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Upcoming Talk, December 10th @ 1-2pm: ‘Diagnosing Autism in Girls: Could figurative language be the key?’
By Sinead Jackson, on 3 December 2024
Hello all,
We are excited to welcome you to the next event in the UCL Health Communication Network Research Seminar Series.
Next Event: Tuesday 10th December, 1-2pm
Location: Torrington Place, Room B07
We are delighted to welcome our next speaker, Jessica Goulston, who is a PhD candidate in the Division of Psychology & Language Sciences.
‘Diagnosing Autism in Girls: Could figurative language be the key?’
“Autistic females are underdiagnosed compared to males, representing only 20% of the autistic population (Loomes et al., 2017). This disparity likely reflects that autistic females exhibit behavioural symptoms which differ from ‘traditional’ male profile (Clarke et al., 2021), making them less likely to be referred for diagnosis. Difficulties in understanding implicated meaning and figurative language (e.g. metaphors, irony) are a core diagnostic criterion for autism. Whilst female autism symptomology is largely unexplored, evidence from developmental studies suggests that autistic girls exhibit relative advantages in figurative language skills to autistic boys (Sturrock et al.,2019). However, since no distinction was made between different types of figurative language in this study, the insights from these findings are somewhat limited. This is due to the fact that different figurative language skills depend on distinct cognitive skills making it difficult to determine the reason for these gender differences.
In this talk we examine how differences in social communication and figurative language may pose a barrier to diagnosis for autistic females. We discuss how different figurative language abilities vary in their reliance on perspective-taking and examine what insights these different abilities might reveal about gender differences in autism. We share ongoing experimental work which aims to examine gender differences in autistic children and adolescents using metaphor and irony comprehension measures and outline our predictions with regards to potential underlying cognitive differences and use of compensatory strategies. Finally, we present novel findings from autistic adults comprehension of implicated meanings which reinforce our prediction that autistic females employ compensatory strategies to support social communication.
Zoom Link for hybrid attendance: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93281768433?pwd=t930xwrlgVFfQ4y7Fzhsjrb34n82Hb.1
We look forward to seeing you there!
The UCL Health Communication Network Team
Emma, Andrea, and Sinéad
UCL HCN Research Seminar Series: Upcoming Talk 12th November, 1-2pm.
By Sinead Jackson, on 29 October 2024
Please find the details for our upcoming talk below. Note that this talk will be delivered online, though in person attendance is both welcomed and encouraged!
- Next Event: Tuesday 12th November, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – Room C3.14 (Speaker online)Zoom Link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93281768433?pwd=t930xwrlgVFfQ4y7Fzhsjrb34n82Hb.1
We welcome Sinéad Jackson, who is a doctoral research student in The Department of Culture, Communication & Media, University College London, UK,.
‘Slipping, Falling, and Stumbling Backwards: Metaphors of dependence and recovery in online alcohol support materials.’
It is estimated that in England alone, there are over 600,000 dependent drinkers, of whom just 18% are seeking support or receiving treatment (Committee of Public Accounts, 2023). Reasons related to self-stigma, shame, and a perceived lack of agency are often cited as the most significant barriers to help-seeking behaviours (Bilberg, 2019). This talk will present a piece of research exploring implications of the metaphors used to talk about alcohol use in online support materials, attempting to isolate the language individuals seeking support may be likely to encounter. Metaphor has been shown to influence how we perceive, respond to, and emotionally appraise experiences of illness; to inform and shape perceptions of agency and control; to reinforce or challenge stigmatising attitudes; and to influence health-related risk assessment and behaviours. However, there is currently little research available on the landscape of figurative language use in alcohol-related health messaging.
Using a specialised corpus of online texts produced by alcohol support organisations, this talk will consider two questions: How is alcohol use metaphorically framed by professional support services? What positive or negative implications might these framings have for support-seeking individuals? The presented analysis will identify metaphors targeted at four key aspects of alcohol use: (i) lived experience, (ii) coping strategies, (iii) alcohol use disorder, and (iv) treatment options. Particular consideration will be paid to the conceptualisations of affected individuals and dependency supported by the framings, and the kind or degree of agency being attributed to the participants. Finally, the discussion hopes to highlight how linguistic choices may reflect, reinforce, or challenge existing theoretical perspectives, illustrating the role of language in framing perceptions in health information.
We look forward to seeing you there!
The UCL Health Communication Network Team
References
Bilberg, R. (2019). Barriers to Treatment for Alcohol Dependence. Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research.
Committee of Public Accounts. (2023). Alcohol treatment services. House of Commons.
UCL HCN Research Seminar Series, upcoming talk: October 22nd, 1-2pm
By Sinead Jackson, on 14 October 2024
Next Event: Tuesday 22nd October, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – Room C3.14
We are delighted to welcome Federico Federici, who is a Professor of Intercultural Crisis Communication in The Department of Translation Studies, University College London, UK.
Federico’s research predominantly focuses on translators and interpreters as intercultural mediators and the study of translation in crises. He is particularly proud of having recently edited Language as a Social Determinant of Health for Springer (2022). He is currently working with a healthcare centre in Italy on issues of multilingual health communication among marginalised and vulnerable groups, and with oncologists in London on language as a tool to having equal access to healthcare.
Upcoming Talk: ‘Some languages are more equal than others: language resources and healthcare communication’
In this paper, I will not present new data and figures, but reflect on how new approaches, such as the WHO’s Guidance on Communicating for Health (WHO, 2017b) and on communicating risks (WHO, 2017a), seem to indicate new attention to the role of effective multilingual communication in international healthcare settings. Changing international perspectives may represent an encouraging shift away from the monolingual mindset often influencing crisis and emergency communication strategies in international health and humanitarian crises.
However, these shifts will be considered in relation to data collected from a project on vaccination hesitancy among migrant populations in Italy – STRIVE Project 2021-2022 (Ciribuco & Federici, 2024) –, informal conversations with Médecins Sans Frontières London, and collaborative activities with the Healthcare Centre for Forced Migrants (SAMIFO) in Rome. The talk will consider issues of effective communication in relation to time and language resources. Time and resources create disadvantages for some languages and have an impact on effectiveness of translation and interpreting (Krystallidou & Braun, 2023; Krystallidou et al., 2024) and the role of technological (Delfani et al., 2024; Halimi Mallem & Bouillon, 2019; Moberly, 2018; Taira et al., 2021) and terminological resources. The talk will reflect briefly on the role of translation and interpreting in influencing reports and research projects conducted in multilingual settings with limited planning for language services, which could damage quality of data and skew research findings.
These reflections centre around the concept of language as a social determinant of health. The talk is intended to encourage debate on the usefulness of such conceptualization and engage with colleagues in understanding whether some languages are more equal than others when accessing health information.
Zoom Link for hybrid attendance to all talks: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93281768433?pwd=t930xwrlgVFfQ4y7Fzhsjrb34n82Hb.1
We look forward to seeing you there!
The UCL Health Communication Network Team
Emma, Andrea, and Sinéad
References
Ciribuco, A., & Federici, F. M. (2024). The experience of intercultural mediators in the Italian COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Language and Intercultural Communication, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2024.2337382
Delfani, J., Orasan, C., Saadany, H., Temizoz, O., Taylor-Stilgoe, E., Kanojia, D., Braun, S., & Schouten, B. (2024). Google Translate Error Analysis for Mental Healthcare Information: Evaluating Accuracy, Comprehensibility, and Implications for Multilingual Healthcare Communication. arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.04023. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2402.04023
Halimi Mallem, I. S., & Bouillon, P. (2019). Google Translate and BabelDr in Community Medical Settings: Challenges of Translating into Arabic. In F. Said (Ed.), Arabic Translation Across Discourses (pp. 27-44). Routledge.
Krystallidou, D., & Braun, S. (2023). Risk and Crisis Communication during COVID-19 in Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Communities: A Scoping Review of the Available Evidence. In P. Blumczynski & S. Wilson (Eds.), The Languages of COVID-19 (pp. 128-144). Routledge.
Krystallidou, D., Temizöz, Ö., Wang, F., de Looper, M., Maria, E. D., Gattiglia, N., Giani, S., Hieke, G., Morganti, W., Pace, C. S., Schouten, B., & Braun, S. (2024). Communication in refugee and migrant mental healthcare: A systematic rapid review on the needs, barriers and strategies of seekers and providers of mental health services. Health Policy, 139, 104949. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104949
Moberly, T. (2018). Doctors are cautioned against using Google Translate in consultations. British Medical Journal. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4546
Taira, B. R., Kreger, V., Orue, A., & Diamond, L. C. (2021). A Pragmatic Assessment of Google Translate for Emergency Department Instructions. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 1-5.
WHO. (2017a). Communicating Risk in Public Health Emergencies. A WHO Guideline for Emergency Risk Communication (ERC) policy and practice. World Health Organization. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/9789241550208-eng_0.pdf
WHO. (2017b). WHO Strategic Communications. Framework for effective communications. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/documents/communicating-for-health/communication-framework.pdf
June 27th – UCL HCN Research Seminar Series
By Sinead Jackson, on 17 June 2024
The next event in the UCL HCN Research Seminar Series will take place on June 27th, at 1-2pm.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Beth Malory, who is a Lecturer in The Department of English Language and Literature, University College London, UK.
Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room 639
- Lived experiences of diagnostic terminology for pregnancy loss: a qualitative study using focus groups
In this talk I will discuss the findings of a qualitative study using focus groups, which aims to describe participants’ exposure pregnancy loss terminology, and the impacts of that terminology on their experiences of accessing healthcare during and after pregnancy loss. 30 participants with lived experience(s) of pregnancy loss occurring in the UK since April 2021 were recruited and attended one of 8 focus groups lasting one hour each. These focus groups were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim, and the transcripts analysed thematically.
The talk will centre on the major themes arising from the focus group data; that terminology around pregnancy loss can often 1) imply culpability, or exacerbate feelings of self-blame, 2) reflect societal beliefs about some losses being more traumatic than others, 3) validate or invalidate feelings of grief and trauma, and dehumanise or humanise the baby who has died, and 4) be perceived as too ‘clinical’. It will also outline how these findings can contribute to the implementation of improvements in pregnancy loss care.
This session is also hybrid and you may join us via Zoom:
https://ucl.zoom.us/j/92180316119?pwd=wzZmnlEJlH4cCJ33NRMKyyTnpjfOHI.1
We look forward to seeing you there!
The UCL Health Communication Network Team
March 12th HCN Research Seminar Series
By Sinead Jackson, on 28 February 2024
Details below for the next event in the UCL Health Communication Network’s seminar series on 12th March, 2024 1-2pm.
For our next seminar we are excited to announce a guest speaker, Dr. Emma Putland, joining us from Lancaster University. As such, we will be holding an online-only event.
Location: Online only
Joining link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/95401339303?pwd=dkVuOVVCR1dubWp5d1N4bytJYUhZQT09 (701285)
Invited Speaker:
• What do you associate with “dementia”? Representing dementia in popular media, AI outputs and in conversation with people affected by dementia.
Emma Putland (Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University)
Recognising that how we communicate about health can both reflect and help to shape social attitudes and practices, this talk focuses on how dementia is represented amongst various spheres of public life. It begins by briefly contextualising some of the main ways that dementia and people with the syndrome are represented in contemporary UK culture, with a particular focus on popular media. Building on this, the talk considers how artificial intelligence (AI) models might generate images and character descriptions in response to dementia-oriented textual prompts, examining the social biases that are reproduced and sometimes even amplified by AI outputs. Finally, the talk reflects on the above representations in relation to conversations with fifty-one participants who were living with dementia, care partners and close family/friends. Here, the plurality of people’s representations of dementia and the people affected is evident, and the talk concludes with participant-informed recommendations for changing dementia representations to help challenge stigma and better reflect individuals’ lived realities.
December 5th 2023 HCN research seminar
By Andrea Vaughan, on 28 November 2023
Details below for the next event in the UCL Health Communication Network’s seminar series on 5th December 2023, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room C3.14
Live stream link for those who can’t attend: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93217430863?pwd=dXVxdTN0YkpwWVBNQ1IrVitaTCs4UT09 (Passcode: 42135)
Talks:
- Incorporating a “widening participation” agenda? Language-related considerations in patient recruitment to randomised trials
Talia Isaacs (Institute of Education department of Culture, Communication and Media), on behalf of the “Beyond must speak English” project
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how some groups in society experience greater disease burden and poorer health outcomes than the wider population. Such societal inequalities have always existed, but there are now arguably more initiatives to begin to address these injustices. This is driven, in part, by agenda-setting from some health research funders to encourage researchers to engage with groups in society that have historically been left behind. This short talk centres on language-related gatekeeping measures when recruiting patients to health intervention research. Highlights from a systematic review of NIHR research reports focusing on UK-based randomised controlled trials (RCTs) expose methodological elements of RCTs that could preclude the participation of ethnically and linguistically diverse patients. This includes considerations of the fairness, accuracy, and consistency of language-related screening during participant recruitment.
- Silenced prohibitions in the birth room
Rebecca Brione is a module co-lead on Legal and Ethical Issues in Women’s Health at UCL, and a part-time doctoral student in the Sowerby Philosophy and Medicine project at King’s College London
We all want to do things with our words. In healthcare, our words can, but do not always, protect our interests in bodily autonomy and integrity. Take vaginal examination in labour, a common intervention involving digital penetration of a pregnant person’s vagina by a healthcarer. In England, absent rare and unusual circumstances, an individual has an absolute right in law say no to this and similar interventions. Too often, however, those “no”s fail. Some describe the resulting experiences as being like rape. This paper uses concepts from applied philosophy of language to examine what might be going wrong in cases where people’s words fail to do what they intend. I set out the different concurrent actions a pregnant person may be (trying to) perform with her words when she says “no”, and argue that, at least in some cases, people are being silenced when they attempt to refuse unwanted examination.
HCN Research Seminar on 16th November 2023 – Rethinking NHS care through a multilingual lens.
By Zsofia Demjen, on 14 November 2023
Our next events on 16th Nov 2023, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room W3.05
Talk:
- “I grew up speaking a sort of…alphabet soup”: rethinking NHS care through a multilingual lens.
Emma Brooks, Institute of Education. Department of Culture, Communication & Media
Much of the prevailing research on the role of language in intercultural health communication, has been measured against the premise of fixed institutional, monocultural, monolingual/proficient user norms, where shared practices are often assumed (Sarangi & Roberts, 1999). In contrast, this talk calls for a reimagining of contemporary healthcare in the UK, where NHS data shows that staff are as likely to be as linguistically, ethnically, and socioculturally diverse as the patient populations they serve (House of Commons, 2022: NHS Workforce data, 2022). More recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of international healthcare professionals entering the UK workforce: in 2021, just under half of all midwives joining the NHS trained overseas, whereas over 50% of new medical graduates, who registered with the GMC, qualified outside the UK or the EEA (GMC, 2022; NMC, 2022). While it is important not to assume and conflate (inter)national or ethnolinguistic characteristics (Rosa and Flores, 2017), data suggests that the UK’s national health service is likely to comprise a number of multilingual staff.
This talk proposes that being able to draw on the linguistic skills of healthcare professionals may be to the advantage of diverse populations, many of whom are regularly and disproportionally represented in data recording adverse outcomes. I draw on ethnographic observations of consultations and recent interviews with multilingual NHS professionals, to highlight the pragmatic and beneficial aspects of linguistic concordance between provider/patient. Thus, if patient wellbeing and comprehension are much improved, it becomes apparent that it may not be social actors who construct language(s) as a barrier, but the monolingual orientations of the systems within which they are obliged to operate. Nevertheless, in circumstances where (mis)understanding can have real-world clinical consequences, it is imperative that greater institutional consideration be given to the support and possible accreditation of multilingual health professionals. This will not only facilitate their visibility and demonstrate an appreciation of communication skills, but it will also recognise an invaluable contribution to advancing parity of care.
References
General Medical Council (2022). The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK: the Workforce Report 2022, General Medical Council (GMC)
House of Commons – nationality of staff https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7783/ (accessed 16/02/2023)
NHS Workforce Statistics, June 2022 [accessed 16/02/2023]
NHS England/Primary Care Commissioning (2018). Guidance for commissioners: Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care [Accessed 16/02/2023]
Nursing and Midwifery Council (2022). The NMC register, 1 April 2021-31 March 2022, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
Rosa, J. and Flores, N. (2017) “Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective,” Language in Society. Cambridge University Press, 46(5), pp 621-647
Sarangi, S., & Roberts, C. (1999). The dynamics of interactional and institutional orders in work-related settings. Talk, work and institutional order: Discourse in medical, mediation and management settings, 1, 1-57.
Live stream link for those who can’t attend: (https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91423628654?pwd=SVBJbkZQbDdLalJKSEtZUEVTYVlSQT09 Passcode: 701285)
First Interactional Competence for clinical communication
By Zsofia Demjen, on 6 October 2023
We would like to invite you to the first event in the UCL Health Communication Network’s seminar series for this academic year.
Date: 17th Oct 2023, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room C3.14
Talk:
“But here in this country”: Interactional Competence for clinical communication in intercultural contexts
Dr. David Wei Dai, International Centre for Intercultural Studies, UCL Institute of Education, University College London
Effective clinical communication is crucial to patient safety in healthcare. However in Australia alone, 500,000 patients are harmed by the hospitals they go to, with 95% of the incidents having a communication failure component (IC4CH, 2023). One reason why clinical communication can be challenging is that both patients and their health providers oftentimes need to navigate complex and sometimes differing and conflicting workplace and cultural norms, practices and beliefs, making clinical communication a form of Professional Intercultural Communication (PICC).
In this talk I first explicate the complexities of PICC, using discourse-based examples where two patients communicate with their dentists who share different cultural backgrounds. I then propose a theoretical model of PICC to differentiate the inference we make about one another and the practice we observe in each other in PICC. I argue the concept of Interactional Competence can bridge inference and practice, offering a route to assisting both health providers and their patients to co-develop the abilities in handling PICC. Using discourse data analysed through Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorization Analysis, I highlight how 1) understanding the interactional process of PICC, and 2) developing the ability to interact (Interactional Competence), are crucial to improving clinician-patient relationship and patient safety in PICC.
IC4CH. (2023). Introducing the International Consortium for Communication in Health Care. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/centres/centre-applied-linguistics/international-consortium-communication-health-care
Live stream link for those who can’t attend: (https://ucl.zoom.us/j/91423628654?pwd=SVBJbkZQbDdLalJKSEtZUEVTYVlSQT09
Passcode: 701285)
Welcome back!
By Zsofia Demjen, on 28 September 2023
From October, we (Andrea Vaughan, Sinead Jackson, and Emma Brooks) will be running the UCL Health Communication Network seminar series again.
This is for UCL researchers (students and staff) to connect and find out about each other’s work across faculties. As last year, there will be monthly lunchtime seminars where UCL people share current/ongoing/just finished/just starting work in informal presentations. This year, we’re planning a mix of sessions some with two short 15mins presentations and others with one longer 30mins presentation, in both cases followed by discussion and chat/networking. The seminars will be in-person, but also live-streamed for those who can’t be there and open for anyone to attend.
The first three dates for your diaries are:
- 17th Oct 1-2pm
- 16th Nov 1-2pm
- 5th Dec 1-2pm
We are delighted that we already have some confirmed presenters for all the slots (details coming soon!), but there is room for one more short talk on 5th December. If you would like to share your work with our friendly interdisciplinary group, please get in touch (z.demjen@ucl.ac.uk, sinead.jackson.21@ucl.ac.uk, andrea.vaughan.20@ucl.ac.uk).
Final HCN seminar – 15th June
By Zsofia Demjen, on 6 June 2023
The final event of the UCL Health Communication Network’s seminar series for this academic year will take place on 15th June 2023, 1-2pm
Location: IOE – 20 Bedford Way, Room W3.04
(NB: entry to the building is from Bedford Way only, due to renovation works. You will need to go up one floor and then down again, following signs to the room.)
Talk:
Metaphors and metonymies as pillars of social life: discourses and understandings about cell and gene therapies
Dr Edison Bicudo
Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Policy, Aston University, and Research Fellow at the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy, University College London
Abstract: