Defining Moments Podcast: Conversations about Health and Healing WOUB Public Media

Shortages of primary care physicians in medically underserved areas are well-documented across the United States. Medical schools are developing curricular innovations to prepare primary care physicians for medical practice in rural and urban underserved communities. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Sharon Casapulla and Dr. Alyssa Gerth talk about the Rural and Urban Scholars Pathways (RUSP) Programs at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM). RUSP adopts an asset-driven, place-based, and narrative orientation to the practice of medicine. Its goal is to prepare future physicians to foster inclusive healthcare. Dr. Casapulla is the Director of RUSP and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Social Medicine at OUHCOM. Dr. Gerth is a graduate of OUHCOM and RUSP and a resident physician at the Christ Hospital/University of Cincinnati Family Medicine Program.
You can read an article about RUSP in an article published in Health Communication at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1712529

Positive Deviance is an approach to public health that flips the script of traditional top-down and deficit-based communication. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Arvind Singhal shares how he has embraced an assets-based, grassroots approach to social change in the midst of natural disasters, disability rights, domestic violence, and family planning. The reach of his work spans numerous countries including Japan, India, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Dr. Singhal is the Samual Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor of Communication and Director of the Social Justice Initiative at the University of Texas at El Paso. Since 2010, he has been the William J. Clinton Distinguished Fellow at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas.

You can view follow his TEDx Talk at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-NAvN-PLW0&feature=youtu.be

Humans tell stories to make sense of birthing and dying and everything in between. Defining Moments Podcast showcases stories about living well in the midst of inescapable illness, suffering, and hardship. Season 2 launches on Memorial Day, May 25th, and features an eclectic group of guests who share moments of uncertainty, innovation, and resilience. Host Dr. Lynn Harter draws on twenty years of experience in health contexts to spark conversations that move between personal anecdotes and societal health challenges including food hardship, mental illness, opioid use and abuse, racial health inequalities, cancer care and other complex chronic conditions. Episodes are accompanied by articles published in Health Communication and other online resources. Defining Moments Podcast disrupts the silence that too often surrounds vulnerability, and allows narrators and audiences to imagine new normals.

The Scraps of the Heart Project sponsors creative arts workshops for bereaved parents coping with baby loss and infertility. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Erin Willer shares her personal story and how it informed the development of The Scraps of the Heart Project and its efforts. Dr. Willer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Denver. She is the author of several publications, and has worked with individuals of all ages ranging from elementary school through retirement.

You can read Dr. Willer’s recently published article on in Health Communication at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10410236.2018.1550470

To learn more about The Scraps of The Heart Project, visit its website: https://www.scrapsoftheheartproject.com/our-story

Racial inequalities in healthcare are well-documented across the United States. Medical schools are developing curricular innovations to reduce implicit racial bias and other forms of discrimination. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Tracy Shaub talks about the Open Book Project at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. The Open Book Project is based on the principles of narrative medicine and its goal is to foster inclusive healthcare. Dr. Shaub is Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has more than twenty years of experience as a practicing physician specializing in geriatric care.

You can read an article about the Open Book Project published in Health Communication at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2018.1551302

First responders, crisis communicators, and the general public rely on new media to communicate during natural disasters and in the aftermath. On this episode of Defining Moments, Dr. Keri Stephens shares her personal story as a flood survivor and how it informs her research funded by the National Science Foundation. Her work focuses on new media usage in rescue and evacuation efforts during Hurricane Harvey and in post-disaster recovery. Dr. Keri Stephens is an Associate Professor and a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. She has authored dozens of journal articles and two books, and is featured in a TedxTalk.


You can read Dr. Stephen’s recently published article on in Health Communication at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10410236.2019.1580995


Her book published Routledge is available at a 20% discounted rate with the code ASFLYQ6 at: https://www.routledge.com/New-Media-in-Times-of-Crisis/Stephens/p/book/9781138570290

You can view follow her team’s work at: https://orgcommtech.org