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Although scientists have often overlooked the role of language used to refer to people with disabilities in their identities, language may reflect societal attitudes that are critical in shaping the experiences of people with disabilities, particularly during formative periods. International controversy surrounds disability-first versus people-first language, but little research to date has explored specific linguistic references to people with disabilities. This study draws on a content analysis of 22 qualitative interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators to explore language used to refer to students with disabilities. Results offer the first framework of language in a U.S. urban school district, including people-first, disability-implicit, and disability-first language. Results demonstrate noteworthy variation in form and content, and offer a values-based and contextual understanding of language.  This nuanced way of understanding experiences of students with disabilities has implications for potentially improving language used to refer to people with disabilities, as well as creating a more positive disability identity.

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Empowerment is defined as a process by which marginalized groups gain mastery over issues of concern to them. One such population is racial and ethnic minority college students. These students experience academic disparities while simultaneously relying on higher education to facilitate more equitable social outcomes for themselves and ultimately to strengthen U.S. society for all. Nonetheless, nearly four decades after Rappaport's introduction of the empowerment construct, we still have no core constructs or measure of them for understanding and assessing the empowerment of underrepresented students on college campuses. As an initial step to understand and evaluate empowerment for this important population, this study drew from previous qualitative research to create and field‐test a quantitative measure with racial/ethnic minority college students. Exploratory factor analyses in independent samples identified 4 factors of empowerment: Self‐Efficacy/Control, University Environment, Financial Confidence, and Student Racial/Ethnic Identity. Confirmatory factor analyses illustrated relationships between factors. Findings revealed that the measure, the College Student Empowerment Scales for Racial/Ethnic Minorities (CSES), is valid and reliable. Results emphasize internalized influences on psychological empowerment through an individual's identity within empowering university and societal contexts. Future directions are discussed, including research using this measure and opportunities for intervention in universities.

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The health and healthcare of vulnerable populations is an international concern. In 2011, a Midwestern state within the U.S. mandatorily transitioned 38,000 Medicaid recipients from a fee-for-service system into a managed care program in which managed care companies were contracted to provide recipients’ healthcare for a capitated rate. In addition to cost savings through reductions in preventable and unnecessary hospital admissions, the goals of the managed care program (MCP) included: (1) access to a more functional support system, which can support high and medium risk users in the development of care plans and coordination of care, and (2) choice among competent providers. The population transitioned was a high-need, high-cost, low-income, and low-power group of individuals. The evaluation research team used focus groups as one of many strategies to understand the experience of users during the first two years of this complex change effort. The article explores empowerment in terms of users and their family caregivers’ ability to make meaningful choices and access resources with regard to their healthcare. Specifically, factors empowering and disempowering users were identified within three thematic areas: (1) enrollment experiences, (2) access to care and (3) communication with managed care organizations and providers. While the change was not optional for users, a disempowering feature, there remained opportunities for other empowering and disempowering processes and outcomes through the transition and new managed care program. The results are from 74 participants: 65 users and 9 family caregivers in 11 focus groups and six interviews across two waves of data collection. MCP users felt disempowered by an initial lack of providers, difficulty with transportation to appointments, and challenges obtaining adequate medication. They felt empowered by having a choice of providers, good quality of transportation services and clear communication from providers and managed care organizations. Recommendations for increasing prospects for the empowerment of healthcare users with disabilities within a managed care environment are presented.

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