Dr. Ashley Barrett
EDUCATION
- B.A., Political Science, Baylor University
- M.A., Organizational Communication, Baylor University
- Ph.D., Organizational Communication and Technology, University of Texas, Austin
ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Ashley Barrett is an Associate Professor of Health Communication and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair in the Department of Communication at Baylor University, where she teaches courses on health communication, organizational communication, small group communication, and communication theory. She also serves on Baylor’s Global Health Committee where she works with other faculty across Baylor University to generate cross-disciplinary collaborations and meaningful intersections for global health research.
BIO
Dr. Barrett’s research examines patient-provider communication in healthcare organizations with an emphasis on new technology implementation and compassionate communication, and an interest in how healthcare organizations can better serve marginalized patient populations. She recently received a National Science Foundation CAREER grant to examine how health care providers innovate their communication practices around healthcare technology use to practice compassionate communication with patients and patient perceptions on best provider practices. Because compassion is perhaps even more important when serving underserved populations—such as those who speak English as a second language, fall underneath the federal poverty line, have several acute physical or mental health issues, etc.—this research examines compassionate technology use in both (a) a federally qualified health center providing care to a poverty-stricken population (b) a high-tech hospital serving higher income patients. Dr. Barrett’s research is being used to create a compassionate communication intervention for providers at multiple healthcare sites, to design online continuing medical education (CME) courses, and to generate compassionate communication undergraduate courses for pre-medical, communication, and medical humanities students. Dr. Barrett has published over 30 articles and book chapters in highly reputable journals including Communication Monographs, Health Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Patient Education & Counseling, Information, Technology & People, among others. She has won multiple top papers awards at NCA, ICA, and Southern
