Disability-Related Disparities in Screening for Intimate Partner Violence During the Perinatal Period: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Persons with disabilities are at higher risk of experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) during the perinatal period than persons without disabilities. Although screening for IPV during the perinatal period is recommended by many organizations, little is known about screening rates for IPV by disability status.

Methods: Our objective was to compare rates of IPV screening during the perinatal period among persons with and without disabilities in the United States.

Understanding loneliness and its correlates among people with spinal cord injury.

Purpose: To conduct the first known comprehensive examination of loneliness and its correlates in a diverse sample of people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 343 people with SCI provided responses to the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale-Version 3. We examined the relation of loneliness to measures of demographic, disability, physical health, and social characteristics.

Psychosocial Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women with Spinal Cord Injury.

This study represents the first known research addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women with spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States. Women in this population face unique barriers that put them at elevated risk for compromised quality of life, risk that was magnified by physical and social restrictions imposed during the pandemic. This qualitative study examined the perceptions of women with SCI and the effect of the pandemic on their lives.

Greater engagement in valued activities is associated with less barriers to quitting smoking among smokers with mobility impairments.

Background: Individuals with mobility impairments (MI; use equipment to ambulate) have a high prevalence of both smoking and depression. Behavioral activation (BA) purports that depressed mood is remediated through valued activity engagement and may facilitate smoking cessation in MI populations.

Objective: We examined cross-sectional associations between activity engagement and variables important for smoking cessation among a high-risk group of smokers (people with MIs) and also describe a smoking cessation intervention based on BA, given the lack of studies on smokers with MIs.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with spinal cord injury.

Purpose: Few studies have examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of people with spinal cord injury (SCI), a population uniquely vulnerable to pandemic-related stressors. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on three life domains (psychosocial health, health and health behavior, and social participation) and identifies risk factors for adverse psychosocial health impacts in a sample of people with SCI.

Method: A diverse sample of 346 adults with SCI completed a survey assessing demographic, disability, health, and social characteristics, and perceived impacts of the pandemic.

Interpersonal Violence Against Women With Spinal Cord Injury: Adding Insult to Injury.

Background: Mounting empirical evidence suggests that, compared to women without disabilities, women with disabilities are more likely to experience interpersonal violence (IPV). However, there is extremely limited research attention on IPV against women with spinal cord injury (SCI), a particularly understudied and underserved population.

Objectives: To conduct the first known examination of lifetime IPV experience in women with SCI, to explore demographic and disability-related correlates of IPV, and to examine the health impacts of IPV.

Association of mobile health (mHealth) use with health status and COVID-19-related concerns by people with mobility impairments.

Purpose: Mobile health (mHealth) technology has increased dramatically in the wake of the pandemic. Less research has focused on people with mobility impairing (PMI) disabilities. This study determined the prevalence of mHealth use among PMI adults during the COVID-19 escalation and examines demographic, health and COVID-19 concerns correlates.

Depressive symptoms during the perinatal period by disability status: Findings from the United States Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System.

Aims: The aim of the current study was to compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms during the perinatal period among respondents with a disability as compared to those without a disability.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of nationally representative data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from 24 participating United States between 2018 and 2020.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 37,989 respondents provided data on disability, including difficulty in vision, hearing, ambulation, cognition, communication and self-care.

Cancer Disparities Experienced by People with Disabilities.

People with disabilities, who represent a rapidly growing and seriously disadvantaged segment of the U.S. population, face unremitting barriers to equal and accessible healthcare and a high prevalence of chronic health conditions.

Health information seeking in the digital age: a national survey of women with disabilities.

Purpose: Access to high quality and accessible online health information (OHI) is critical for reducing disparities, overcoming barriers, and improving the health of women with disabilities. This study aimed to understand women with physical disabilities' use of the Internet to access OHI, most often searched health topics, perceived usefulness of OHI, and self-reported eHealth literacy and challenges in OHI seeking.

Methods: We conducted a national online survey with 508 women with physical disabilities who used the Internet.

Intimate partner violence during the perinatal period by disability status: Findings from a United States population-based analysis.

Aims: The aim of the current study was to compare the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) during the perinatal period among respondents with self-reported disability compared with those without a disability.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of nationally representative data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System data from 24 participating United States between 2018 and 2020.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 43,837 respondents provided data on disability, including difficulty in vision, hearing, ambulation, cognition, communication and self-care.

Mental Healthcare: Experiences of Rural Women With Disabilities Following Interpersonal Violence.

Women with disabilities are at increased risk of interpersonal violence compared to women without disabilities. Little is known, however, about women with disabilities' experience accessing and participating in counseling and other mental health services during and following their victimization, particularly when living in a rural setting. This study involved qualitative interviews with 33 women with diverse disabilities who experienced interpersonal violence in rural communities.

"They Didn't Ask." Rural Women With Disabilities and Experiences of Violence Describe Interactions With the Healthcare System.

Women with disabilities are at risk of experiencing multiple forms of severe and prolonged violence, yet guidelines for screening this population are unclear, screening rates are historically low, and screening tools may be inadequate to capture disability-related aspects of abuse. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with 33 rural women in the United States with diverse disabilities and experiences of violence. They described overarching healthcare provider and system factors that influenced their trust and confidence in healthcare delivery as an avenue to support their safety.

Creating academic-community partnerships to jointly enhance advocacy and research on violence and disability: Two case examples.

Objective: This article describes the use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) to foster bidirectional and equitable academic-community partnerships in two studies related to interpersonal violence and disability.

Method: We analyzed our methods and experiences in conducting these studies to focus on the ways in which CBPR methodology was used to jointly promote and enhance research and advocacy surrounding violence and disability in the research processes themselves and the resulting assessment and intervention products.

Results: Our use of CBPR methodology allowed us to identify and address critical issues related to violence in the disability community, such as disability-related forms and experiences of violence, concerns and barriers linked to mandated reporting laws, and inaccessible measures and interventions, and to address them in research products.

Associations Between Smoking Status and Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life Among Individuals With Mobility Impairments.

Background: In the general population, quitting smoking is associated with improved health-related quality of life (QoL), but this association has not been examined in smokers with chronic mobility impairments (MIs).

Purpose: We examined associations between smoking status and health-related QoL over 6 months, and whether relationships are moderated by depression and MI severity.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a smoking cessation induction trial among smokers with MIs (n = 241, 56% female, 36% Black) assessed at baseline, and 4 and 6 months after.

Are public health measures and individualised care compatible in the face of a pandemic? A national observational study of bereaved relatives' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: COVID-19 public health restrictions have affected end-of-life care experiences for dying patients and their families.

Aim: To explore bereaved relatives' experiences of quality of care and family support provided during the last days of life; to identify the impact of factors associated with perceived support.

Design: A national, observational, open online survey was developed and disseminated via social media, public fora and professional networks (June-September 2020).

Health and social care professionals' experiences of providing end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

Background: Health and social care professionals' ability to address the needs of patients and their relatives at end of life is likely to have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: To explore health and social care professionals' experiences of providing end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic to help inform current/future clinical practice and policy.

Design: A qualitative interview study.

"Helping Somebody Else Has Helped Me Too": Resilience in Rural Women With Disabilities With Experiences of Interpersonal Violence.

The concept of resilience, the ability to "bounce back," from adversity, can inform interpersonal violence interventions and victim assistance services. Unfortunately, though women with disabilities (WWD) experience high rates of all forms of violence and multiple layers of adversity, existing resilience research overlooks this populations' experiences, perspectives, and resilience strategies. The impairment, socially misperceived as a personal tragedy, precludes individuals with disabilities from being considered resilient; rather, they are designated almost universally as "at risk" or "vulnerable.

Psychometric properties of the Food Environment Assessment Survey Tool (FEAST) in people with mobility impairment.

Objective: Approximately one in ten adults under the age of 65 in the USA has a mobility impairing disability. People with mobility impairment generally have poorer dietary habits contributing to obesity and related negative health outcomes. This article presents the psychometric properties of the Food Environment Assessment Survey Tool (FEAST) instrument that measures barriers to accessing healthy food from the perspective of people with mobility impairment (PMI).

A qualitative study of bereaved relatives' end of life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Meeting the needs of relatives when a family member is dying can help facilitate better psychological adjustment in their grief. However, end of life experiences for families are likely to have been deleteriously impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Understanding how families' needs can be met during a global pandemic will have current/future relevance for clinical practice and policy.

Facebook usage, participation patterns, and social support from Facebook activity among smokers with mobility impairments.

People with mobility impairments (MIs; use assistive devices to ambulate) have twice the smoking prevalence versus the general population. A Facebook intervention could improve reach to smokers with MIs, but use and patterns of use are unknown. The study examined: (a) Facebook use and relationship with Facebook-based social support and (b) whether Facebook use differs by motivation to quit smoking.

Perceptions of barriers to effective family planning services among women with disabilities.

Background: Women with disabilities have the same rights as women without disabilities to prevent unintended pregnancy, yet little is known about their experiences in accessing family planning methods.

Objective: This qualitative descriptive study explored perceptions of barriers to effective family planning services among women with disabilities.

Method: Semi-structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with 31 women with diverse disabilities as part of a larger study investigating risks and facilitators of unintended pregnancy among women with disabilities across the United States.