Papers by Patricia Geist-Martin
Health Communication, 2003
This study investigates the narratives of one couple who lived through life-changing events follo... more This study investigates the narratives of one couple who lived through life-changing events following a cancer diagnosis. The narratives of the cancer survivor and her husband are explored as they struggle to cope with their situation, provide support for one another, and consider their changing personal identities. This research addresses the communication dilemmas that often occur when family members, friends, and providers do not know how to respond to an individual diagnosed with cancer. The rationale for this study is threefold. First, this study advocates the need for learning about the composition of survivor identities over the course of a life-threatening illness. Second, this study seeks to understand how illness survivors and their family members use narratives as a method of communicating their changing identities. Finally, communicating about illness is often perceived as 'taboo', and this study may encourage others to be a part of the participants' stories and learn more about why those stories are often concealed. We learn from these three narratives that supportive relationships are central to healing and that it is through communication among family members that identities are composed and recomposed throughout the illness journey. This research affects communication, social support, identity, and emotion literature and is aligned with human appraisal theories as well. Finally, it offers insights into the ways in which we talk about, hear about, and learn about illness.
Communication Monographs, 2008
ABSTRACT The university has become a site of increased debate over policy and procedures as the e... more ABSTRACT The university has become a site of increased debate over policy and procedures as the experience of sexual harassment reaches all levels of the academic hierarchy. Although this topic has been researched thoroughly, few studies have explored sexual harassment through the voices of men in academe. In this study, sexual harassment is explored from the perspective of two men who are tenured, full professors at a southwestern university. This research employs narrative analysis to locate patterns of discourse that illuminate fractured identities. Through the examination of these fractures, this analysis exposes the ways gender, identity, and sexual harassment are intertwined within academe.
Health Communication, 2009
Research documents how the care the holistic providers offer represents the quality communication... more Research documents how the care the holistic providers offer represents the quality communication that patients often do not receive from their biomedical providers. However, research investigating the perspectives of holistic providers concerning the role they see themselves playing in the provision of health is limited. This research explores the perceptions of holistic providers in Costa Rica about their communication with their patients. The results reveal two practices of communication—authenticating and integrating as central to providers' communication with patients in the provision of holistic health care. Providers describe their communication as an exploration of an anatomy of pain/suffering, including investigating the location, timing, length, intensity, and overall rhythm of the patient's condition and sense making that leads them to seek the care of a holistic provider. Most holistic providers see their role as being careful or full of care and suggest that they have an obligation to open their heart first of all.
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Papers by Patricia Geist-Martin