The area of research in garnering the power of arts in health is growing, and a CEDHARS faculty member is bringing his expertise in occupational therapy to the field.

When we conflate disability and health status, our efforts to promote a healthy life for all are undermined.

As reported in a new systematic review by Sally Lindsay and Kristina Fuentes at the University of Toronto, ableist attitudes and resistance are stigmatizing disabilities, stifling faculty and staff with a disability from advocating for themselves, and preventing critical accommodations and policies for faculty and staff with a disability from being created and widely implemented.

Although dopaminergic therapy, particularly the medication levodopa, can be quite effective for treating Parkinson’s Disease, the efficacy can widely vary from person to person. But a NORC grant awarded to a fellow in The UAB/Lakeshore Research Collaborative is looking to shrink that gap.

Last week, The New York Times printed an excellent editorial by M. Leona Godin, a nationally known scholar and author who is blind. Ms. Godin recalls an incident where she met up with two friends who are also blind in her hometown of San Francisco. One of the women, Haben Girma, is the only deaf-blind graduate of Harvard Law School. Communicating with Ms. Girma involves typing into her wireless keyboard so that she can read the words on her Braille display and respond verbally. Since Ms. Godin was not used to communicating this way, she was making numerous grammatical errors. In an expression of frustration, she commented, “I feel so dumb,” which was met by a terse reply from the other person, Caitlin Hernandez, “That’s ableist.”

This phenomenological dissertation explored how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted college students and postdoctoral fellows who have a disability or chronic health condition.

It’s not black and white, and it shouldn’t be red or blue, either.

Therapists at the UAB Taub Training Clinic had developed and delivered a revolutionary intervention for patients recovering from stroke known as constraint induced therapy until it was forced to close in 2020 for financial burden due to poor insurance reimbursement and time required by therapists.

The World Games 2022, an international multi-sport event organized with the support of the International Olympic Committee, will hold its 11th edition in Birmingham from July 7-17, 2022. And thanks to the Disability Inclusion Program, this will be the first edition of TWG – or any international multi-sport event – to include an adaptive sport.

In a previous editorial I commented on Lindsay Bowe’s powerful expression in the UAB Graduate School “Say It In 6” competition with her insightful words: "Disabled and equally capable as before."

The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine, the Nutrition Obesity Research Center and the Center for Engagement in Disability Health and Rehabilitation Sciences are pleased to jointly host the “Precision-The Genes and Beyond” Research Symposium.

The UAB Center for Exercise Medicine (UCEM) is pleased to announce an RFA to fund pilot research that focuses on Muscle Research related to basic biology, disease, and/or exercise. Research related to any of the muscle types (skeletal, cardiac, smooth muscle) is relevant to this RFA.

Postdoctoral fellow in the Heersink School of Medicine’s department of physical medicine and rehabilitation Dr. Jia Li is channeling the CEDHARS spirit by extrapolating her prior research to include people with disabilities.

The seminar series hosted by CEDHARS continued with a presentation on a novel approach to neurodegenerative geriatric conditions, and the center is excited to welcome adaptive sports expert Dr. Justin LaFerrier today.

Dr. Brooks Wingo was a clinical social worker, looking for solutions for her patients who experienced weight gain as a side effect for a new and effective psychosis medication, when she decided to marry her interests and get a doctorate in health education and promotion from UAB’s School of Public Health.

"Disabled and equally capable as before."

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Rachel Ashcraft, licensed occupational therapist and TBRI practitioner, gave a seminar presentation on April 21 titled “A Case for Trauma Informed Care Across Healthcare Settings.”

The Director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt gave updates on the organization recently at a grantee stakeholder meeting.

Generally speaking, most people are aware of the health risks associated with being overweight or obese. The more a person weighs, the more likely they will be prone to type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, gallbladder and liver complications, stroke, depression, and other serious health risks.