Please join Kristina Shiroma and her committee on Monday, July 18th from 1:00-3:00 PM Central for her dissertation defense. The defense will be held remotely via Zoom. The link to the event will be distributed the day prior to the defense via iSchool listservs—if you would like the link sooner, please ask Bo Xie.
An electronic copy of the proposal is available through UT Box at: https://utexas.box.com/s/sz29v6c01jum4v4aicf91arito9vigkd. The title and abstract are below.
Title: End-of-Life Decision Making - Uchinanchu Older Adults’ Information Preferences and Behaviors
Abstract: End-of-life (EOL) decisions are unique and sensitive health decisions that require nuanced health information. Careful examination of EOL decision-making preferences and behaviors from both medical and cultural information perspectives is increasingly necessary as the national and global population grows older and more diverse. While information preferences and behaviors have been examined and represented within the health science literature, there is a glaring paucity of EOL decision making research coming from information science scholars. This dissertation research will address this staggering gap. The development of this doctoral dissertation project has been guided by the literature and two pilot studies. The first pilot study included a semi-structured interview study of four Uchinanchu (Okinawan) older adults and elicited preliminary data that informed the development of nascent themes and the revision of an interview guide. The second pilot study tested the revised semi-structured interview guide which forms one of the data collection tools in this proposed dissertation study. In addition to semi-structured interviews, data collection methods for this study will include content analysis of social media videos focused on Uchinanchu death rituals, and from participant observation of an Uchinanchu death ritual held annually. Data analysis will follow thematic analysis to elicit salient key themes across the data. Results of this dissertation research will (1) contribute to the development of an in-depth, culturally informed understanding of EOL decision making information preferences and behaviors within the information science literature, and (2) examine the use and application of both medical information (AD, ACP) and cultural information (death ritual, family-centered decision making) in EOL decision making. This work will also have practical implications for community health leaders and policy makers to design culturally informed programs for EOL decision making within underrepresented communities.
Committee: Bo Xie (chair), R. David Lankes, Yan Zhang, and Karen Fingerman (University of Texas at Austin, Human Development and Family Sciences)