Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences), 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-352).

Thesis (DPhil (Drama))-University of Pretoria, 1973. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--George Washington University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-251).

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2007. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael Everts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-171).

No description available.

with Dr. Rosanna DeMarco and Dr. Ann Burgess

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Children of low socioeconomic status (SES) families with intellectual and developmental disabilities have higher rates of dental caries but significant unmet dental needs due to unique factors such as low Medicaid reimbursement rates, confusion surrounding plan choice, and poor provider availability. As a result, children with disabilities experience disproportionate oral healthcare costs and out-of-pocket expenses. Utilizing a critical disability theory lens to review the available published literature by Health Policy, Medicaid and Special Education disciplines revealed not only how to describe what people should research but also how they should approach improving oral health for children with special healthcare needs. Drawing on connections between the literature and the overall cultures of these fields it was concluded that existing literature used the medical model of disability. Therefore, ableism was identified as a cause of oral health disparities for children with special healthcare needs. Adopting the social model of disability will improve oral health outcomes for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

In response to the growing desires of American women to reclaim childbirth from the pathologized and technocratic grips of Western medicine, the social media based organization, Birth Without Fear, provides positive birth messages and empowers followers by sharing linguistically positive birth stories and affirmations of childbirth empowerment. A cyber-ethnographic examination of the comments section on 62 blog posts, published by Birth Without Fear between February 1st, 2015 and February 12th, 2016, revealed discourses of self-efficacy, empowerment, and agency that may help reduce childbirth fear, anxiety, and self-inefficacy. Birth Without Fear simultaneously acts as a form of childbirth education intended to empower women to birth fearlessly and also as a safe and supportive kinship cyber network where women can freely exchange, share, process, and make meaning of their birth experiences. Overall, themes of childbirth empowerment, affirmation, and support suggest that positive, empowering birth discourses may help socialize American women to birth fearlessly, embody self-efficacy, agency and empowerment during birth, and have more positive birth experiences overall.

Professional athletes are at unique risk for difficulties during retirement due to factors such as early retirement age, identity change, and financial instability. Due to factors such as the high physicality of the sport, majority minority presence, and large public viewership of football, retired NFL players are especially at a higher risk for negative retirement experiences. A review of the available published literature on retirement of NFL players revealed the six most impactful factors in shaping football playersâ retirement experience, primary identity, health, retirement decision, meaningful post-employment activity, financial status, and available support resources. Eight case studies of former players, four Caucasian and four African-American, were conducted to analyze the role these factors played in the playersâ retirement experiences. Out of the six factors, health, available support resources, and financial status were the most salient contributors to the quality retirement experiences they had. From this, it was concluded that changes in the current NFL system are needed to better protect playersâ physical and mental health and to prepare them for retirement in terms of financial planning courses and networking workshops.