Karen J Luken

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Background Evidence-based health promotion programs developed and tested in the general population typically exclude people with disabilities. To address this gap, a set of methods and criteria were created to adapt evidence-based health promotion programs for people with disabilities. In this first study, we describe a framework for adapting evide...

Rates of receipt of cervical cancer screening among women with intellectual disabilities are reported to be the worst for any population subgroup in the United States. While barriers to receipt of preventive care for this population are well-established, less is known about the determinants to care. We collected medical record data from 2006-2010 f...

There is a critical need for evidence-based health promotion interventions for women with intellectual disabilities to promote receipt of preventive health screenings including screenings for cervical and breast cancer. One intervention, Women Be Healthy, provides developmentally appropriate, hands-on, multi-modal learning specifically designed to...

We examined receipt of cervical cancer screening and determinants of screening for women with intellectual disabilities in one Southeastern state. Using medical records data from 2006 through 2010 for community-dwelling women with intellectual disabilities who were 18-65 years of age (n=163), we employed descriptive and bivariate statistics and a m...

Abstract This study examines the accuracy of self-report of cervical and breast cancer screening by women with intellectual disability (n = 155). Data from face-to-face interviews and medical records were analyzed. Total agreement, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated. Total agreement bet...

There is a critical need for evidence-based health education interventions for women with intellectual disabilities (IDs) to promote receipt of preventive health screenings. Previous research has established Women Be Healthy, an 8-week classroom-style intervention designed to teach women with IDs about breast and cervical cancer screenings, as a pr...

There is a critical need for objective data about receipt of preventive healthcare screenings that are not subject to self‐response bias. However, no available evidence indicates which methods are effective for obtaining retrospective medical record data for women with intellectual disabilities (ID) receiving care in the community. This article des...

Abstract Women with intellectual disability do not receive cervical and breast cancer screening at the same number as women without disabilities. Numerous barriers to receipt of screening have been reported by individuals with intellectual disability, paid caregivers, nurses, and other medical professionals. This study utilized semi-structured qual...

Background/Purpose: Women with intellectual disabilities receive cervical and breast cancer screenings at markedly lower rates than their nondisabled peers, despite the proven effectiveness of both screenings in reducing women’s cancer mortality. However, existing research has relied on self- or caregiver-reported screening data, and it is unclea...

Data from the North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey show that, from 2005-2010, cardiovascular disease (CVD) was approximately 3 times more prevalent among adults with disabilities than among those without disabilities. Likelihood of having multiple CVD risk factors was also increased. Early intervention to prevent CVD in...

Prior research has described general barriers to breast cancer screening for women with disabilities (WWD). We explored specific accommodations described as necessary by WWD who have accessed screening services, and the presence of such accommodations in community-based screening programs. We surveyed WWD in the Carolina Mammography Registry to det...

Women with developmental disabilities are significantly less likely than women without disabilities to receive cervical and breast cancer screening according to clinical guidelines. The reasons for this gap are not understood. The present study examined the extent of women's knowledge about cervical and breast cancer screening, with the intention o...

Background: Women with developmental disabilities are much less likely than nondisabled women to receive cervical and breast cancer screening according to clinical guidelines. One barrier to receipt of screenings is a lack of knowledge about preventive screenings. Method: To address this barrier, we used a randomized control trial (n ¼ 175 women) t...

Research on children raised by adults with disability is limited. Our goal was to provide a profile of the health and educational status of children raised by a caregiver with disability. In 2007-2008, 4571 adults completed the North Carolina Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Child Health Assessment Monitoring Program (CHAMP) sur...

The need for evidence-based health promotion interventions for women with intellectual and developmental disabilities is critical. However, significant barriers impede them from participating in research, including those related to recruitment and obtaining informed consent. This study describes a procedure for the recruitment and consent of women...

Given the lack of screening mammography studies specific to women with disabilities, we compared reasons offered by women with and without disabilities for not scheduling routine screening visits. We surveyed women in the Carolina Mammography Registry aged 40 to 79 years (n = 2970), who had been screened from 2001 through 2003 and did not return fo...

Peer Education and Advocacy through Recreation and Leadership (PEARL) is an intervention based on principles of peer helping and psychosocial rehabilitation. Trained peers working as recreation advocates provided support to peers in psychosocial rehabilitation settings. Advocates promoted peer involvement in recreation and community activities as a...

If you suddenly were incapacitated, wouldn't you expect your health care team to use interventions that were cost-effective, relevant to your recovery goals, and conducive to improved functional outcomes? Recreational therapy (RT), also known as therapeutic recreation, is a value-added treatment mode that contributes to improved functioning, indepe...