Members of the Lamm Lab presented oral presentations and posters at the Southern Rural Sociological Association’s annual conference in Oklahoma City this month. All presentations at SRSA highlighted the work done by the Healthier Together project’s evaluation and communication team, led by Dr. Alexa Lamm.
Evaluation Research
Using poetic dialogues as a focus group analysis method to highlight collective identity for culturally responsive evaluation
Authors: Catherine Sanders, Alexa Lamm, Jori Hall, Abigail Borron, Maria Navarro, & James Anderson
Dr. Katie Sanders presented research from her dissertation using poetry to help communicate evaluation impact. Sanders defended her dissertation in January of 2023 and has now shared the results from the evaluation report out meetings that occurred in 2022. Her work emphasizes the need to highlight the voices of participants in the evaluation process to ensure evaluation results accurately portray the community’s story.
Using cognitive dissonance to evaluate impact: Implications for health promotion Extension initiatives in rural communities
Authors: Tatevik Markosyan, Catherine Sanders, & Alexa Lamm
Doctoral student Tatevik Markosyan presented work conducted as part of the Healthier Together evaluation in 2022. Here, she explored the role of cognitive dissonance, or one’s experience when presented with information contradictory to one’s attitudes or behaviors, in the Healthier Together project. Markosyan’s overall research inquiry looks at integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into impact evaluation efforts.
An assessment of needed Extension resources for improving food access and availability in rural communities
Authors: Catherine Sanders, Tatevik Markosyan, & Alexa Lamm
Markosyan also presented research conducted looking at the use of resources provided by an Extension health promotion program. This presentation outlined results from a statewide survey of rural Georgia residents to determine the types of Extension program resources most likely to be used by rural residents.
Determining reach and uptake of an Extension-based health promotion project in the wake of COVID-19
Authors: Saher Dossani, Catherine Sanders, & Alexa Lamm
Saher Dossani, an undergraduate researcher in the Lamm Lab and a student in UGA’s College of Public Health studying Health Promotion, presented her evaluation research looking at the reach and uptake of community-based food access and physical activity resources in Calhoun County as part of Healthier Together. This was Dossani’s first time presenting at a regional conference, what we are sure will be the first of many research presentations in her career!
Communication Research
Framing messages to improve health interventions in rural areas: A fear appeals approach
Authors: Kristin Gibson, Allison Byrd, & Alexa Lamm
Doctoral student Kristin Gibson presented two research posters at the SRSA poster session highlighting the work of the Healthier Together team. Her first poster examined the efficacy of fear-based, or threatening messages, to increase individuals’ physical activity behaviors in rural areas.
Extension-based health communication: Does digital media reach rural populations?
Authors: Kristin Gibson & Alexa Lamm
Gibson’s second poster examined if rural residents in Georgia used social media to find health information. Only 34.2% of those who responded to the survey said they used social media for health information, which helps health promotion and Extension practitioners in rural areas anticipate the efficacy of social media communication efforts.
This meeting was held in conjunction with the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists annual meeting. To learn about additional Lamm Lab presentations held at this convergence of conferences, see our post on the National Agricultural Communications Symposium and the Southern Region Meeting of the American Association for Agricultural Education.
