Communication in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: a Situated Exploration Of
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Communication in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Situated Exploration of Communication Interactions Between Yoga Students and Their Yoga Teachers in India A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy AARTI B. ARORA December 2020 © 2020 Aarti B. Arora. All Rights Reserved. This dissertation titled Communication in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Situated Exploration of Communication Interactions Between Yoga Students and Their Yoga Teachers in India by AARTI B. ARORA has been approved for the School of Communication Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Benjamin R. Bates Professor of Communication Studies Scott Titsworth Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii Abstract ARORA, AARTI, B., Ph.D., December 2020, Communication Studies Communication in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Situated Exploration of Communication Interactions Between Yoga Students and Their Yoga Teachers in India Director of Dissertation: Benjamin R. Bates My research broadly examines how complementary and alternative health care providers engage in communication interaction with their patients and compares and contrasts their communication with biomedical/conventional health care providers. The objective of this qualitative research study is to investigate and understand the communication interactions between yoga students and their yoga teachers at the Sivananda Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India) and highlight, and theorize from, how students find that communication different from their communication with their conventional medical practitioners. Based on the patient-centered paradigm, I use ethnography to investigate how complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) approaches, specifically yoga, enables patients to participate and involve themselves in decisions about their health and well-being. I then create meaning from this ethnographic data using thematic analysis and grounded theory. Drawing from forty-five semi-structured interviews with participants who identify themselves as students at the Sivananda Ashram, I explore how individuals share their holistic experience of doing yoga, their motivation to seek out such alternative means of health and well-being, the influence of culture on their health choices and differences in their communication interaction with yoga teachers versus conventional health care iii providers. The findings report six primary themes that explain yoga students experiences. Building upon previous research from eminent health communication scholars and researchers (Geist-Martin, 2003; Dutta, 2008), I theorize how yoga is a form of communication that participants practice in their everyday. Examining, exploring, and theorizing the communication interaction between yoga students and their yoga teachers at the Ashram, I re-work the culture-centered approach and develop a venn-diagram to build and explain my findings. iv Dedication To My Parents - Roopa and Bharat Arora. I am no one without you and your love! Thank You for Everything! Thank You for being my pillars of strength through this journey. This dissertation is as much yours as it is mine! To My Sister, Prerna. Thank You for your compassion, endless inspiration, and love! You make me a better human! To My Husband, Varun. They say, marriage is a mosaic you build with your spouse. Thank You for helping me build an important piece of my life! v Acknowledgments I want to begin my expressing my deepest gratitude to my participants who shared their lived moments and stories with me. Without my participants’ time and generosity this dissertation would not be completed. My participants are my biggest teachers as they have helped me hone my research. Thank You for making me a part of your life and for allowing me to be a part of yours! This dissertation is a work of love, sweat, labor and a lot of patience. I am forever grateful to all my dissertation committee members for helping me in this marathon. To Dr. Benjamin Bates – Thank You for your never-ending support, generosity, kindness, patience, and tough-love. You have truly been one of the driving forces in helping me complete this dissertation. Thank you for being a teacher, a mentor, and a friend. To Dr. Claudia Hale – Thank You for always looking out for me. Your kindness has no bounds. From my first year of doctorate program to here and now, you have always been there for me. A supporter in every sense of the way – from pep talks, to helping me understand my purpose in graduate school, and the value of this dissertation. To Dr. Lynn Harter – Thank You for all that you have taught me over the years! When the going gets tough, the tough get going – you helped me understand the value of this quote and motivated me to carry on each day with a smile on my face! Thank you for shaping my life in such a meaningful way! To Dr. Risa Whitson – Thank You for your warmth, understanding, enthusiasm, and incredible support over the years! Working and learning with you has been such a wonderful experience. You and your work continue to be a great inspiration to me. vi To all the faculty members in the Department of Communication Studies at Ohio University – Thank You for sharing the wealth of your knowledge and experience with me in all these years! I am forever grateful for you and your contributions in helping me become the person and the research scholar I am, each day, every day! To my – Ma & Papa - Roopa & Bharat, and my sister – Prerna – Thank You for everything. For all your sacrifices over the years. I miss you. You know this was not an easy road for me. I am what I am today because of your unwavering faith in me. Thank You for your love and for being my pillars of strength through this journey! To my in- laws Renu and Vijay Ajmani – Thank You for showering me with your blessings and love! I am forever grateful. Heartfelt gratitude to Arora and Ajmani Family for your blessings and support. My heartfelt and sincere Thank You to all my friends, cousins, and extended family members. My special Thank You to my dear friend Kimberly Beek - You are the light of my life. This dissertation would not have been possible without your support. To Elayne Shapiro – Thank You for being You! You have been a guarding angel in my academic life! Thank You for inspiring me each day to become better and for never giving up on me. My sincere respect and love to Vijay Bhatt, Late Punita Jani, Dr. Rajinder Koshal and Dr. Manju Koshal for being my family here in the United States – You are my home away from home. This dissertation is a heartfelt Thank You to all those who have taught me in innumerable ways and continue to teach and inspire me every day. To all those that I have learnt from in various ways, shared with, crossed paths in my early education and vii academic career and to those who knowingly and unknowingly left a mark on my life – my sincere and heartfelt Thank You! viii Table of Contents Page Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xiii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiv Opening Page ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 : Introduction and Rationale ............................................................................... 3 Defining Health ............................................................................................................. 4 Yoga as Mind-Body Medicine ...................................................................................... 6 Rationale ....................................................................................................................... 9 Previous Research ................................................................................................... 9 Physician-Centered Communication .................................................................... 12 Improving Conventional Healthcare Communication .......................................... 14 Theoretical Significance ............................................................................................. 14 Dissertation Overview ................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 2 : Literature Review ........................................................................................... 20 Doctor-Patient Communication in the Biomedical Realm ......................................... 21 Assertive Behavior ................................................................................................ 23 Blocking ................................................................................................................ 26 Questions and Directives ...................................................................................... 27 Power Difference .................................................................................................