The works collated here provide evidence of the benefits of viewing communication with people with aphasia (PWA) as a joint interactional process and of applying linguistic methodologies to the study of discourse and interaction in aphasia. They specifically point to the need to reconceptualize familiarization and speaking for behaviors in…

The problem addressed in this study was the increasing number of former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) student-athletes who did not receive a diagnosis or treatment but experienced concussion-like symptoms and socio-behavioral consequences. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to discover the experiences and…

For centuries we have been using food for our well-being and health maintenance. As far back as Hippocrates (known as the father of medicine), food has been a center stone used as the good or suffering of humanity. The Bible references food and fasting, cleansing and revitalization to heal the spirit. Before the scientific discovery of synthetic…

This dissertation blends architectural history with disability studies to better understand the social construction of disability during childhood in the early twentieth century. Open-air schools and classes emerged as an educational experiment in the United States in 1904 and were abandoned by 1945. These spaces sought to improve the education of…

Using creative autoethnographic "testimonio" (CAT), a story is told about the injustices within the learning environment and work environment of higher education toward a person with disabilities: sleep apnea, learning disabilities, negative mental health. The author explores the health difficulties of addressing sleep deprivation while…

Friends, family, and community provide important support and help to patients who face an illness. Unfortunately, keeping a social network informed about a patient's health status and needs takes effort, making it difficult for people who are sick and exhausted from illness. Members of a patient's social network are often eager to help, but can be…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to uncover the impacts that type 1 diabetes have on a child's or adolescent's school educational experience. The study used a phenomenological approach based upon the work of Moustakas (1994). Purposeful sampling was used to identify participants. The participant group was comprised of 10…

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of parental involvement and mental health in a sample of traditionally aged college students and investigate the variance parental involvement predicts in mental health. Five hundred and eighty-eight freshmen at a large research university responded to a 97 question survey. Parental…

Discontinuity of care due to poor communication of patient health information among healthcare providers (HCPs) is a major efficiency and patient safety concern. Patients often see multiple HCPs and during each visit, the patient's core health information is required for appropriate decision making. Patients with access to their electronic medical…

The older adult population is growing faster than any other cohort of people. By the year 2011, the baby boomers will start turning age 65, presenting a problem for public policy and health care systems. One of the key components of successful aging is the maintenance of good health. Numerous studies have extensively documented the link between…

Health literacy involves basic reading and numeracy, which allow a person to function as a health care consumer, by reading, understanding, evaluating and using information in health documents. For thirty years, the gap between the reading level of most of the public, eighth grade, and the reading level of most written health information, above…

The present study employed a mixed methods approach to explore well-being, quality of life and experiences among Japanese sojourner graduate students studying in the U.S. utilizing 155 survey responses and 39 in-depth individual interviews. Key measures used include: the K6 screen for risk of serious mental illness (K6) (Kessler et al., 2002), the…

Popular education is a mode of teaching and learning which seeks to bring about more equitable social conditions by creating settings in which people can identify and solve their own problems. While the public health literature offers evidence to suggest that popular education is an effective strategy for increasing empowerment and improving…

Today's interconnected technical environment creates unprecedented opportunities while simultaneously introducing risks. With economic, social and personal interactions increasingly occurring in technology-mediated settings new vulnerabilities are continually being introduced. This dissertation seeks to improve extant understanding of how…