Contact Information
702 South Wright Street
Urbana IL 61801
Biography
I study how people communicate about their health in interpersonal relationships. I am centrally interested in who is or can be read as a “credible” patient. I also explore how various cultural systems, from families to medical institutions enable or constrain communicative labor to be recognized, believed, and taken seriously. From a critical perspective, I consider how we might leverage communication to address raced, classed, and gendered disparities in health care.
Research Interests
Health Communication, Qualitative Methods, Identity, d/Discourse, Health Disparities
Education
M.A., Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
B.A., Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Courses Taught
Instructor of Record
- CMN 101: Public Speaking
- CMN 260: Introduction to Health Communication
Faculty Extender
- CMN 595: Communication and Health Disparities
Highlighted Publications
Thompson, C. M., Babu, S., & Makos, S. (2023). A grounded theory of credibility work and illness: Explication and application to the case of women on trial in health care. Communication Research, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231184318
Thompson, C. M., Babu, S., & Makos, S. (2022). “It does make you feel like you’re crazy”: Women’s experiences of health-related communicative disenfranchisement. Health Communication, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2022.07.013
Recent Publications
Thompson, C. M., Voorhees, H., Taniguchi, E., Makos, S., Pool, K., & Babu, S. (2024). Development and assessment of an emotional support intervention for social network members in the context of chronic illness. Health Communication.
Thompson, C. M., Babu, S., Gerlikovski, E. R., McGuire, M., Makos, S., Ranallo, A., & Robieson, I. (2023). Living with long COVID: A longitudinal interview study of individuals’ communicative resilience over the “long haul.” Health Communication, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2257941