Supports and barriers that entrepreneurs with disabilities encounter when starting their businesses.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Entrepreneurship is increasingly emerging as a viable employment option for many people with disabilities. It provides opportunities to develop interests, skills, and passion for starting a business. We conducted multiple interviews with various stakeholders to identify the perceived supports and barriers that people with disabilities encounter in the process of pursuing entrepreneurship. RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: Individual interviews included 20 entrepreneurs with disabilities, 6 service providers, and 5 school administrators. This qualitative study used a constructivist grounded theory approach to shape the process of data collection, analysis, and theory building. RESULTS: People with disabilities interested in pursuing entrepreneurship benefit from facilitators such as social support, mentoring, and access to space, equipment, and money. Personal qualities include their desire to be "my own boss," help others, earn money, creativity, persistence, and flexibility. On the other hand, they may face several systemic barriers, such as the lack of infrastructure to set up the business, discrimination, lack of formal support from Vocational Rehabilitation counselors or their school settings, and/or lack of money. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The systemic barriers can make it difficult for entrepreneurs to start and/or continue to operate their businesses. We discuss the implications of the findings for the development of entrepreneurship training for youth with disabilities and offer recommendations for future research and practice in the rehabilitation field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Community-Academic Partnerships: Addressing Health Inequities Through Community-Engaged Service Learning.

In Chicago, Black men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals experience higher rates of HIV diagnoses. The Southside of Chicago has a thriving house ball culture powered by MSM and TGNC individuals who are disproportionately impacted by HIV. While this community has a history of facilitating health promotion at their events, gaps exist in community-empowered education specific to this community. Through partnership between nursing students from University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and leaders from the Southside Health Advocacy Resource Partnership (SHARP) and the University of Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE), we aimed to reduce health disparities experienced by the Black MSM/TGNC community in Chicago. We promoted COVID-19 vaccinations and obtained funding for a community-led project to reduce HIV-related stigma. Our team consisted of two community leaders, seven students, and two professors. We met weekly during the development stages and detailed notes were maintained by students and updated with next steps. Four months of collaboration demonstrated how nursing coursework can facilitate community-academic partnership and yielded a COVID-19 viral vaccination promotion video, community administration of vaccines, and SHARP's procurement of funding to implement a project to reduce HIV-related stigma. Students learned the importance of community leaders' presence when bringing health care to communities. Community leaders learned to communicate population needs and best utilize students as a resource. Enriching nursing curriculum using an integrated service-learning format offers the opportunity for student development while simultaneously serving the community.