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Vinita Agarwal

Salisbury University, University of Louisville, Purdue University West Lafayette, University of Illinois Chicago

ORCID iD 0000-0002-0040-1715
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About

Vinita Agarwal, PhD (Purdue University, 2009) is Professor of Communication at Salisbury University, where she offers graduate and undergraduate courses in health communication and digital communication Her research examines whole person health communication and mental health communication with an emphasis on ethics and social justice. She is the author of two books on the whole-person health approach: Health Communication as Social Justice: A Whole Person Activist Approach (Routledge, 2024) and Medical Humanism, Chronic Illness, and the Body in Pain: An Ecology of Wholeness (Lexington Press, 2020); and, currently is co-editing The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication and Social Justice (forthcoming) and editing a two-volume collection on communication and mental health (forthcoming). Grounded in principles of global health communication ethics and One Health her whole-person health communication research foregrounds a whole system traditional health philosophy from an experiential, relational, and dialogic approach. Her publications include (a) journal articles in Health Communication, Qualitative Health Research, Frontiers in Pain Research, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Frontiers Integrative Neuroscience, and Journal of Patient Experience; (b) book chapters, including in the SAGE Handbook of Medicine and Health and The Handbook of Communication in (pre & post) Pandemics: South Asian Perspectives on Securing Health and Well-Being (in progress); and (c) encyclopedia entries such as in The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. She has more than 50 solo-authored, competitively selected papers/presentations at national and international conferences (including representation on top paper panels at the National Communication Association [NCA], Eastern Communication Association, and Central States Communication Association). Her work has been presented at interdisciplinary medical and integrative medicine conferences such as the International Congress for Integrative Medicine and Health and the International Association of Yoga Therapy; She recently received the 2024 Top 2 Outstanding Article Award from NCA’s Spiritual Communication Division. In addition, she is the recipient of the Fulton Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the University System of Maryland Women’s Health Foundation Award. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the domain of Health Communication, Health Engagement & Advocacy, Health Behavior Change and strategic communication including International Public Relations, Digital Strategy, and Digital Public Relations. She is the recipient of two prestigious NCA’s Presidential Citations (2025, 2023) for distinguished service to the discipline and has served on the Teaching and Learning Council, Executive Committee (2021–2023), NCA’s Legislative Assembly (2020–2023), and as an officer and chair of the Feminist and Gender Studies Division (Chair, 2022; Member, 2018–2022). She is the founder of Whole Person Health Consulting, LLC.

Employment

  • Salisbury University Professor
    2010 - Present
  • University of Louisville Assistant Professor
    2009 - 2010
  • Purdue University West Lafayette Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant
    2004 - 2009
  • University of Illinois Chicago Graduate Research & Teaching Assistant
    2002 - 2004

Education

  • Purdue University West Lafayette Communication
    2004 - 2009
  • University of Illinois Chicago M.A.
    2002 - 2004

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (74)