Perceptions of physical activity engagement among adults with rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatologists.

Aim: Physical activity (PA) among adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is suboptimal. This study assessed PA motivations and perceptions in adults with RA and rheumatologists.

Methods: Patients and rheumatologists participated in structured interviews led by a behavioral scientist.

Decreasing health disparities for people with disabilities through improved communication strategies and awareness.

Factors influencing access to health care among people with disabilities (PWD) include: attitudes of health care providers and the public, physical barriers, miscommunication, income level, ethnic/minority status, insurance coverage, and lack of information tailored to PWD. Reducing health care disparities in a population with complex needs requires implementation at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This review article discusses common barriers to health care access from the patient and provider perspective, particularly focusing on communication barriers and how to address and ameliorate them.

Disability reconsidered: the paradox of physical therapy.

The purposes of this perspective article are: (1) to explore models of disability from the perspective of the academic discipline of disability studies (DS), (2) to consider the paradox of improving functional capacities while valuing disability as diversity, (3) to identify how physical therapy's use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) disablement model intersects with various disability models, and (4) to apply this broader understanding of disability to physical therapist practice, education, and research. The DS literature has been critical of rehabilitation professionals, particularly targeting the medical model of disability. In contrast, advocates for a social model of disability recognize disability as diversity.

Analytical decision-making model for addressing the needs of allied health students with disabilities.

The purposes of this article are to (1) review the literature on students with disabilities (SWD) in higher education with a particular focus on allied health and related professions, and (2) propose an analytical decision-making model for assessing students' needs and providing reasonable accommodations in allied health education. Increasing numbers of SWD are entering higher education, but the rate of success for these students is lower than the rate for their nondisabled peers. A multitude of factors impact SWD, including the direct effects of the disabilities on learning and performing essential functions, academic and clinical faculty knowledge of the impact of disability in educational settings and their experience implementing accommodations, and the impact of legislation and institutional policies on service delivery.