicine (CAIM) is growing. One reason for this may be related to differences in the quality of patient-provider interactions. A study was conducted to assess patients' perceptions of traditional and allopathic healthcare provider communication styles, and whether any specific communication...

Objective: The goal was to examine the feasibility and impact of a face-to-face communication skills training intervention based on a current public health campaign to encourage patients to talk about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with their biomedical health providers. Methods: Current CAM users were invited to complete a survey...

Objective: To empirically investigate the ways in which patients and providers discuss Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatment in primary care visits. Methods: Audio recordings from visits between 256 adult patients aged 50 years and older and 28 primary care physicians were transcribed and analyzed using discourse analysis, an em...

In this article we use a culture-centered approach to understand people's experiences of treatment options for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related peripheral neuropathy. We present from often unheard and marginalized voices the stories of how people live with this chronic illness and negotiate treatment options. Based on individual and group...

This article reflects on the role of technology in teaching two LSI research methods courses with a focus on ethnography of communication and discourse analysis, respectively. Presented as case studies, we describe two LSI scholars’ experiences and explain our choices in using technology to teach these two undergraduate LSI courses. We describe how...

In recent years, communication education has been used as a means of improving the clinician-patient relationship and promoting health. The focus of these interventions has primarily centered on clinician training. An area that has received less focus, although equally important, is training patients to be good communicators. The purpose of the pap...

Objective: To help students understand patients’ perspectives on health care and the importance of communication in practitioner–patient interactions Courses: Health Communication, Practitioner–Patient Communication, Communication and Aging

The doctor-patient relationship has been widely studied in biomedicine. However, little research has focused on similar provider-client relationships in holistic healthcare forms. Based on ethnographic research with acupuncture clients and practitioners, the authors found that participants used specific models of health to understand and develop su...

The authors examined college students' day-to-day health communication experiences. A convenience sample of 109 midwestern university students participated in the study. The participants completed health communication diaries for 2 weeks, generating 2,185 records. Frequent health topics included nutrition and diet, minor health concerns, risky heal...

Over 100 HIV-positive clients receive free and subsidized acupuncture and massage therapy treatment through a community-based holistic healing center in San Francisco. Twenty-four were recruited for a four-month study investigating the effects of acupuncture and massage therapy on HIV-related neuropathy symptoms and quality of life. All participant...

An increasing number of people in the United States are using holistic therapies. Both encouraging and informing this trend in growth, printed leaflets are a popular and important medium for holistic health practitioners. Using a discourse analytic approach, the author analyzed pamphlets and printed texts distributed at a holistic health fair. Thes...

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has recently gained a great deal of popular and scholarly attention. However, little work in this area has examined how people actually talk about TCM as a health care system and its implicit assumptions about health, illness, and treatment. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an acupuncture community, I...

Hepatitis C virus is the most prevalent chronic blood-borne infection in the United States, typically acquired through contaminated blood products or needle sharing. We hypothesized that patients with chronic hepatitis C infection experience stigmatization independent of mode of acquisition and that it negatively affects quality of life. Cross-sect...