Sara Babu
Biographic Data
| ID | 117157 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sara Babu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sara |
| FAMILY NAME | Babu |
| SIGNATURE | BABU S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3004-3066 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Negotiating Multiple Cultures of Care
Given calls for greater attention to culture in interpersonal health communication research, we interviewed 29 South Asian women between the ages of 18 and 60 managing chronic health issues to explore culturally specific dilemmas in health-related talk within families. Guided by normative rhetorical theory, our findings narrate polysemic meanings of health as generational, communal, and personal. These meanings created dilemmas centered on what i…
“Everything Looks Normal”
This study examines how individuals with long COVID navigate illness experiences when faced with normal test results. Through qualitative analysis of 1,043 posts from r/covidlonghaulers between July 2020 and January 2021, we identified four key themes: overlapping diagnostic possibilities increase confusion, discordance in treatment plans, sustained uncertainty, and challenges to credibility. Our findings reveal how polysemic meanings of normal b…
(Re)making Scales
Dismissal of women’s health concerns is a discursive phenomenon with social and material consequences. A burgeoning literature documents how women experience dismissal through various forms of disenfranchising talk. Yet, women are not only subjected to disenfranchising talk; they are called to respond to it. Meaning, analyses of disenfranchisement should also examine efforts toward enfranchisement. One process by which scholars can study communic…
A Longitudinal Interview Study of People with Long Covid
Current estimates indicate around 6% of US adults have experienced long COVID symptoms. Given the novelty of both COVID and long COVID, those who continue to be ill after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection have little precedence on which to rely when navigating the medical (e.g. diagnoses, treatment options), social (e.g. others’ reactions, isolation), and personal (e.g. roles, identities) sources of uncertainty that accompany the illness. In this s…
A Grounded Theory of Credibility Work and Illness
We make the communicative labor of illness credibility explicit by moving the concept of work into critical interpersonal theory to develop a grounded theory of credibility work . Synthesizing multi-disciplinary literature and drawing on interviews with 36 women in the United States whose health issues have been dismissed by health care providers, friends, and family, we forward a definition of credibility work, six postulates about its nature, a…
Bar Brothers’ Fishery in India
Development and Initial Assessment of an Emotional Support Provision Training Intervention for Interpersonal Support Providers in the Context of Chronic Illness
This study reports on the development and pilot testing of an emotional support provision training intervention for interpersonal support providers to those with chronic illnesses. Using findings from a needs assessment in combination with existing theory and research, we created a training framework consisting of verbal person-centered message design, empathic listening, and communicated perspective-taking. Then, we recruited 282 individuals to …
Living with Long Covid
It is estimated that there are 65 million people globally - 19 million U.S. adults alone - who have long COVID, or persistent symptoms and conditions that continue or develop after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Amidst their suffering and the ambiguity surrounding their health, people with long COVID engage processes of reintegrating from disruptions brought upon by their COVID-19 infection and its fallout, as well as the pandemic writ large. T…
Women’s Experiences of Health-Related Communicative Disenfranchisement
Women’s inequitable healthcare experiences are epistemic injustices by which women are discredited and harmed in their position as knowers of their health and their bodies. Drawing on the theory of communicative disenfranchisement (TCD), we sought to amplify voices of women experiencing communicative disenfranchisement (CD) and to unify their stories according to theoretical premises, namely, attention to power, material conditions, discourse, id…
Denying and Accepting a Family Member’s Illness
Doubt is a common, yet challenging form of uncertainty to have about another's illness. Although navigating illness uncertainty is a process of continual (re)appraisal and management, existing research narrowly examines windows of uncertainty experience. To illustrate how uncertainty management in the context of doubt is recursive, nonlinear, and ongoing, we apply a process approach to communication to uncertainty management theory. Drawing on in…
People who help people
Social support during an ongoing illness has been shown to be beneficial for both the provider and the receiver, but people often struggle with offering effective, appropriate support. There is a lack of communication‐focused training not specifically tied to caregiving or training that is designed for all social network members of a person experiencing a chronic illness, which we call interpersonal support providers (ISPs). We conducted a concur…
An extension of advice response theory over time
We examined advice response theory’s (ART) propositions over time with mixed methods. College students (N = 122) received advice from a close other (predominantly White U.S. friends) and completed surveys preconversation, postconversation, and approximately 12 days postconversation, as well as essays 4 weeks postconversation. ART’s propositions about direct and indirect effects were partially supported: recipient preconversation evaluations of re…
I changed, I had to realize that I was wrong
Doubt that a family member's health issues are real, severe, or even possible entwines some of the most challenging aspects of medical, personal, and social uncertainty. Although several studies have examined doubt, this investigation focuses on how doubt evolves and foregrounds the identity implications of uncertainty. Guided by Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the purpose of this study was to explore the identity gaps people experience a…
The Kaleidoscope Model of policy change
What drives policy reform after long periods of policy inertia? What factors shape the effectiveness of policy implementation following reform decisions? These questions increasingly concern the international donor and research communities, given the importance of policy environments in shaping development outcomes and the growing need to achieve development impact with scarce resources. To address these questions, this paper introduces the Kalei…
Pastoralism in Transition
The Porja
Pediatric Health in terms of Feeding Practices were recorded on 260 ever married women , who have atleast a child in their reproductive span, belonging to the Porja, a Primitive Tribal Group of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh. The sample hails from 18 villages of Munchangiputtu and Pedabayalu Mandals. The results show that almost all the mothers started breast feeding to their new born immediately. About 71 percent of the respondents squee…
Poverty, food security, and nutrition in Central Asia
Achieving food security in Central Asia — current challenges and policy research needs
Food and agricultural policies for the 21st century
The Kaleidoscope Model of policy change
What drives policy reform after long periods of policy inertia? What factors shape the effectiveness of policy implementation following reform decisions? These questions increasingly concern the international donor and research communities, given the importance of policy environments in shaping development outcomes and the growing need to achieve development impact with scarce resources. To address these questions, this paper introduces the Kalei…
I changed, I had to realize that I was wrong
Doubt that a family member's health issues are real, severe, or even possible entwines some of the most challenging aspects of medical, personal, and social uncertainty. Although several studies have examined doubt, this investigation focuses on how doubt evolves and foregrounds the identity implications of uncertainty. Guided by Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the purpose of this study was to explore the identity gaps people experience a…
Poverty, food security, and nutrition in Central Asia
Pastoralism in Transition
Achieving food security in Central Asia — current challenges and policy research needs
Poverty, food security, and nutrition in Central Asia
Achieving food security in Central Asia — current challenges and policy research needs
Food and agricultural policies for the 21st century
The Porja
Pediatric Health in terms of Feeding Practices were recorded on 260 ever married women , who have atleast a child in their reproductive span, belonging to the Porja, a Primitive Tribal Group of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh. The sample hails from 18 villages of Munchangiputtu and Pedabayalu Mandals. The results show that almost all the mothers started breast feeding to their new born immediately. About 71 percent of the respondents squee…
Pastoralism in Transition
The Kaleidoscope Model of policy change
What drives policy reform after long periods of policy inertia? What factors shape the effectiveness of policy implementation following reform decisions? These questions increasingly concern the international donor and research communities, given the importance of policy environments in shaping development outcomes and the growing need to achieve development impact with scarce resources. To address these questions, this paper introduces the Kalei…
I changed, I had to realize that I was wrong
Doubt that a family member's health issues are real, severe, or even possible entwines some of the most challenging aspects of medical, personal, and social uncertainty. Although several studies have examined doubt, this investigation focuses on how doubt evolves and foregrounds the identity implications of uncertainty. Guided by Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), the purpose of this study was to explore the identity gaps people experience a…
Women’s Experiences of Health-Related Communicative Disenfranchisement
Women’s inequitable healthcare experiences are epistemic injustices by which women are discredited and harmed in their position as knowers of their health and their bodies. Drawing on the theory of communicative disenfranchisement (TCD), we sought to amplify voices of women experiencing communicative disenfranchisement (CD) and to unify their stories according to theoretical premises, namely, attention to power, material conditions, discourse, id…
Denying and Accepting a Family Member’s Illness
Doubt is a common, yet challenging form of uncertainty to have about another's illness. Although navigating illness uncertainty is a process of continual (re)appraisal and management, existing research narrowly examines windows of uncertainty experience. To illustrate how uncertainty management in the context of doubt is recursive, nonlinear, and ongoing, we apply a process approach to communication to uncertainty management theory. Drawing on in…
People who help people
Social support during an ongoing illness has been shown to be beneficial for both the provider and the receiver, but people often struggle with offering effective, appropriate support. There is a lack of communication‐focused training not specifically tied to caregiving or training that is designed for all social network members of a person experiencing a chronic illness, which we call interpersonal support providers (ISPs). We conducted a concur…
An extension of advice response theory over time
We examined advice response theory’s (ART) propositions over time with mixed methods. College students (N = 122) received advice from a close other (predominantly White U.S. friends) and completed surveys preconversation, postconversation, and approximately 12 days postconversation, as well as essays 4 weeks postconversation. ART’s propositions about direct and indirect effects were partially supported: recipient preconversation evaluations of re…
Bar Brothers’ Fishery in India
Development and Initial Assessment of an Emotional Support Provision Training Intervention for Interpersonal Support Providers in the Context of Chronic Illness
This study reports on the development and pilot testing of an emotional support provision training intervention for interpersonal support providers to those with chronic illnesses. Using findings from a needs assessment in combination with existing theory and research, we created a training framework consisting of verbal person-centered message design, empathic listening, and communicated perspective-taking. Then, we recruited 282 individuals to …
Living with Long Covid
It is estimated that there are 65 million people globally - 19 million U.S. adults alone - who have long COVID, or persistent symptoms and conditions that continue or develop after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Amidst their suffering and the ambiguity surrounding their health, people with long COVID engage processes of reintegrating from disruptions brought upon by their COVID-19 infection and its fallout, as well as the pandemic writ large. T…
“Everything Looks Normal”
This study examines how individuals with long COVID navigate illness experiences when faced with normal test results. Through qualitative analysis of 1,043 posts from r/covidlonghaulers between July 2020 and January 2021, we identified four key themes: overlapping diagnostic possibilities increase confusion, discordance in treatment plans, sustained uncertainty, and challenges to credibility. Our findings reveal how polysemic meanings of normal b…
(Re)making Scales
Dismissal of women’s health concerns is a discursive phenomenon with social and material consequences. A burgeoning literature documents how women experience dismissal through various forms of disenfranchising talk. Yet, women are not only subjected to disenfranchising talk; they are called to respond to it. Meaning, analyses of disenfranchisement should also examine efforts toward enfranchisement. One process by which scholars can study communic…
A Longitudinal Interview Study of People with Long Covid
Current estimates indicate around 6% of US adults have experienced long COVID symptoms. Given the novelty of both COVID and long COVID, those who continue to be ill after an initial SARS-CoV-2 infection have little precedence on which to rely when navigating the medical (e.g. diagnoses, treatment options), social (e.g. others’ reactions, isolation), and personal (e.g. roles, identities) sources of uncertainty that accompany the illness. In this s…
A Grounded Theory of Credibility Work and Illness
We make the communicative labor of illness credibility explicit by moving the concept of work into critical interpersonal theory to develop a grounded theory of credibility work . Synthesizing multi-disciplinary literature and drawing on interviews with 36 women in the United States whose health issues have been dismissed by health care providers, friends, and family, we forward a definition of credibility work, six postulates about its nature, a…
Negotiating Multiple Cultures of Care
Given calls for greater attention to culture in interpersonal health communication research, we interviewed 29 South Asian women between the ages of 18 and 60 managing chronic health issues to explore culturally specific dilemmas in health-related talk within families. Guided by normative rhetorical theory, our findings narrate polysemic meanings of health as generational, communal, and personal. These meanings created dilemmas centered on what i…
Psychology (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Geography (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Interpersonal communication (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Agriculture (4 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (4 works)