Somalis represent the largest consecutively displaced and resettled group in the United States yet, little is known about their experiences with and perceptions of illness in diaspora. In this research project I examine how Somalis’ understandings of the body and embodiment shape perceptions of diabetes and mental health. In addition, I ask how are the effects of migration and diaspora embodied among Somalis in Boston? To answer these research questions, I developed a qualitative study among Somali Muslims in Boston. I utilized information from semi-structured interviews (n=6), informal interviews (n=4), and participant observation at a local mosque from March 2015 to March 2016. I argue that for Somalis, diaspora is embodied through: bodily practices based on fluid and complex body ideals and values, food ritual and practices of consumption, and chronic physical health and mental health issues resulting in culturally relevant somatic explanatory models.

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a critical analysis of research findings about hydrotherapy as a means of reducing chronic pain used independently of opioids. Chronic pain is often treated with analgesics of varying potency, some with serious adverse side effects if used over a long period of time. Exploring the effectiveness of therapies other than medication to treat chronic pain is important to decrease or eliminate the amount to pain medication taken for chronic pain. Hydrotherapy is one therapy that may improve the pain experience for those with chronic pain. A literature search was conducted using the key terms chronic pain and hydrotherapy with the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature database. This search yielded 5 studies that met the inclusion criteria, which were: research from 2015 or newer, studied adults over the age of 18, used hydrotherapy to reduce chronic pain who were not also using opioids, peer-reviewed, and written in the English language. The 5 studies found specifically addressed the conditions of osteoarthritis of the knee, fibromyalgia, and chronic low-back pain. All studies indicated hydrotherapy reduced chronic pain in adults. Findings of this analysis of the literature supports the recommendation to use hydrotherapy to improve chronic pain. Further research in other conditions known to cause chronic pain is needed.

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Background. Understanding how people adjust to living with chronic pain is paramount because of the negative impact of chronic pain on quality of life. Chronic pain integration has been proposed as a new construct that may enhance understanding of chronic pain adjustment. Integration, as defined by people living with chronic pain, is an ongoing process in which the person with chronic pain evolves becoming a mentally and physically stronger individual; creating a sense of harmony and control in one’s life. These positive outcomes of integration necessitate its continued investigation in chronic pain, especially if it may positively affect life quality. Objective. There were two overarching purposes of this study: (a) to further refine and test the psychometric properties of the Chronic Pain Integration Questionnaire (CPIQ); and (b) to examine four research hypotheses based on the proposed relationships between several constructs. Method and Results. Utilizing a quantitative, non-experimental design, the CPIQ demonstrated internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, and evidence of validity when tested in a sample of 201 adults living with chronic non-cancer pain. All four of the research hypotheses were confirmed and three domains of the CPIQ were identified through exploratory factor analysis: self-management, self-awareness, and intrinsic adjustment. The favourable psychometric results of the CPIQ provide support for its continued use to understand adjustment in chronic pain. Ultimately, the goal of future research with the CPIQ is to identify effective interventions that promote chronic pain integration; leading to improved life quality for the person with chronic pain. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / A questionnaire titled the Chronic Pain Integration Questionnaire (CPIQ) was developed and then given to 201 adults living with chronic pain in order to gain a better understanding of how these adults have adjusted to living with chronic pain. The responses that these adults gave on the CPIQ were then compared to responses they gave on additional questionnaires related to their physical and mental health, acceptance, and social support. These comparisons allowed for the detailed examination of people’s adjustment to living with chronic pain. It is hoped that the CPIQ, which has now been developed and tested, will continue to allow health care professionals to gather more information about the life of someone living with chronic pain. It is also hoped that the CPIQ could be used in future research to identify effective strategies that improve the overall quality of life of the person suffering with chronic pain.

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The thirteen essays in this collection center on the narrator's shifting relationship to opioid painkillers and other drugs. The narrator and protagonist, Amy, begins using opioids recreationally with her boyfriend Ryan, an opiate addict who initiates Amy's drug use. Years after the couple breaks up, Amy's childhood headaches return as migraines and transform into chronic daily headaches, which she relieves with oxycodone (and sometimes other drugs). The narrative chronicles Amy's relationship with Ryan and her iatrogenic dependence on narcotic painkillers, detoxification, return to opioids following a year spent "clean," and the ways in which her headache treatment regimen shapes her relationship to her family, friends, various medical personnel, and her own embodied subjectivity. / MFA

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This study is research into Invisible Chronic Illness (ICI): illness that cannot be seen by another, but that can have a major, sometimes catastrophic, effect on the lives of people concerned, especially their working lives. Each chapter deals, in some detail,with certain aspects of chronic illnesses that cannot be readily seen. The research is argued to be a vital excavation - a recognition of authentic and previously unheard voices and a methodology of primary value in researching the incommensurable, the difficult, the nasty in organisational life / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)