Physical Activity Among Preschool-Aged Children: Considerations For Waking Activity Patterns And Health, Erin Dooley

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

With nearly one-quarter (23%) of U.S. preschool children (ages 3-5 years) having overweight or obesity, supporting healthy growth and development is paramount. Hispanic children have the highest prevalence within this age group (15.6%) and a large projected population growth. Energy expenditure through physical activity is one way to combat excess development of obesity and poor health outcomes. Yet there is limited evidence about the correlates associated with physical activity and health within this population. The three studies of this dissertation examined sociodemographic-, cultural-, and context-related factors related to waking activity patterns and the subsequent impact on health indicators. The overall …

Blueprint For Shared Safety Strategic Plan, Reann Ramos

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Blueprint for Shared Safety strategic plan will be adopted by Santa Cruz County Community Corrections Partnership as a framework of principles and practices that community leaders can use to lead shared safety strategies. By shifting the focus from the traditional criminal justice system to investments that can truly make our communities safer, the Blueprint aims to re-envision public safety together. The Community Corrections Partnership Community Education and Engagement Workgroup (CCP CEEW) has conducted data analysis to identify the key assets and gaps in Santa Cruz County. After identifying the key assets and gaps there were recommendation review sessions that …

Salud A La Salud Mental (A Toast To Mental Health), Arturo Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Joven Noble is a youth-development and leadership enhancement curriculum within Sequoia High School in Watsonville, Ca. that recognizes adolescents need for guidance during their physical, emotional and spiritual development into adulthood by engaging them in conversations regarding topics such as teen pregnancy and substance abuse. One of the deficits of the program is the lack of discussion centered around mental health. Youth are more likely to experience mental health challenges during their adolescence that can impair their long term development. In Santa Cruz County, 5 per 1,000 children ages 5-19 were hospitalized for mental health crisis treatment in 2016; rates …

How Health Problems Affect Children's Anti-Social Behaviors And Their Attitudes Towards School, Prosper Kwame Mensah

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine how health impacts certain aspects of children’s educational experience. The study examined how health influences anti-social behaviors among children as well as their attitudes towards school. Children with health issues often experience disruptions in education leading to factors that impact their attitudes and behaviors towards school. The data for this study was taken from Health Behavior of School-Aged Children (HBSC), 2009-2010. The sample population consisted of 12,642 students. The files contained data on 12,642 students from 314 participating schools. Of the 314 participating schools a school administrator questionnaire was completed by 283 …

Timely Access To Maternal, Neonatal And Child Healthcare For Rural Communities In Rwanda: The Role Of Community Health Workers, Jean Bosco Bigirimana

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Abstract

Introduction: In Rwanda, although there has been some progress in health care delivery as expressed in the reduction in maternal and child mortality, rates are still high and geographically variable. Improving equitable access to quality healthcare services for maternal, neonatal and child healthcare (MNCH), community-based maternal, neonatal and child healthcare (CBMNCH) depends upon using “community health workers” (CHWs). Yet CHWs program faces difficulties that upset delivery of the quality of the comprehensive package of services. Unfortunately, little is known about CHWs` performance and job satisfaction in the provision of CBMNCH.

Goal: The study aimed to provide insight into …

Life Satisfaction And Healthcare Utilization Among Immigrants To The United States, Merritt Christian Rachel Harrelson

LSU Master's Theses

Previous research suggests a relationship between life satisfaction and healthcare utilization or HCU (Habibov & Afandi, 2016; Kim, Park, Sun, Smith, & Peterson, 2014). However, no study was found that examined this relationship among elderly American immigrants. The purpose of this study was to determine whether life satisfaction is linked to HCU for this population. The researcher of the current study applied binary logistic regression to data taken from the Health and Retirement Survey to determine whether changes in life satisfaction could be linked to variance in HCU across seven domains, including hospitalization, overnight nursing home stays, doctors visits, dentist …

Trajectories And Patterns Of Wealth In Later Life: Implications For Physical, Mental, And Cognitive Health, Yu-Chih Chen

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the longitudinal link between wealth and health in later life. Prior research on the wealth-health relationship has focused on general households, with little consideration for older adults. Further, several gaps are identified in the literature. For example, studies often utilize a shorter window of observation and treat wealth as a static measure without considering the trajectory and the heterogeneity of wealth over time. In addition, prior studies often explore the impact of wealth on a single aspect of health, ignoring the “codependent” nature of health at older ages. Further, the impacts …

Physicians' Motivation In The Ministry Of Health And Population - Egypt: Challenges And Opportunities., Heba Alsawahli

Theses and Dissertations

Amidst the different problems encountered at the Egyptian Ministry of Health (MOHP) and Population, the issue of physicians' retention is on the rise. The Egyptian public health system reportedly lost more than five percent of its workforce of physicians in less than three years (2016-2018), as documented by CAPMAS and the Egyptian Medical Syndicate in 2016. Clinicians are not only skipping the practice from the MOHP, but even a number of academic institutions report a decreasing number of candidates interested in pursuing such a previously known attractive career path as faculty in the different schools of medicine. Figures about the …

Yerba Mate: National Project To Emerging Superfood, Ana Fochesatto

Theses and Dissertations

Yerba mate, Ilex paranguariensis, is a shrub commonly found in the Atlantic Forest of South

America which covers part of northeast Argentina, eastern Paraguay, and southern Brazil. The

dried leaves and stem of the tree are used to make an infusion, called mate, used first by indigenous

Guaraní people. Today, yerba mate is widely consumed in the Southern Cone region and is

regarded as the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. I argue that yerba mate has

entered the U.S. as a “superfood,” marketed as a product with nutritional and symbolic medicinal

values.

In this thesis, I trace yerba …

Are Menstrual Cycles A Biological Determinant Of Well-Being Amongst Sierra Leonean Schoolchildren?, Ashwini Shridhar

Master's Theses

The influence of hormones and biology on behavior is a topic that is rife with controversy, especially when it comes to sexual hormones. There is even more murkiness when it comes to the topic of menstruation and knowledge about women’s menstrual cycles. Recent research on this topic have seen a link between the hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycles and various behavioral implications on competition, cooperation, and risk behavior. This study tries to expand existing knowledge by examining whether there is a link between hormonal fluctuations during menstrual cycles and risk preferential behavior using economic experiments in the largely understudied context …

A Smartphone App Survey To Encourage Sustainable And Healthy Travel Mode Choices, Paul Rivers

Theses and Dissertations

Can access to carbon footprint and health [calorie and fat burn] information influence transportation behavior? Survey methods are used in conjunction with a smartphone GPS mobile app to measure transportation tendencies in weekdays – weekends, and willingness to undertake modal shift based on app experience over one week.

Diversity And Health: Three Essays Exploring Social Context And Outcomes, Aaron Novotny

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the world becomes more diverse and more integrated, examining how racial, political, and food diversity influences individuals’ consumption, behaviors, and health becomes more paramount than ever before. The United States grows more racially diverse with large racial and ethnic shifts on the horizon regarding the proportion of the population. With the U.S. population expected to become more diverse, individuals’ political affiliation becoming more prevalent to personal identity, and food security becoming more problematic; we examine how racial, political, and food diversity influences individuals’ consumption and preferences with the intent to understand what changes in health and preferences may occur. …

Salud Callejera: Mobilizing Cuidado At The Margins Of Neoliberalism; Reimagining Care For People Experiencing Homelessness In Buenos Aires, Brandon Morande

Honors Projects

On any given night, thousands of individuals sleep on the streets of the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Without secure housing, people in situación de calle (experiencing homelessness) suffer elevated rates of physical trauma, transmissible and chronic diseases, and symptoms of depression. Nevertheless, two-thirds of this population do not receive annual health consultations, with the majority solely accessing the emergency department when their conditions severely worsen. This study finds that municipal services and, to a lesser extent, the public health system render individuals responsible for housing insecurity by adopting a neoliberal subjectivity of homo economicus, medicalizing poverty as a …

Something’S In The Water: A Look At How Creativity And Innovation Can Prevent Future Water Crises, Tristan Holiday-Nowden

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness and create a level of consciousness about water, unlike anything we have seen in the past. This project presents a synthesis of current writings and ideologies from the fields of Environmental Science and Water Research. As well as think pieces and informative news articles from various publications.

To illustrate the damaging effects of water contamination, water pollution, and water scarcity; Flint, Michigan will serve as a case study. After diagnosing and defining the problem using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework. This project will explore the challenge and look at the …

Meditation As An Intervention To Help College Students Cope With Stress, Marissa Bottos

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

According to the American College Health Association (ACHA) (2017), in a survey of 31,463 students, 31.7% stated that stress negatively impacts their academic performance (lower grades, dropped course, etc.). Additionally, 45.1% of the students stated they have more than average stress levels. The purpose of this evidence-based practice (EBP) project was to determine if mindfulness meditation was effective in helping college students cope with stress. Based on current evidence, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s online application for mindfulness meditation is supported as an effective way to help college students cope with stress (Regehr et al. 2013; Yusufov et al. 2018; Cavanagh et al. …

Intuitive Eating Promotes A Healthy Lifestyle, Krista Oezer

Classical Conversations

“Intuitive eating is a dynamic process integrating attunement of the mind, body, and food.” (Tribole and Resch 23). Essentially, intuitive eating is a way of life. By listening to inner, natural signals, intuitive eating integrates mind, body, and food for optimal health. Speaking from my own personal experience, intuitive eating truly does promote a healthy lifestyle. I don’t just know about intuitive eating; I live it. I want to share my knowledge and my experience with intuitive eating to those who have never heard of it. Although intuitive eating has gained popularity, especially among dieticians and nutritionists, it still remains …

Walk N’ Roll (Wnr) San Jose: An Initiative To Promote Active Transportation And Safe Routes To School For Children In San Jose, California, François Xavier Hans Voltaire

Master's Projects

How effective is the Walk n’ Roll (WnR) program in promoting active transportation near school zones in San Jose, California? The intent of this research question is to discern the effect of the City of San Jose’s WnR program in encouraging children to actively travel to school (walking/cycling) and using other means such as scooters and skateboards. This research will use data from 2012-2018 to measure the efficacy of the program. This project strives to discover whether the tools and strategies that the program is using impact the augmentation level of the number of students who actively travel and transport …

The Intersections Of Health And Wealth: Socioeconomic Status, Frailty, And Mortality In Industrial England, Samantha Lee Yaussy

Theses and Dissertations

Socioeconomic status (SES) is considered one of the most powerful predictors of mortality today. However, studies of health in living populations and bioarchaeological studies of health in the past often oversimplify the connection between SES and mortality and overlook heterogeneity in frailty within a population and the potential for multiple types of marginalization to be layered within a single individual. This dissertation project uses skeletal samples to examine the interactions of SES, demographic characteristics (e.g., age and sex), exposure to physiological stressors, and mortality in the context of industrialization in 18th- and 19th-century England. Skeletal data from four industrial-era cemeteries …

Effect Of Attentional Focus On Learning And Performance In Youth Sports, Justin Wright

Dissertations

Youth athletes are different from adult and elite athletes in several domains that include cognitive resources, working memory, automaticity of motor movements, conscious control for propensity, attentional focus, and acquisition of motor-skills. Due to significant differences between athletes, not all instructions and feedback provided by coaches are best suited for every player. Instructions and feedback may direct an athlete’s attentional focus and cognitive resources incorrectly leading to poor acquisition and performance of motor-skills. Clinical psychologists with knowledge of motor-skill acquisition, cognitive resources, learning theory, conscious control propensity, automaticity of motor movements, constrained action hypothesis, and attentional focus can follow the …

Stigma Mitigation Through Fine Arts, Kendall Owens

Honors Theses

Social stigma has plagued our society for centuries. It isolates groups of people based on erroneously defined characteristics causing stigmatized persons to be viewed as socially “abnormal”. This debarment from full social acceptance results in poor population health and well-being. Fine arts have been an integral component of society since the beginning of civilization; current and past research have found involvement in fine arts to improve health and well-being in many ways. In this project, relevant studies related to stigma, fine arts, and population health will be reviewed to support the argument that “fine arts combat and mitigate the …

Disaster Vulnerability And Social Capitals In The Gulf Coast And Flint, Michigan, Vanessa Parks

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I explore the migration intentions, self-rated physical and mental health, and alcohol use of people living in regions facing environmental stressors. In my first chapter, I examine factors that predict willingness to move away from southeast Louisiana, a region threatened by land loss, hurricanes, and environmental pollution. Specifically, I assess the relationships risk perceptions, place attachment, and fishing employment have with willingness to move. I find that risk perceptions are positively related to willingness to move and that place attachment and fishing employment are negatively related to willingness to move. In my second chapter, I show the …

Essays On Health, Healthcare, Job Insecurity And Health Outcomes, Ichiro Nakamoto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation proposal is comprised of three separate chapters, all of which uses the nationally representative uniform survey Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) to examine the relationship between health, insurance, health care and health outcomes. Below, the brief introduction for each section is provided:

 Chapter I: Medicare Part D and Patients' Well-being

 Chapter II: Parent's Health Insurance and Informal Care

 Chapter III: Job Insecurity and Health (with Dr. Ayyagari)

In chapter I, I explore how Medicare Part D (MD) affects the well-being of the severely sick patients both in the short- and in the long- term. …

The Business Cycle And Health: An Analysis Of How Macroeconomic Conditions Impact Health Outcomes In The U.S., Talitha Kumaresan

Honors Theses

The U.S. spends about twice as much per person on healthcare, yet the disease burden remains higher in the U.S. than in comparable countries (Sawyer and Cox 2018; Sawyer and Gonzales 2017). Although health status is perceived to be an outcome of individual decision making, the business cycle also affects health. While the effect of macroeconomic shocks on health outcomes has been studied extensively, results remain inconclusive. This analysis uses longitudinal data over 30 years and panel data models to examine the effect of macroeconomic conditions on obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression, congestive heart failure, and heart attack or myocardial infarction. …

The Effect Of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems On The Vocal Folds, Hilary Gayle Sample

ETD Archive

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) are non-combustible tobacco products that are rapidly gaining in popularity worldwide. ENDS are marketed as safer alternatives to cigarettes; however, very little research is available to support or deny these claims. ENDS aerosol is inhaled over the vocal folds and into the lungs consistent with cigarette smoke. The larynx is among the primary locations affected by smoking; therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effect, if any, of ENDS on the larynx. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the laryngeal appearance and function of seven ENDS users as compared to four cigarette …

Access To The Healthcare System For Acb People Living In Waterloo Region, Ontario: A Racial And Socio-Ecological Examination, Tiyondah Fante-Coleman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Little research has investigated the barriers and facilitators to accessing healthcare for African, Caribbean, and Black people in Canada. This thesis identifies barriers and facilitators using a socio-ecological framework in two papers. Five focus groups were held with 22 ACB participants in Waterloo, Ontario. Thematic analysis guidelines informed the analysis of focus group data. The first paper identified barriers at the social (racism and employment, immigrant status) and institutional (wait times, out-of-pocket expenses) levels. Community connections was the sole facilitator at the social level. The second paper identified four barriers at the interpersonal level: physicians’ style of care, lack of …

Stratified Access On The Border: Examining Experiences Of Reproductive Care, Maralyn Doering

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Patient care experiences shape and affect the way that patients perceive and contextualize health care (Koenig 2011). Prior care experiences can change how patients choose to receive care in the future. In Texas, reproductive health care research has primarily focused on troubling trends in reproductive health care outcomes. This can be noted by the high cervical cancer rate (CDC 2019), the high unintended pregnancy rate (Kost 2015), and the limited access to reproductive care, particularly preventative care (Hopkins et al. 2015). The focus of this research has been on structural barriers, such as funding cuts (White et al. 2012), barriers …

Preventing Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes In Immigrant Populations, Maxwell K. Chikuta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity-related diseases have been increasing in African immigrants throughout the United States. Although research has been done to identify risk factors associated with many ethnic groups in the United States, only a few studies exist that explore obesity and type 2 diabetes diseases among Central African immigrants. The conceptual framework for this qualitative case study was social constructivism and the health belief model. The primary research question addressed the potential underlying causes for an increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes among Central African Immigrants. The secondary research questions explored how culture, illiteracy, and religion contribute to the problem of …

Loneliness And Sleep Disturbance In Older Americans, Sarah C. Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

Loneliness is a risk factor for premature mortality but the mechanics of this relationship remain obscure. A potential mechanism is sleep disturbance. The present study aimed to examine the association between loneliness and sleep disturbance, evaluate loneliness as a risk factor for sleep disturbance and vice-versa, model effects between loneliness and sleep disturbance over time, and evaluate a mediation model of loneliness, sleep disturbance, and health. Data came from the 2006-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally-representative study of older Americans; participants > 65 were included (n=11,400). Analyses included (i) linear regressions accounting for complex sampling and (ii) …

Working Conditions For Erotic Dancers: A Review Of Health And Safety Concerns From A Minneapolis Based Needs Assessment, Alexander Twohy

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The present studies utilizes data from a needs assessment for dancers in Minneapolis-based strip clubs focusing on structural and in-club safety concerns as well as levels of cleanliness within the club. Research was conducted utilizing Participatory Action Research with help from the Sex Workers Outreach Project: Minneapolis. The assessment consisted of an online survey utilizing both quantitative and qualitative questions (n = 62) with follow-up interviews for willing participants (n = 33). Questions regarding personal safety, structural safety, cleanliness levels, and exposure to diseases were reported using descriptive statistics, and qualitative responses were examined with thematic analysis. Data indicated that …

The Impacts Of Discrimination On Mental And Physical Health, Mahal Alvarez-Backus

Honors Theses

The present studies investigated the role of campus climate and discrimination on college students’ mental and physical health. Young adults completed measures that assessed their perceptions of campus climate, sense of belonging, depressive symptoms, anxiety levels, sleep quality, physical health symptoms, and experiences with discrimination. Despite the fact that there were not any differences in physical health or sleep quality, there were significant differences in phycological health, specifically with depressive symptoms. Across both studies, there were significant group differences in mental health, particularly that students of color reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than white students. Having empathetic faculty was …