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Previous research indicates that health centers on college and university campuses provide quality primary healthcare services to students; however, students are under-utilizing these campus health facilities due partly to their uncertainty about health services provided at these centers. While studies have examined students' uncertainty about university health services and their health providers, little is known about strategies students use to manage their uncertainty when communicating with university health professionals. Responding to the call that more health communication scholarship should be theory-driven (Babrow and Mattson, 2011), this study utilized anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory to explore how college students managed their anxiety and uncertainty about their health problems when communicating with university health professionals at a university health center. 184 participants completed an online open-ended questionnaire. A thematic constant comparative method was used to analyze the data. The study found that students reported using trust, relaxation, and information seeking/giving as strategies to manage their anxiety and uncertainty. The study concludes that basic systematic desensitization techniques (e.g. taking a deep breath, listening to music) and cognitive restructuring techniques (e.g. staying positive, focusing the mind on things one enjoys) could help students to manage their physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety when communicating with university health professionals. Also, assuring students of confidentiality could help them to reduce their uncertainty about disclosing personal and sensitive information to university health professionals during their interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at comparatively analyzing solid waste management practices and challenges in urban and rural senior high schools in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Multiple sampling techniques (simple random, stratified sampling, convenience sampling, stratified proportionate sampling, etc.) were used to sort 370 samples. Independent Sample t -test was used to compare solid waste management practices in rural and urban senior high schools. Mean and standard deviation were further used to examine the challenges the schools faced in managing waste. The study found that both rural and urban senior high schools had waste management practice systems in place but they were dissimilar. However, in both urban and rural senior high schools, the issue of inadequate resources for effective waste management was ubiquitous challenge confronting both set of schools in managing waste. Further, while poor student attitude towards waste management was a major constraint for rural schools, the urban schools had a challenge in terms of poor waste collection routine. Formation of environmental education clubs by school authorities among student can be a sine qua non for effective waste management practices among students, particularly for the rural folks. Again, waste management policies by the District Assemblies should not be exclusive to only the communities, as senior high schools have been experiencing population explosion with the introduction of the free senior high school policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]