Publication Author information

Rukhsana Ahmed's primary research interests lie at the intersections of health, organizational, interpersonal, and intercultural communication. In particular, my research embraces the cross/trans/inter-disciplinary nature of communication scholarship, with specific focus on exploring the role of communication processes in improving health outcomes among marginalized communities and promoting broader organizational and social changes and innovations in local, national, and international health contexts. She studies the interaction of people involved in the health care process and the dissemination and interpretation of health-related messages by individuals, groups, organizations, and/or mass media and technology. She pays attention to how these messages are mediated through various socio-cultural, political, and economic factors.

Her research agenda is often shaped by questions such as: How do organizational, interpersonal, intercultural, mass mediated, and technological factors shape people’s perceptions of and experiences with health, illness, and health care? How do health and illness experiences, as both physiological and social constructs, vary across race, ethnicity, culture, gender, social class groups, and religion? Using surveys (both face-to-face and online), in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, in these explorations and examinations, she has used cultural competence models, communication accommodation theory, relational dialectics, ecological perspective, social capital theory, and uses and gratifications theory, among others.