Rachael Hernandez
Rachael Hernandez
Rachael Hernandez (Ph.D., Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication. Her research explores communication about sensitive health-related topics. Currently, her research focuses primarily on 1) how people manage information about health risk behaviors, and 2) how implicit biases against social groups (e.g. along the lines of race, gender, and age) have the potential to influence clinician-patient communication. Using interpretive methods, she integrates theories and perspectives from communication and bioethics into her research. Rachael’s research has been published in Health Communication, the Journal of Health Communication, Academic Medicine, and other nationally recognized journals.
Hernandez, R. (2021). “It’s always among us. I can’t act like it’s not.”: Women college students’ perceptions of physicians’ implicit bias. Health Communication, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.1932107
Hernandez, R.A. (2021). Communication and implicit bias in medicine. Wiley-Blackwell's International Encyclopedia of Health Communication.
Hernandez, R., & Ebersole, D. (2021). Parents’ and children’s privacy management about sensitive topics: A dyadic study. Journal of Family Issues, https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X21993192
Hernandez, R. A., & Colaner, C. (2021). “This is not the hill to die on. Even if we literally could die on this hill”: Examining communication ecologies of uncertainty and family communication about COVID-19. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(7), 956-975.
Hernandez, R., & Petronio, S. (2020). “Starting that conversation is even harder than having it”: Female patients’ perceptions of physicians’ communication competence in communication about sexual behavior. Journal of Health Communication, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2020.1864518
Hernandez, R. (2020). (Mis) perceptions of HIV and HPV among female college students: a qualitative study. Sexual Health, 17(5), 414-420.