Browsing by Author "Gerdes, Julie"

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    Beyond the Tall, Tall Trees: Exploring Land and Digital Literacy in Rural Appalachia
    Wagnon, Michelle Martin (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-01)
    In this dissertation, I report findings of a case study I conducted in Giles County, Virginia, my hometown, to better understand the way land impacts rural digital literacy sponsorship. With the help of 13 participants, I studied the ways land impacted their access to digital infrastructures and internet access and presented the following questions: how does land impeded access and support access to broadband infrastructure in Giles County? How does land impact what digital literacies residents in Giles County pursue, and how do they navigate the county's "dead zones" I begin the study by diving into the status of internet in Giles County, and I review the failed attempt made by legislators to provide "universal broadband" to the entire state of Virginia. Next, I review the literature on Deep Mapping Analysis and Literacy Networks to provide context as to how I am using land as a framework for studying rural digital literacy sponsorship. Then, the first analysis chapter uses Deep Mapping Analysis to discuss maps reflecting the status of internet access within the county, and then discusses how these maps help support the experiences of participants in the first round of interviews. The second findings chapter focuses on the Literacy Networks created by participants Veronica, Libby, Makayla, and Heather and explores how their networks show the connections between land and infrastructures as rural digital literacy sponsors and what that teaches us about rural access in general. Finally, I conclude with three implications from these analysis chapters that encourage scholars, community scholars, and legislators alike to pay more attention to the role land plays in internet access and rural digital literacy sponsorship. Most importantly, this work calls for legislators to consider what their part is in helping their rural constituents receive the internet access they need to survive without implicating those who cannot afford it or harming the land where they live.
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    From Surviving to Metaviving: A New Rhetorical Formation in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patient Discourse
    Mengert, Julie Lynn (Virginia Tech, 2022-04-28)
    This dissertation explores how language has evolved as metastatic breast cancer (MBC) has shifted from an imminent death sentence to a potentially chronic disease. War rhetoric, of which the survivor trope is a part, has been the primary mechanism by which healthcare defines the cancer experience. Using Celeste Condit's framework of rhetorical formations, I question if a new rhetoric of breast cancer is indeed emerging as new developments in medicine allow women with terminal disease to live longer. My data reveals that this new rhetorical formation, of which metavivor rhetoric is the anchor point, contains its own key metaphors and rhetorical appeals. In metavivor rhetoric, the focus becomes living with cancer, in which simply existing through a sense of homeostasis develops as the central part of the rhetoric. In this homeostasis as the key part of metavivor rhetoric, a cure is not the focus, as it is in survivor rhetoric. I explore how this emerging rhetoric supersedes the war rhetoric that is deeply entrenched in medical discourse--especially breast cancer--for decades, and how metavivor rhetoric builds upon and repudiates the war rhetoric. Through my qualitative rhetorical analysis of a popular breast cancer message board for patients with metastatic disease, I coded 589 posts to see how women use language to discuss living with MBC, and Condit's concept of rhetorical formations allows me to argue more specifically for the changes I see in patient discourse. My analysis revealed that women living with MBC argue against war/survivor rhetoric and prefer metavivor rhetoric and its ancillary terms, allowing them to transition to an acceptance of their own mortality. I conclude that a new rhetorical formation has taken shape within MBC patient discourse, with implications for women's mortality as they live with a chronic disease, and as I look to the future of this research, my goal is to promote rhetorical changes that will help to enfranchise women with MBC into the broader breast cancer discourse in the United States.
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    Trust in Healthcare and Trust in Science Predict Readiness to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine in Appalachia
    Rockwell, Michelle S.; Stein, Jeffrey S.; Gerdes, Julie; Brown, Jeremiah; Ivory, Adrienne Holz; Epling, John W. (2021-04-06)
    BACKGROUND: The Appalachian Region faces multiple barriers to widespread COVID-19 vaccination. The purpose of this research study was to explore the role of trust in healthcare and trust in science on Appalachian residents’ readiness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Trust in health influencers and health information sources were also explored. METHODS: A cross sectional survey study of Appalachian Region residents (n=1048) was completed between February 25 and March 6, 2021, with equivalent rural and non-rural sampling methods employed. Participants were >35 years of age and had not received the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of survey administration. RESULTS: Overall, 31% of participants were extremely likely to receive the vaccine, while 42% were somewhat likely/neither unlikely or likely/somewhat unlikely, and 27% were extremely unlikely. Based on multiple linear regression analysis with backwards selection, trust in healthcare, trust in science, residence (rural vs. non-rural) and age were positive predictors of readiness to receive the vaccine (F(5, 1042)= 38.9, R2= 0.157, p< 0.01). Gender, education, household income, and political affiliation did not predict vaccine readiness. Trust in media for health information was modest, with ratings of none or not much for social media (64%), podcasts (61%), magazines (46%), radio (37%), newspapers (36%), and television (35%). Primary care providers emerged as the highest trusted health influencer of 15 options and a primary care provider’s office was the most common preference for location for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly in participants who rated themselves as extremely unlikely to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that trust in healthcare and science are prospective foci for initiatives aimed at improving vaccine acceptance in Appalachia, particularly in younger residents of rural areas. As highly trusted health influencers, primary care providers should be leveraged and supported in COVID-19 vaccine education and distribution.
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    Using Scoping Reviews to Identify Models for Participatory Design of Pandemic Communication Research
    Gerdes, Julie; Ojedele-Adejumo, Temitope; Buccilli, Marissa (ACM, 2023-10-26)
    We report on an interdisciplinary scoping review project that sought to broadly review relevant methodological approaches to community engagement in pandemic prevention research. We reviewed abstracts for 1,000 published articles and 211 full-text articles that fell under search terms related to community engagement in infectious disease outbreak communication. We identified 71 papers from across a wide range of disciplines that embraced the spirit of participatory research and that can serve as models in ongoing pandemic science collaborations. While equity-driven participatory design of communication has not taken hold in literature about communication in the face of public health emergencies of international concern, there are positive signs of increasing advocacy for, and—to a lesser degree—uptake of non-extractive research practices in this context.