Evelyn Y. Ho

Evelyn Y. Ho is a professor of communication studies, Asian Pacific American studies, and critical diversity studies. Beginning with an understanding that communication is a cultural activity and that health care systems and beliefs are profoundly cultural, Professor Ho's teaching and research focus broadly on the intersections of health, culture, and communication, with a specific focus on the use and cultural meanings of acupuncture and Chinese medicine in underserved communities. She has led and participated in grant-funded research projects examining Chinese American dietary practices, health beliefs, and communication preferences and patient education that integrates Chinese medicine and biomedicine. You can find that work at INCguide.org.

Dr. Ho is co-editor of the Wiley International Encyclopedia of Health Communication and has previously chaired both the Health Communication Division and the Language and Social Interaction Division of the International Communication Association (ICA). She serves on the editorial boards of Health Communication, PEC Innovations, Journal of International & Intercultural Research, and the Journal of Intercultural Communication Research.

• Qualitative research
• Patient education
• Community based research
• Applied research

• Health communication
• Cultural communication
• Language and social interaction
• Complementary and integrative health
• Asian Pacific American studies
• Patient health education

• Faculty Director, Honors College

• PhD/MA, Communication Studies, University of Iowa
• BA, Speech Communication, University of Washington

• University of Washington Alumni Hall of Fame, 2022
• University of San Francisco College of Arts & Sciences Deans Scholar Award, 2022
• University of San Francisco Distinguished Research Award, 2021
• Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US) Research Innovation Award, 2019
• University of San Francisco Faculty Service-Learning Award, 2012

• Ho, E. Y., & Koenig, C. J. (2025). Promoting interactional health equity through (Complementary and Integrative Health) talk during clinical encounters. Patient Education and Counseling, 134, 108651.

• Koenig, C. J., Vasquez, T. S., Peterson, E. B., Wollney, E. N., Bylund, C. L., & Ho, E. Y. (2023). Mapping uncharted terrain: A systematic review of complementary and integrative health communication using observational data in biomedical settings. Health Communication.

• Winchatz, M., Sprain, L., & Ho, E. Y., (2023). A spectrum of speech codes: Review of thirty years of empirical research for methodological insights. Annals of the International Communication Association.

• Ho, E. Y., Leung, G., Lauer, B., Jih, J., & Karliner, L., (2022). Complementary and integrative healthcare communication in Chinese American patient/primary care visits: An observational discourse analysis. PEC Innovation, 1, 100082.

• Ho, E. Y., Agne, R., Santana, T., Thompson, N., McClendon, G., Ng, E., Merrick, S., Gonzalez, F., Smith, T., Drewke, K., Gutierrez, A., Floyd, G, & Chao, Maria T. (2021). A communication perspective on what patient advisory boards do: Action-Implicative Discourse Analysis and the dilemma of advice. Journal of General Internal Medicine.