HCN Seminar – 29th March

The next seminar of the UCL Health Communication Network will take place on 29th March 1-2pm, in 20 Bedford Way, – Room 675

Talks:

• ‘Optimising asynchronous communication in digital health coaching’ – Elena Rey Velasco (Culture, Communication and Media)

Telehealth enables clinical encounters when in-person consultations are not possible, and evidence confirms that their efficacy is comparable to face-to-face encounters. Furthermore, research shows that patient-provider communication and relationship influence patient outcomes. However, we lack studies on what happens during these interactions, particularly in text-messages conversations, from a linguistic or behavioural perspective. In my PhD, I am developing a coding tool for written communication in digital health coaching. My research takes place in a lifestyle intervention trial for pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes. I am interested in digital empathy perception and expression, alongside the role of behavior change techniques and linguistic choices in asynchronous interactions.

 

• ‘Building a Corpus of AVATAR Therapy Transcripts’ – Sinéad Jackson and Zsófia Demjén (Culture, Communication and Media)

Avatar Therapy is an innovative therapeutic intervention designed to support people who experience persecutory voices. Therapists facilitate a face-to-face dialogue between patients and a visual representation of one of the voices (the avatar) over a course of six or twelve sessions. As the sessions progress, the therapist guides the voice-hearer to reclaim power and control within the relationship, as the voice becomes more conciliatory. This talk will present an ongoing project working to build a corpus of transcripts of Avatar Therapy dialogues. The talk will discuss the building of the corpus, offer an update on current progress, and present exploratory plans to conduct linguistic analysis of the completed transcripts.

 

Live stream details for those off-campus:

• Zoom link: https://ucl.zoom.us/j/93217430863?pwd=dXVxdTN0YkpwWVBNQ1IrVitaTCs4UT09
• Meeting ID: 932 1743 0863
• Passcode: 421535