My research explores health inequality in contemporary society. I use ethnographic research methods (e.g., participant-observation, interviewing, etc.) to examine how the day-to-day health experiences of marginalized populations are impacted by macro-level social forces, such as health policy, economic inequality, and racism. I focus, in particular, on advancing health communication scholarship in three primary areas: (1) end-of-life care, (2) HIV/AIDS, and (3) substance abuse.

My work appears in leading journals such as Health Communication, Communication and Medicine, the Journal of Family Communication, and the Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. Please see below for a list of  representative publications.

​Representative Publications

Obong’o, C. O., Alexander, A. C., Chavan, P. P., Dillon, P. J., & Kedia, S. K. (2017).
     Choosing to live or die: Online narratives of recovering from Methamphetamine
     abuse. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 49(1), 52-58.

Dillon, P. J., & Basu, A. (2016). Toward eliminating hospice enrollment disparities 
     among African Americans: A qualitative study. Journal of Health Care for the Poor
     and Underserved, 27, 219–237.

Basu, A., Dillon, P. J., & Romero-Daza, N. (2016). Understanding culture and its
     influence on HIV/AIDS-related communication among minority men who have sex
     with men. Health Communication, 31(11), 1367-1374.

Dillon, P. J., & Roscoe, L. A. (2015). Qualitative communication research. In E.
     Wittenberg, B. Ferrell, J. Goldsmith…G. Handzo (Eds.), Textbook of palliative care
     communication (pp. 399-407). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Dillon, P. J., & Basu, A. (2014). HIV/AIDS and minority men who have sex with men:  
     A meta-ethnographic synthesis of qualitative research. Health Communication, 29,
     182-192.

Dillon, P. J., Roscoe, L. A., & Jenkins, J. J. (2012). African Americans and hospice care:
     Making decisions about enrollment. The Howard Journal of Communications, 23,
     175-193.

Dillon, P. J. (2011). Moral accounts and membership categorization in primary
     care medical interviews. Communication & Medicine, 8, 211-221.

Contact me

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​pdillon2@kent.edu
​330.244.3341

415 Main Hall
Kent State University at Stark
​6000 Frank Ave. NW
​North Canton, OH 44720