3 weeks ago
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In a clip erstwhile healthcare conversations are arsenic planetary arsenic the pandemics they purpose to prevent, Gift Olalusi, a US-based Nigerian scholar, is reshaping however the satellite thinks astir wellness and hazard communication.
Gift O. Olalusi, a doctoral pupil astatine Wayne State University successful Michigan, United States, has been named victor of the 2025 Westphal Outstanding Student Paper Award by the Iowa Communication Association (ICA), a prestigious accolade celebrating outstanding world probe successful the tract of connection studies.
Her award-winning paper, titled “Unheard Voices: The Hidden Influence of Non-American Accents connected Patient Outcomes and Provider Perception successful U.S. Healthcare,” dives heavy into however linguistic bias successful healthcare settings affects trust, diagnosis, and treatment, particularly for individuals with non-American accents successful the United States.
“Effective healthcare doesn’t commencement with a stethoscope; it starts with communication,” Gift explains. “If patients don’t consciousness heard, they don’t heal.”
But her enactment isn’t conscionable earning praise successful world circles. Gift Olalusi was precocious appointed Head of Operations astatine the African Centre for Media and Intercultural Dialogue (ACMID), a enactment relation that puts her astatine the bosom of pan-African efforts to beforehand culturally informed media narratives and planetary nationalist wellness communication.
“This is much than research. It’s advocacy. It’s astir bringing marginalised voices, whether successful Africa oregon the diaspora, into rooms wherever decisions astir their wellness and dignity are being made,” she says.
She worked nether the tutelage of Professor Olunifesi Suraj, a renowned student successful strategical communication, UNESCO Consultant connected Media, Information, and Digital Literacy, and the Executive Director of ACMID, done which she further deepened her expertise. Together, they co-authored the insubstantial “African Right to Identity arsenic a Right to Development: A Media Right Agenda”, published successful the Jos Journal of Media and Communication Studies, which was besides accepted for presumption astatine the Joint Convening of the 2023 Social Practice of Human Rights Conference and the 6th International Conference connected the Right to Development, underscoring her increasing power successful shaping scholarly and argumentation conversations crossed Africa and beyond.
Born and raised successful Nigeria, Gift Olalusi began her world travel with a bachelor’s grade successful wide connection from the University of Lagos. Her passionateness for exploring effectual connection strategies to amended healthcare led her to the University of Dayton for a master’s successful connection and a certificate successful wellness communication, and yet to Wayne State University, wherever she present pursues her PhD successful health, subject & hazard communication.
Her journey, marked by aggregate PhD admissions successful the U.S., reflects not conscionable world excellence but a wide committedness to solving real-world nationalist wellness challenges done strategic, research-driven communication.
“Each acceptance missive felt similar a ballot of confidence, not conscionable successful me, but successful the urgency of my work,” she shares.
Gift’s existent probe focuses connected the intersection of wellness communication, stigma management, and intercultural communication. Specifically, her enactment examines the ways successful which individuals who autumn extracurricular ascendant societal norms, either done accent, disability, oregon taste background, navigate these circumstances and however specified experiences signifier their wellness decisions.
“Many patients aren’t conscionable medically underserved; they’re communicatively invisible,” she says. “That invisibility leads to delayed diagnoses, mediocre adherence to treatment, and preventable deaths.”
Through her PhD research, Gift aims to make strategic, culturally responsive connection interventions that trim supplier bias, beforehand diligent empathy, and amended amended healthcare outcomes globally.
Her postgraduate studies astatine the University of Dayton, Ohio, gave her applicable acquisition designing interventions for underserved communities successful Dayton, Ohio, specified arsenic moving alongside wellness engagement fellows to facilitate wellness engagement workshops successful underserved neighbourhoods and co-developing grooming sessions for manufacture experts and healthcare providers connected effectual communication. She believes the lessons are straight translatable to Nigeria and different processing nations.
“In some places, the problems...
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