Digital Commons Network^™

Managing Incomplete Data In The Patient Discharge Summary To Support Correct Hospital Reimbursements, Fadi Naser Eddin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The patient discharge summary is a document that conveys the patient's story to other healthcare practitioners, external users, and, most importantly from a financial perspective, health insurers. A defect or incompleteness in the patient's discharge summary will result in delays in the collection process through denial of the entire or partial reimbursement claim or, in the best-case scenario, delay until the discharge summary issue is resolved. The purpose of this project is to address the issue of the incompleteness of discharge summary from the perspective of healthcare providers, with the goal of understanding, diagnosing, and intervening in the research problem. …

Exercise Prescription Practices In University Counseling Centers: Testing The Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model, A'Naja M. Newsome

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The co-occurence of physical inactivity and poor mental health in the college student population can lead to chronic health issues that have negative short-term (e.g., academic success and weight gain) and long-term (e.g., obesity, serious mental illness, and premature mortality) impacts. Integrating exercise prescription into the mental health treatment plan of college students could enhance the holistic care model described by The American College Health Association (ACHA) and Healthy Campus task force. Understanding the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that mental health professionals (MHPs) hold regarding exercise prescription is important for policy formation and program development for college student health. The …

Resilience And Health Outcomes Of Sexual Minority Middle-Aged And Older Adults, Christi L. Nelson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (hereafter referred to as sexual minority) middle-aged and older adults has increased over the past decade, there is still a critical need for more research on the health and resilience in this growing subpopulation. Research has provided evidence that sexual minority adults have an increased risk of negative health outcomes when compared to heterosexual adults. Research has also demonstrated possible resilience in sexual minority middle-aged and older adults; however, few studies have measured resilience in middle-aged and older adults. Gaining a better understanding of resilience in sexual minority adults may help identify modifiable …

Mobile Response Teams And The Youth Emergency Behavioral Health System, Paige J. Alitz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: This dissertation includes three separate manuscripts that coalesce under the shared topic of mobile crisis response and the emergency behavioral health system. Method: The first manuscript includes a synthesis of the research on mobile crisis response from the 1960s to present day to assess whether mobile crisis services can improve mental health care access in the U.S. for youth and adults. The second manuscript includes bivariate and multivariate analyses of MRT participant data to characterize participants who receive an involuntary psychiatric evaluation versus those who do not, and to assess factors associated with involuntary psychiatric evaluation or referral to …

Managing Health Locus Of Control In Patient-Provider Relationships, James Wallace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Patient locus of control is a strong determinant of health outcomes, yet health care professionals do not typically address it in care plans. In fact, management of most medical conditions is hindered because the treating physician has little information about the patient’s locus of control. This research addresses the question “How can locus of control be used to enable health care practitioners to improve medical outcomes?”

Research Methodology. Using an engaged scholarship approach incorporating the Elaborated Action Design Research methodology, the research drives the guided, emergent design of a novel protocol and two separate artifacts for management of health locus …

Asking The Experts: Perception Of The Relative Importance Of Antecedents Of Optimal Financial Behavior, Chad M. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although there is ample research on financial behavior, the inclusion of financial planners in the sample frames of such research is rare. This study used certified financial planners (CFPs) as the sole sample population to identify antecedents of optimal financial behavior and their relative importance. Data from a nationally representative sample of 167 CFPs indicated that (a) financial literacy lost relative importance as CFP tenure increased, (b) romantic partnership closely rivaled financial literacy in importance, (c) financial literacy was more weakly correlated with romantic partnership than with the other antecedents investigated, and (d) romantic partnership was universally accepted as a …

“Practice Basic Hygiene, And You’Ll Stay Healthy”: How Primary School Reading Textbooks Transmitted Cultural Education In The Soviet Union, Victoria Storozenko

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Russia’s Cultural Revolution, beginning after the October Revolution in 1917, produced a broadly defined understanding of culture and cultural education at Russian schools that encompassed even basic hygiene and health. Drawing from postdoctoral research, this paper discusses the Cultural Revolution’s impact and its ideas on cultural education as presented in textbooks for 10-year general education schools in the Soviet Union. Discourse analysis revealed that the schoolbooks acted as an interface between a functional education system and changes in its surrounding environment, especially changes due to the Cultural Revolution. Amid today’s COVID-19 pandemic, the study’s findings raise several questions about what …

Informing Indigent Health Care Service Programs Within A Local Government Context: Strategies For Population-Based Service Planning, Assessment, And Policy Development, Joshua Troy Barnett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of medically indigent adults continues to grow in the United States, despite recent expansions in health care coverage to individuals who are non-disabled, low income, and uninsured. Indigent health care programs (IHCPs) are safety net services that are often funded and operated by local governments. These IHCPs provide access to health services at low to no-cost which protect the health and financial welfare of the individuals these programs serve and support the sustainability of the health systems that treat them. Although localities continue to expand their presence in safety net health care delivery, little is known about locally …

Multidimensional Well-Being Across Time Scales In Caregivers And Non-Caregivers, Victoria R. Marino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary research on informal caregiving recognizes that, though stressful, providing care for a disabled family member or friend can bring psychological benefits, such as increased meaning or purpose in life, growing closer to the care recipient, and learning new skills. Scales of eudaimonic well-being (EWB – e.g., meaning in life, personal growth, and positive relations with others) developed in positive psychology literature offer an innovative solution to incorporating caregiving benefits into between-groups comparisons of caregiver and non-caregiver well-being, which have typically focused on cross-sectional assessment of hedonic well-being (HWB – i.e., negative/positive affect and life satisfaction). Moreover, using daily using …

Predictors Of Goal Attainment Among High School Students In Accelerated Academic Curricula Receiving School-Based Motivational Interviewing Intervention, Camille E. Hanks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs represent a unique group of adolescents given the high demands of their rigorous coursework and the elevated stress they experience compared to peers in the general education (Suldo & Shaunessy-Dedrick, 2013). These students are often missed in traditional screening procedures that tend to identify students struggling academically or exhibiting disruptive behaviors. Fortunately, Shaunessy-Dedrick and colleagues (2021) developed a comprehensive school-based intervention program, including universal (Tier 1) and selective (Tier 2) components, which aims to support the well-being of AP/IB students. The Tier 2 component of this program (i.e., …

"25 Years Later And I'M Still Here...Still Positive": Older Black Males' Lived Experiences Of Aging With Hiv In Hillsborough County, Fl, Bernice Kathleen Lopez-Mccoy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Today, adults aged fifty and older are the fastest growing segment of those living with HIV/AIDS. Yet, little remains known about the socio-cultural consequences of aging with HIV, and whether social and health care infrastructure is currently adequate to meet the unique needs of this population. Particularly understudied are older minority men aging with HIV. Drawing from an anthropological life course perspective and tenets of Becker’s (1997) framework on life disruption and reorganization, this dissertation research investigated older, Black males’ experiences of disruption and reorganization from aging with HIV in the present landscape of HIV care.This research comprised of the …

Stressors, Resources, And Psychological Well-Being Among Working Black And White Caregivers In The United States, Maureen E. Templeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By the year 2060 in the United States (U.S.), not only will the number of adults aged 65 and older double, non-Hispanic Whites (Whites), who currently constitute 77% of the older adult population, will constitute just slightly more than half of older adults. As the older adult population diversifies, so will their caregivers. Over 60% of informal caregivers of older adults (caregivers) are employed, and the majority of these are employed full time. Little is known about the unique experiences of working Black or African American (Black/AA) and White caregivers and non-caregivers in the U.S. This dissertation consists of three …

Exploring Adult Attachment In Intimate Relationships Among Women Who Were Exposed To Intimate Partner Violence In Childhood: A Convergent Mixed Methods Approach, Ngozichukwuka C. Agu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Trauma in childhood including exposure to intimate partner violence is associated with a myriad of negative outcomes in physical health, mental health, academic performance, and relationship domains. Adult attachment in intimate relationships is a key factor that determines several health outcomes as well as healthy relationships. This study explored: 1) the perceptions of childhood exposures to intimate partner violence and how these exposures could have impacted adult attachment; 2) the perceptions of relationship factors that play a role in the development of adult attachment in intimate relationships; and 3) the behavioral and socioenvironmental influences that frame perceptions of adult …

Early Indicators Of Cognitive Dysfunction: The Role Of Mild Behavioral Impairment, Hillary J. Rouse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Older age is associated with an increased risk for cognitively impairing diseases such as dementia. Despite significant research to find ways to cure this disease, there has been little success. However, a critical need when an intervention is discovered is a need to find ways to identify people who are at the greatest risk of developing dementia earlier in the disease process so that interventions can be implemented at that time. This could potentially lessen their risk or delay when they are diagnosed. Using longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), the aims of this current dissertation were …

An Investigation Of The Hot Docs Guide For Weekly Early Intervention Sessions: A Multiple Baseline Design, Cashea Holyfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many parents of young children across the United States are increasingly impacted by their children’s display of early childhood challenging behavior. Common examples of these behaviors include feeding difficulties, tantrums, whining, crying, and noncompliance (Barbarian, 2007; Hemmeter et al., 2014; Spencer & Coe, 2003). Though the relationship between early childhood behavior problems and future outcomes may not be causal, researchers have consistently concluded that if left unaddressed, children who demonstrate early challenging behavior are likely to experience some difficulties in academic achievement, sociability, school readiness, and mental health (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002; Turney & McLanahan, 2015). Behavioral parent training …

Successful Aging In Adults Who Stutter: Exploring Predictors Of Physical And Mental Health-Related Quality Of Life, Amanda Kelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to investigate predictors of physical and mental health quality of life in aging adults who stutter (AWS). Our goal was to identify factors contributing to successful aging in this talker group. The aging population is expected to increase exponentially over the next twenty years. Factors influencing self-perceived health-related quality of life have yet to be investigated in aging AWS.

An online survey was completed by a total of 40 AWS, age 50 years and older, recruited from the Greater Tampa Bay region and nationally. The survey comprised multiple measures that probed for information regarding self-perceived health …

Youth Mental Health First Aid: Educators’ Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, Aspirations, And Behaviors Change And Differences, Alexis M. Sanchez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine educator outcomes related to Youth Mental Health First Aid (Y-MHFA) professional development training. Educator outcomes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations, and behaviors (KASAB) were examined to evaluate the preparedness of educators to provide mental health support and the effectiveness of Y-MHFA. Additionally, this study aimed to assess educator outcomes depending on their role in the schools, including school-based educators, school-based mental health staff, and administration/district staff. The author conducted a secondary analysis of pre- and post-test questionnaires of 459 educators in a southeastern state of the United States. A repeated measures ANOVA, …

Reference-Dependent Choice On Digital Platforms, Joshua K. Kaisen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout this dissertation I explore a significant departure from the standard model of rationality known as reference-dependence. The theory reference-dependence asserts that an individual’s choice is dependent on their frame of reference established through factors divorced from their rational cost and benefit. This behavior is inefficient as individuals fail to rationally optimize their payoffs. This behavior is understudied in natural settings where isolating specific stimuli which may establish a reference is challenging. However, digital platforms contain limited stimuli which are fully observable to researchers and present an ideal setting to study the theory of reference-dependence. Thus, I introduce three new …

An Examination Of Covid-19 Health Behaviors And Public Health Messaging Using The Health Belief Model And Organization-Public Relationship Quality, Aaron L. Nichols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the context of the most severe pandemic in over 100 years, this study examined public health behavior and public health messaging using the health belief model (HBM) and organization-public relationships (OPR) as frameworks. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of students (N = 288) and employees (N = 203) at a large public university in the southeastern United States. First, the study empirically tested the components of the HBM as determinants of engaging in public health behaviors meant to slow or prevent the spread of COVID-19 and found all components of the model to be significantly related to engaging …

How Race Is Made In Everyday Life: Food, Eating, And Dietary Acculturation Among Black And White Migrants In Florida, U.S., Laura Kihlstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how race impacts everyday food decisions and experiences among Black and White migrants in Florida, United States. The study is rooted in scholarship on food and immigration, which asserts that dietary acculturation or the “Americanization” of diets adversely affects the overall health status of migrant populations in the U.S. To date, the majority of this literature has focused on the experiences of Latinx migrants and has not centered race in its analysis. Building on participant observation and semi-structured interviews (n=49) completed over a period of 13 months in the Tampa and Miami Metropolitan areas among Ethiopian and …

Aspiring To “Make It Work”: Defining Resilience And Agency Amongst Hispanic Youth Living In Low-Income Neighborhoods, Sara Arias-Steele

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how Hispanic youth (ages 13-21 years) living in low-income neighborhoods of Florida defined resiliency and expressed agency navigating personal challenges and neighborhood adversity in pursuit of success. From the standpoint of the participants, this study focused on how youths: 1) judge the quality of life in their neighborhoods and the opportunities available for them, 2) identify personal aspirations for themselves and 3) identify what resilient factors allowed them to face the challenges and barriers of their daily lives to pursue this aspiration. This study takes into account the structural barriers that create inequities to examine how personal …

Of Body And Mind: Bioarchaeological Analysis Of Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Century Anatomization And Institutionalization In Siena, Italy, Jacqueline M. Berger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Institutional bioarchaeology is a growing sub-field within bioarchaeology, particularly social bioarchaeology as informed by the biocultural approach. However, the majority of studies in this vein have primarily addressed English-speaking contexts, to include analyses of institutional assemblages preserved archaeologically, and anatomical collections. The present study examines of the Siena Craniological Collection (SCC) - located in Siena, Italy. The collection was assembled between 1862-1931, and originally contained remains of 1,122 patients from both the general and mental hospitals in operation in Siena during this period (Brasili-Gualandi & Gualdi-Russo, 1989a). In addition to demographic analysis of the Siena Craniological Collection as a whole, …

Mental Illness Diagnosis And The Construction Of Stigma, Katie Lynn Walkup

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how mental health legislation and related policy documents contribute to identification, diagnosis, and stigmatization. Using a mixed methods approach including content and stylometric text analysis with R as a heuristic for close and critical reading, I demonstrate how these documents normalize mental health concerns as a public threat. To do this work, I analyze how the Florida Mental Health Act (Chapter 394) and the Florida Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act (SB 7026) circulate and sustain dominant narratives about mental illness. I trace where these narratives are distributed into Florida school districts’ mandatory mental health …

Political Ideologies, Political Party Affiliation, And Treatment Decisions Of Clinical Mental Health Counselors, Aaron L. Norton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature in the counseling profession has emphasized the importance of recognition of the potential impact of counselor bias on clinical care for decades. A large body of research has been developed on the potential for the personal, social, and religious beliefs of clinical mental health counselors (CMHCs) to impact their work with clients, but comparatively little research has been conducted on the potential impact of the political beliefs of CMHCs and their clinical practice, creating a gap in the professional literature. The present study sought to bridge the gap in CMHC literature by examining the relationship between the political ideologies, …

Screening Of Pregnant Women With Opioid Use Disorder: Identifying Factors Impacting Implementation Of Screening Recommendations Using The Theoretical Domains Framework, Tara R. Foti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Prenatal opioid exposure is a growing problem in the United States with high and increasing rates of opioid use and opioid use disorder during pregnancy. Almost 23% of pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid programs filled an opioid prescription during pregnancy in 2007, marking a 21.1% increase since 2000. Maternal opioid use during pregnancy is associated with a variety of poor maternal, pregnancy and infant outcomes, including overdose, pregnancy-associated death, prematurity, low birth weight and Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome. To optimize prenatal care and pregnancy-associated outcomes, the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health, in collaboration with The American College of …

Sleep Diagnoses And Low Back Pain In U.S. Military Veterans, Kenneth A. Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Low back pain (LBP) is a common problem that is the primary contributor to years lived with disability worldwide. In the U.S. LBP is disproportionately experienced by military veterans. In recent years interest has grown in the impact of sleep and sleep-related diagnoses on musculoskeletal pain complaints (including LBP) and despite growth in the scientific literature investigating this, gaps in our understanding of how sleep diagnoses impact LBP remain. To that end, this dissertation uses administrative electronic health record data from veterans seeking care through the Veterans Health Administration in three manuscripts to address the following specific aims: (1) investigate …

Making Change In The Nickel City: Food Banking And Food Insecurity In Buffalo, Ny During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Sarah E. Bradley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In March 2020, the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to spread across the United States. The pandemic disrupted the food system in an unprecedented fashion, exacerbating existing inequalities and contributing to increased rates of food insecurity and charitable food use. This research project considers the food system of Buffalo, New York and seeks to capture the way in which both food insecure households and the food pantries that serve them adapted to the pandemic. Using data from 75 client surveys, 52 qualitative semi-structured interviews with food pantry staff and clients, and 15 participatory GIS mapping interviews, this mixed-methods project describes …

Evaluating The Development And Implementation Of Campus-Based Sexual And Interpersonal Violence Prevention Programming, Robyn Manning-Samuels

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

1 in 5 women in institutions of higher education experience an attempted or completed sexual assault every year. Sexual and interpersonal violence prevention programming is one of the main ways colleges and universities attempt to address this issue. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative pilot study is to evaluate the development and implementation of campus-based sexual and interpersonal violence prevention programming, looking specifically at facilitators and barriers for prevention staff, what they experience as preventionists, and how COVID-19 has impacted these essential programs. Ten preventionists were recruited from the Campus Advocacy and Prevention Professionals Association for 90-minute interviews. Results of …

Does Time-Weighted Averaging For Wbgt And Metabolic Rate Work For Work-Recovery Cycles?, John W. Flach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress affects thousands of works annually by causing heat-related illnesses. Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is a widely accepted metric to assess the environmental contributions to heat stress. WBGT-based occupational exposure limits (OELs) include the ACGIH TLVs and the NIOSH RELs. The OEL threshold is adjusted downward with increasing metabolic rate. Further, there is an OEL for acclimatized and non-acclimatized workers. An often-recommended intervention found within a heat stress management program is work-recovery cycles to manage exposure. To prescribe work-recovery cycles, the common practice is to use time-weighted averaging (TWA) for the WBGT and the metabolic rate. The purpose …

Acclimatization Protocols And Their Outcomes, Ayub M. Odera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat acclimatization provides the opportunity to better tolerate heat stress. Different methods are used to acclimatize participants as part of heat stress studies in the laboratory. The usual acclimatization protocols are greater than the occupational exposure limit represented by the ACGIH TLV® and NIOSH REL. The purpose of this paper was to examine the acclimatization state prior to and at the end of a one-week acclimatization program using two acclimatization protocols.

Prior heat stress studies at the University of South Florida (USF) used two heat stress conditions for participants’ acclimatization. Participants (n = 43) were evaluated using four different studies …