Contact Information
702 South Wright St
M/C 456
Urbana, IL 61801
Research Areas
Research Interests
- interpersonal and health communication
- patient-provider communication
- uncertainty, stigma, contested illness, illness work
Research Description
I study health communication in personal and patient-provider relationships, specifically focusing on the role uncertainty plays in how people understand health. My research illuminates two perspectives: individuals’ understandings of their own health and individuals’ understandings of others’ health. My first line of research examines how people in personal relationships navigate illness uncertainty and uncertain illnesses, primarily those conditions such as mental illness and chronic pain that are not visible and not well understood. My second research area involves improving health care through educational trainings for medical students and physicians centered on uncertainty management, including implicit bias.
Education
University of Texas at Austin, Communication, Ph.D.
Arizona State University, Communication, B.A., M.A.
Courses Taught
CMN 462: Interpersonal Health Communication
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
Recent Publications
Makos, S., & Thompson, C. M. (2025). Core and Catalyst Criteria Motivating CrossFit Athletes to Reveal or Conceal Their Non-Visible Health Conditions. Communication and Sport, 13(1), 190-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795241228386
Thompson, C. M., Bishop, M. J., Dillard, T. C., Maurice, J. M., Rollins, D. D., Pulido, M. D., Salas, M. J., Mendelson, E. A., Yan, J., Gerlikovski, E. R., Benevento, S. V., Zeinstra, C., & Kesavadas, T. (2025). Healing Health Care Disparities: Development and Pilot Testing of a Virtual Reality Implicit Bias Training Module for Physicians in the Context of Black Maternal Health. Health communication, 40(3), 445-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2347000
Adamson, B., Thompson, C. M., Makos, S., Pool, K., Liechty, T., Chiu, C. Y., Woo, M., & Rice, L. (2024). What happens post-pilot testing? A model for revising a disability awareness and competency training program. Disability and Health Journal, 17(3), Article 101612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2024.101612
Babu, S., Koven, M., Thompson, C. M., & Makos, S. (2024). (Re)making Scales: Communicative enfranchisement in Women’s Narrative Discourses About Health Dismissal. Health communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2386716
Kerr, A. M., Thompson, C. M., Stewart, C. A., & Rakowsky, A. (2024). Residents' Communication With Attendings About Uncertainty: A Single-Site Longitudinal Survey. Hospital pediatrics, 14(10), 852-859. https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2024-007777