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CMS 330: INTERPERSONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION

Spring 2015
Unique Number: 07195
MWF 1:00 2:00 p.m., CMA 6.152

Professor: Dr. Erin Donovan

Email: edk@austin.utexas.edu
Office: CMA 7.122B
Office Hours: Thurs 1:00-4:00 p.m. & by appt

Graduate Teaching Assistant: Emily Scheinfeld

Communication Studies Department main office phone number: 512-471-5251

Course Description and Learning Objectives

CMS 330 is designed to give you an overview of contemporary scholarship on phenomena within the
scope of interpersonal health communication. You will become familiar with fundamental communication
processes that are involved in managing physical and mental health. Ideally, you will develop an awareness of
how communication among friends, family members, and professionals influences peoples well-being, and how,
in turn, health and illness shape communication and relationship dynamics. You will demonstrate your
understanding of effective health communication in interpersonal relationships by skillfully analyzing
communication events during class discussions, through exams, and in your written work. Topics covered in this
course will include patient identity, managing sensitive health information, social support, family conversations
about health, and health practitioner communication. This is an upper division course, so expect to be challenged.
Required Materials

Reading packet available at Jenns Copies, 2518 Guadalupe, ph: 512-482-0779

Adelman, M., & Frey, L. R. (1997). The fragile community: Living together with AIDS. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Expectations

I will conduct this class as a seminar/discussion. I will present some material in lecture format, and much
of our time will be spent in exercises and discussion of the reading materials. For this course to be a success, I
expect that you will:

complete the assigned readings before class

participate in discussions in thoughtful and constructive ways
actively take part in group work and activities during class sessions
carefully manage your time throughout the semester
be proactive and reach out to us with questions or concerns
Writing Flag

This course carries the Writing Flag. Writing Flag courses are designed to give students experience with
writing in an academic discipline. In this class, you can expect to write regularly during the semester, complete
substantial writing projects, and receive feedback to help you improve your writing. You will also have the
opportunity to revise one or more assignments, and you will be asked to read and discuss your peers work. You
should therefore expect a substantial portion of your grade to come from your written work. Writing Flag classes
meet the Core Communications objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Teamwork, and Personal
Responsibility, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

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Table of Contents
Required materials p. 1
Basis for grade p. 2
Assignments pp. 2-3
Extra credit p. 3

Schedule of topics and deadlines pp. 4-6

List of readings pp. 7-8
Important university policies pp. 9-10

Evaluation
Your grade in the course will be based on the following:
Task

Points

Percentage of final grade

Exam 1

40

10%

Exam 2

40

10%

Exam 3

40

10%

Current Events Papers (3)

45

11%

Contemporary Analysis Paper - Draft

50

13%

Contemporary Analysis Paper - Final

100

25%

Peer Feedback on Papers

20

5%

Class Participation

65

16%

Total Points Possible

400

100%

The total points you earn correspond to the following final letter grades:
372-400 = A
360-371 = A-

348-359 = B+
332-347 = B
320-331 = B-

308-319 = C+
292-307 = C
280-291 = C-

268-279 = D+
252-267 = D
240-251 = D-

239 and lower = F

Description of Assessments
Exams: There will be three exams. They will typically include a combination of multiple choice, true/false
questions, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions. Exam material will be drawn from lectures, readings, and
class activities and discussions. The purpose of these exams is to assess your understanding of course concepts
and test your ability to synthesize and apply them.
Class Participation: You will be evaluated on how consistently you contribute to our class meetings. This entails
participating in discussions, asking thought-provoking questions, engaging courteously with your colleagues,
staying on task during in-class activities, and being attentive audience members during presentations. A very
small portion of your participation involves simply coming to class regularly, being on time, and actively paying
attention. We will collect short writing assignments to gauge your comprehension of readings and lessons. We
will monitor your contributions in class, and we will take attendance periodically. If you have been absent, you
are responsible for contacting a classmate to determine what you have missed. The purpose of this assessment is
to remind everyone to make consistent and thoughtful contributions on a regular basis.
Full details of the following assignments will be distributed and discussed in class and posted on Canvas. Brief
descriptions are as follows:
Current Events Papers: You are responsible for completing 3 current events papers throughout the semester.
Each paper will be a short essay in which you analyze a contemporary health issue from a communication

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perspective. Drawing from your knowledge of interpersonal health communication theory and research, you will
articulate where communication fits into the issue and identify opportunities for making practical
recommendations. Papers should be 1-2 pages, single-spaced, completed in 12-pt Times New Roman font, on 8.5
x 11-inch paper with 1-inch margins on all sides. This assignment is designed to help you learn to identify how
health communication processes are relevant to current issues that are socially significant and personally
meaningful to you.
Contemporary Analysis Paper: You will develop one of your current events papers into a longer analysis of
interpersonal health communication issues. You will persuasively argue why the topic you have chosen is
significant and how an understanding of interpersonal health communication theory and research informs the
issue in important ways. You will be expected to turn in a rough draft for a grade and to make improvements to
the draft based on instructor and peer feedback. Final papers of 10-12 pages will be due at the end of the semester.
The goal of this assignment is to allow you to show your knowledge of interpersonal health communication theory
and research and to provide a structured opportunity for you to improve your ability to convey ideas in writing.
Peer Feedback: All students will be asked to provide feedback on rough drafts of two classmates contemporary
analysis papers. You may use the criteria that we provide as well as your own ideas in order to propose
suggestions for revision. The goal of this assignment is to help you practice your skills at delivering constructive
feedback on colleagues work.

Course Policies
Late assignments and makeup exams: Late assignments will incur a 10% deduction for each calendar day past
the due date that they are turned in. I do not give makeup exams except under serious unforeseen and/or
extenuating documented circumstances about which we have been notified immediately. If you miss an exam due
to illness, documentation (e.g., from the emergency room) will be required. If religious observance or
participation in a sanctioned university activity requires that you miss an exam, please notify me and provide
documentation of your impending absence at least two weeks in advance.
Following up on grades: You should take an active role in monitoring your grades on Canvas. If you wish to
discuss a grade, please contact one of us no later than 1 week after the date that the grade was posted.

Extra Credit
There may be opportunities for you to earn extra credit in this course by participating in IRB-approved research
studies conducted by faculty and students affiliated with the Department of Communication Studies. You may
earn extra points, which will be added to your total points for the semester, for participating in research studies or
completing an alternative assignment.
To earn extra credit via research participation: Your participation in ongoing faculty or student research
conducted through the Department of Communication Studies is appreciated and encouraged. For each hour you
participate in this research, you will earn 1 research participation credit. This also means that 15 minutes (0.25
credits) earns you 1 course point; 30 minutes (0.5 credits) earns you 2 course points; and 45 minutes (0.75 credits)
earns you 3 course points. 1 credit total, i.e., 4 course points, is the maximum allowed.
Sign up for studies, assign extra credit to eligible courses, and track your progress online at this website:
http://commstudies.utexas.edu/undergraduate/extra-credit-opportunities. The system records your participation as
research participation credits. We will receive a report at the end of the semester with any research participation
credits you have assigned to this course. Please plan ahead. All research participation must be completed by 4/25.
To earn extra credit without participating in research: If there are no available studies or studies for which
you are eligible, or if you would like to earn extra credit but do not want to participate in research studies, then
you can access alternative extra credit options through our Canvas site.

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Schedule of Topics, Readings, and Assignments

WEEK

DATE

TOPIC/ASSIGNMENT

READING TO COMPLETE
BEFORE CLASS

UNIT 1: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION ABOUT HEALTH AND ILLNESS

1

1/21

Intro to course and health communication

1/23

Intro to course and health communication

Du Pr (2010) Ch. 1 & 2

1/26

The patient experience

Becker (1997)

1/28

The patient experience

Donovan-Kicken et al. (2012)

1/30

The patient experience

Gawande (2002)

2/2

The patient experience

Charmaz (2009)

2/4

The patient experience

2/6

Managing health information

Current Event Paper #1 due

Braithwaite (1991)

2/9

Managing health information

Petronio & Jones (2006)

2/11

Managing health information

Lucchetti (1999)

2/13

Managing health information

2/16

Family communication about health

2/18

Family communication about health

2/20

Kirkman et al. (2005)

EXAM 1

UNIT 2: RELATIONSHIPS, HEALTH, & ILLNESS

6

2/23

Writing Workshop

2/25

Health, illness, and relationships

2/27

Health, illness, and relationships

3/2

Health, illness, and relationships

Current Event Paper #2 due

Nemeth (2000)

3/4

Health, illness, and relationships

Bute et al. (2007)

3/6

Health, illness, and relationships

Goldsmith et al. (2006)

Lyons et al. (1998)

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WEEK

DATE

TOPIC/ASSIGNMENT

READING TO COMPLETE
BEFORE CLASS

3/9

Illness communities

Adelman & Frey (1997)

3/11

Life course issues

3/13

Life course issues

3/16-3/20

Spring break no class

3/23

Life course issues

3/25

Flint et al. (2005)

Wright et al. (2008), Ch. 3

EXAM 2

UNIT 3: COMMUNICATION IN HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS

10

11

12

13

3/27

End-of-life communication

Nuland (1993)

3/30

End-of-life communication

Planalp & Trost (2008)

4/1

End-of-life communication
Current Event Paper #3 due

Scott & Caughlin (2012)

4/3

End-of-life communication

4/6

Writing workshop

Lamott (1994)

4/8

Patient-provider interaction

Wright et al. (2008), Ch. 2

4/10

Patient-provider interaction

Charon (2001)

4/13

Patient-provider interaction
Contemporary Analysis Draft due

Selzer (1996)

4/15

Adherence & informed consent

Roberts & Volberding (1999)

Krumholz (2010)

4/17

Interprofessional communication

4/20

Interprofessional communication

Leape et al. (1999)

4/22

Interprofessional communication

Tracy & Tracy (1998)

4/24
14

EXAM 3

4/27

Writing conferences
Peer Feedback due

n/a

4/29

Writing conferences

n/a

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WEEK

15

DATE

TOPIC/ASSIGNMENT

READING TO COMPLETE
BEFORE CLASS

5/1

Writing conferences

n/a

5/4

Writing workshop

TBD

5/6

Writing workshop

5/8

Course wrap-up
Contemporary Analysis Paper due

All readings are found in the course packet with the exception of The Fragile Community, which is a short book
available for purchase at the CO-OP bookstore or online.
In addition, there will be some short readings (e.g., magazine articles) distributed in class or via Canvas, which
you will be asked to complete with advance notice.
Any changes to the schedule will be communicated in class and/or through Canvas.

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List of Readings
Adelman, M. A, & Frey, L. R. (1997). The fragile community: Living together with AIDS. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Becker, G. (1997). Disrupted lives: How people create meaning in a chaotic world (Chapter 3: Order and chaos).
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Braithwaite, D. O. (1991). Just how much did that wheelchair cost?: Management of privacy boundaries by
persons with disabilities. Western Journal of Communication, 55, 254-274.
Bute, J. J., Donovan-Kicken, E., & Martins, N. (2007). Effects of communication-debilitating illnesses and injuries
on close relationships: A relational maintenance perspective. Health Communication, 21, 235-246.
Charmaz, K. (2009). Stories and silences: Disclosures and self in chronic illness. In D. E. Brashers & D. J.
Goldsmith (Eds.), Communicating to manage health and illness (pp. 240-270). New York: Routledge.
Charon, R. (2001). Narrative medicine: A model for empathy, reflection, profession, and trust. JAMA, 286, 18971902.
Donovan-Kicken, E., Tollison, A. C., & Goins, E. S. (2012). The nature of communication work during cancer:
Advancing the theory of illness trajectories. Health Communication, 27, 641-652.
Du Pr, A. (2010). Communicating about health: Current issues and perspectives (2nd ed.) (Chapters 1 & 2). New
York: Oxford University Press.
Flint, L. J., Query, J. L., & Parrish, A. (2005). Negotiating communication challenges while experiencing
Alzheimer's disease: The case of one Hispanic family. In E. Berlin Ray (Ed.), Health communication in
practice: A case study approach (pp. 223-232). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gawande, A. (2002). Complications: A surgeons notes on an imperfect science (pp. 208-227: Whose body is it,
anyway?). New York: Picador.
Goldsmith, D. J., Lindholm, K. A., & Bute, J. J. (2006). Dilemmas of talking about lifestyle changes among
couples coping with a cardiac event. Social Science & Medicine, 63, 2079-2090.
Kirkman, M., Rosenthal, D. A., & Feldman, S. S. (2005). Being open with your mouth shut: The meaning of
openness in family communication about sexuality. Sex Education, 5, 49-66.
Krumholz, H. M. (2010). Informed consent to promote patient-centered care. JAMA, 303, 1190-1191.
Lamott, A. (1994). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. New York: Pantheon Books.
Leape, L. L., Cullen, D. J., Clapp, M. D., Burdick, E., Demonaco, H. J., Erickson, J. I., Bates, D. W. (1999).
Pharmacist participation on physician rounds and adverse drug events in the intensive care unit. JAMA,
282, 267-270.
Lucchetti, A. (1999). Deception in disclosing ones sexual history: Safe-sex avoidance or ignorance?
Communication Quarterly, 47, 300-315.
Lyons, R. F., Mickelson, K. D., Sullivan, M. J. L., & Coyne, J. C. (1998). Coping as a communal process. Journal
of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 579-605.

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Nemeth, S. A. (2000). Society, sexuality, and disabled/ablebodied romantic relationships. In D. O. Braithwaite &
T. L. Thompson (Eds.), Handbook of communication and people with disabilities (pp. 37-48). Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Nuland, S. B. (1993). How we die: Reflections on lifes final chapter (Chapter 12: The lessons learned). New York:
Vintage Books.
Petronio, S., & Jones, S. M. (2006). When friendly advice becomes a privacy dilemma for pregnant couples:
Applying communication privacy management theory. In L. Turner & R. West (Eds.), The family
communication sourcebook. (pp. 201-218). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Planalp, S., & Trost, M. R. (2008). Communication issues at the end of life: Reports from hospice volunteers.
Health Communication, 23, 222-233.
Roberts, K. J., & Volberding, P. (1999). Adherence communication: A qualitative analysis of physician-patient
dialogue. AIDS, 13, 1771-1778.
Scott, A. M., & Caughlin, J. P. (2012). Managing multiple goals in family discourse about end-of-life health
decisions. Research on Aging, 34, 670-691.
Selzer, R. (1996). Letters to a young doctor. (Imelda; Toenails). San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Tracy, S. J., & Tracy, K. (1998). Emotion labor at 911: A case study and theoretical critique. Journal of Applied
Communication Research, 26, 390-411.
Wright, K. B., Sparks, L., & OHair, D. (2008). Health communication in the 21st century (Chapter 2: Providerpatient communication). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Wright, K. B., Sparks, L., & OHair, D. (2008). Health communication in the 21st century (Chapter 3: Caregiving
and communication). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

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Important UT Policies
University of Texas Honor Code
The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership,
individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the university is expected to uphold these values
through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community.
Academic Integrity: We take academic integrity very seriously. If you violate University rules on scholastic
dishonesty, you are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or
dismissal from the University. The University defines academic dishonesty as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized
collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning
process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to
receive a postponement or an extension on an exam, and submission of essentially the same written assignment
for two courses without the prior permission of the instructor. By accepting this syllabus, you have agreed to these
guidelines and must adhere to them. For more information, see
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php.
Students with Disabilities
Any students with disability-related needs or questions are invited to speak with one of us as early in the
semester as possible so that we may accommodate you according to the Universitys disability services
procedures. You must provide documentation to the Dean of Students Office so that the most appropriate
accommodations can be determined. Upon request, specialized services are available on campus through Services
for Students with Disabilities: 512-471-6259 (voice), 512-232-2937 (video phone), or
www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/. No later than five business days before each exam, you should remind us of
any testing accommodations you will need.
Use of Canvas
In this class we will use Canvas to distribute course materials, to communicate and collaborate online, and
to post grades. You should check Canvas regularly.
Use of Email for Official Correspondence to Students
Email is recognized as an official mode of university correspondence; therefore, you are responsible for
reading your email for university and course-related information and announcements. You are responsible to keep
the university informed about changes to your email address. You should check your email regularly and
frequentlyI recommend daily, but at minimum twice a weekto stay current with university-related
communications, some of which may be time-critical. You can find UT Austins policies and instructions for
updating your email address at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.php.
Religious Holy Days
By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date
of observance of a religious holy day. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in
order to observe a religious holy day, I will give you an opportunity to complete the missed work within a
reasonable time after the absence.
Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL)
If you are worried about the behavior of a member of the UT community, you may use the Behavior
Concerns Advice Line to discuss by phone your concerns about the individual. This service is provided through a
partnership among the Office of the Dean of Students, the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), the
Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). Call 512-2325050 or visit http://www.utexas.edu/safety/bcal.

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Emergency Evacuation Policy

Occupants of buildings on the UT Austin campus are required to evacuate and assemble outside when a
fire alarm is activated or an announcement is made. Please be aware of the following policies regarding
evacuation:
Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of the classroom and the building. Remember that the nearest
exit door may not be the one you used when you entered the building.
If you require assistance to evacuate, inform me in writing during the first week of class.
In the event of an evacuation, follow my instructions or those of the TA.
Do not re-enter a building unless you are given instructions by the Austin Fire Department, the UT Austin Police
Department, or the Fire Prevention Services office. Additional information about emergency procedures can be
found at www.utexas.edu/emergency.
Q drop Policy
The State of Texas has enacted a law that limits the number of course drops for academic reasons to six
(6). As stated in Senate Bill 1231:
Beginning with the fall 2007 academic term, an institution of higher education may not permit an
undergraduate student a total of more than six dropped courses, including any course a transfer student has
dropped at another institution of higher education, unless the student shows good cause for dropping more than
that number.

Writing Resources
Undergraduate Writing Center
I encourage you to use the Undergraduate Writing Center (UWC), FAC 211, 471-6222;
http://www.uwc.utexas.edu/). The UWC offers free, individualized, expert help with writing for any UT
undergraduate, by appointment or on a drop-in basis. These services are not just for writing that has problems.
Getting feedback from an informed audience is a normal part of a successful writing project. The UWCs trained
consultants work with students from every department on both academic and non-academic writing. Using
methods that preserve the integrity of your work, they help you develop strategies to improve your writing and
become a more independent writer. Whether you are writing a lab report, a resume, a term paper, a statement for
an application, or your own poetry, UWC consultants will be happy to work with you.