SUMMARY
The research of Heather J. Carmack, Ph.D., focuses on communication about patient safety and quality of care. She studies the education and training involved in effective communication between patients and health care professionals. Dr. Carmack uses qualitative, quantitative and rhetorical approaches to examine communication interactions, organizational documents and policies. Her research involves public and mediated communication to identify strategies to improve patient experiences.
Dr. Carmack also studies communication surrounding end-of-life and aftercare decision-making. This research includes understanding people's apprehension regarding communicating about death as well as supportive communication strategies after a loss.
Focus areas
- Communication about patient safety and quality of care. Dr. Carmack examines interpersonal, organizational and public communication about patient safety and quality of care.
Recent research includes examining public understanding of medical error risk and its impact on patients' disclosure preferences. Dr. Carmack studies support experiences of patients who contend with a medical error, individuals who offer them support and media framing of medical errors in popular news coverage.
- Patient-provider communication. Dr. Carmack leads a multisite team of fellow health communication researchers examining communication in patient-provider interactions. This team focuses on difficult conversations and common discussions.
Her research examines communication factors that influence these interactions. These interactions include patients' trust in clinicians, communication apprehension with providers, patients' willingness to communicate about their health issues, and patients' and providers' communication skills and abilities.
- Communication surrounding end-of-life and aftercare. Dr. Carmack's recent studies explore the ways fears about communicating about death and dying impact end-of-life and aftercare decision-making. Her research also examines helpful and hurtful supportive communication strategies for individuals mourning a loss, and how grief is communicated to others.
Significance to patient care
Communication is essential to patient care, but it is often ignored as an important factor in patient outcomes. Dr. Carmack's goal is to identify supportive communication strategies to help patients and providers successfully interact during care visits.
Her research includes finding ways to overcome communication fears, identifying communicative practices to help patients disclose and share information with providers, and assisting providers in sharing information with patients in an understandable way.
Dr. Carmack's research helps providers communicate successfully on care teams, which will improve patient care and satisfaction.
Professional highlights
- Research Excellence Award, University of Alabama, 2022.
- Article of the Year, Eastern Communication Association, 2018.
- Provost's Award for Excellence in Graduate Advising and Mentorship, James Madison University, 2016.
- Article of the Year, National Communication Association, 2015.
- Daniel Rohrer Outstanding Research Article of the Year, American Forensic Association, 2013.