Author: Heather Rose Walker

Guess what!? Since Late August I've been teaching an undergraduate course at the University of Utah School of Cultural and Social Transformation. Cool, right? Turns out my students are wicked smart, committed to learning, and are pretty incredible at doing the internal work needed to fully get into disability studies. Every week they've amazed me. … Continue reading Disability & Pride Pedagogy – a #DSMA Chat!

Over the last couple of years I'd been studying narrative and its impact on us as humans. In the case of diabetes, I've tried to identity what the pervasive narratives are, where they come from, how they get reproduced, and who and how they are countered. One narrative I've spent much time on in the … Continue reading What is a Healthy Mindset for a Diabetic?

After much consideration, I've decided to host a free webinar to talk about my research, how I got from grad school to a semi-academic career path, and where I am going next. The second half hour of the webinar, I will be opening up the floor for free flowing discussion about whatever those who show … Continue reading I’m Hosting a Webinar! Eek!

Wow, it has been a while since I did a check-in update post. Hi! I'm still here! My career has been shifting a lot and I've been working and publishing on projects outside of my usual diabetes + disability studies area of expertise. These seemingly random projects are all happening through my job as a … Continue reading It’s been a minute!

On Tuesday June 1st, we will be hosting a Tweet chat to learn about you, your specialty, and the twists, turns, and considerations it took to get there. We will be hosting a 1-hour long #SpecialtyChat tweet chat as one component of a larger project to identify medical school educational programs and specialty-specific factors that … Continue reading Specialty Tweet Chat, Calling all Practicing and In-training Physicians!

I'm so thrilled to share my most recent publication that can be found in Qualitative Health Research (QHR). It was a long time coming. In fact, this article was a part of my dissertation research. The article, entitled Diabetes Identity: A Mechanism of Social Change uses interviewing to explore identity in diabetes. At the start … Continue reading New Publication on Diabetes Identity

Historically, diabetes identity has been examined at the individual level as it relates to clinical outcomes and self-management practices. Yet, identity is not... Source: Diabetes Identity: A Mechanism of Social Change - Heather R. Walker, Michelle L. Litchman, 2021

Diabetes burnout is not a new concept to most people who live with the condition. It is a phenomenon that people with diabetes can experience overtime managing diabetes. It might look like feeling discouraged or unmotivated when trying to do diabetes self-management all the time 24/7. Diabetes burnout is a reality for many people spanning … Continue reading Can We Make Sense of Diabetes Burnout?

Back in 2016 I joined a Twitter community campaign called #CripTheVote to elevate disability issues during the US Presidential Election. It didn't take long for me to notice that something spectacular was taking shape - a social movement. For a graduate class I was taking at the time I decided to collect an archive of … Continue reading #CripTheVote Article Published!