Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

How Divergent Risk-Characters Rewrite The Anti-Vaccination Narrative, Shelby C. Luttman

Masters Theses

The modern narrative originates in 1998, when a paper by a British medical journal The Lancet alleged that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine may cause autism and bowel disease (Wakefield, Murch, Linnell, & Casson, 1998). The funding of the publication was deemed erroneous, yet the research sparked a connection between vaccines and disorders that would soon undermine public confidence in vaccines. Still today, the debate on vaccines poses a threat to public health in the United States of America as “opt-out” rates, particularly in states with recent outbreaks are increasing (Ratzan, 2011).

This study sought to examine what factors contribute to divergent …

Making Meaning Of The Illness Experience: Narratives Of Partners Of Cancer Survivors, Heather Nicole Tidwell

Masters Theses

Receiving a cancer diagnosis not only uproots the life of the patient but also the lives of the patient’s family members and loved ones. Adjustments in communication and disclosure as well as in identity must be made at various stages of the cancer trajectory. Survivorship, specifically, poses its own set of challenges as both cancer survivors and their partners must cope with perpetual uncertainty as to whether the cancer is truly over (Fife, 1994; Lethborg, Kissane, & Burns, 2003; Miller & Caughlin, 2012). Furthermore, although partners report being significantly impacted by a cancer diagnosis, they are often understudied when it …