Self-Management Across the Lifespan

Our research is about empowering people to take charge of their health and wellness at all stages of life.

Six in 10 U.S. adults live with at least one chronic disease – nearly half live with two or more. Almost one out of every four U.S. children and adolescents are afflicted by a chronic condition.

The overall well-being of people across the nation is at risk as more and more children, adolescents, and adults develop chronic conditions, due in large part to shared lifestyle choices, the environment, and a growing aging population.

Self-management interventions help those with chronic conditions better understand, cope with, and manage their condition and associated symptoms. These strategies often prevent the condition from becoming worse.

Some interventions, such as changes to diet and exercise, may even prevent individuals from developing additional chronic illnesses, especially important as chronically ill children grow into adulthood. Being an active participant in one's own health and well-being leads to better long-term outcomes and less strain on the healthcare system.

Kent State nurse researchers seek to understand positive and negative influences for chronic condition prevention and management, as well as develop instruments and interventions to help those who succumb to those conditions.

Affiliated Faculty

• Mary K. Anthony, Ph.D., RN
  Focus: Effects of shift rotations on nurses’ physical activity, health biomarkers, and performance.
• Ya-Fen Wang, Ph.D., RN
  Focus: How resourcefulness, which includes cognitive-behavioral self-control skills, is related to stress, overeating styles, and activity in underserved populations.

Recent Publications 

Petrinec, A. B., Wilk, C., Hughes, J. W., Zullo, M. D., George, R. L. (2024). Self-care mental health app for treatment of post-intensive care syndrome-family: A randomized pilot study. American Journal of Critical Care, 32(6), 440-448. doi:10.4037/ajcc2023800

Staras, S., Wollney, E., Emerson, L., Silver, N., Dziegielewski, P., Hansen, M., Sanchez, G., D'Ingeo, D., Johnson-Mallard, V.,… & Bylund, C. (2024). Identifying locally actionable strategies to increase participant acceptability and feasibility to participate in Phase I cancer clinical trials. Heath Expectations, 37(1), e13920. doi:10.1111/hex.13920

Bylund, C., Wollney, E., Emerson, L., Dziegielewsk, P., Silver, N., Hansen, M., D'Ingeo, D., Johnson-Mallard, V., Renne, R., Fredenburg, K., Gutter, M., Zamojski, K., Vandeweerd, C., & Staras, S. (in press). Understanding strategies to increase patient acceptability and feasibility to participate in Phase I cancer clinical trials. Journal of the Society for Clinical Trials.

Eades-Brown, N.T., Oguntoye, A.O., Aldossary, D., Ezenwa, M.O., Duckworth, L., Dede, D., Johnson-Mallard, V., Yao, Y., Gallo, A., and Wilkie, D.J. (2023). Adherence to a reproductive health intervention for young adults with sickle cell. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 10, 1097. doi:10.1097/JXX.0000000000000997. [online ahead of print]

Iacoboni, J., & Knox, L. (2023). Improving screening of prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 35(4):258-264. doi:10.1097/JXX.0000000000000843