Digital Commons Network^™

The Child Nutrition Cost Of Weather Shocks In Nigeria, Danielle M. Abaya

Master's Theses

Child malnutrition is alarmingly high in Nigeria with the highest number of malnourished children, the second highest population of stunted children worldwide and 17 million Nigerians facing food insecurity. According to the World Health Organization, children are predicted to suffer about 80% of weather-related illnesses and deaths. As climate change continues to pose the greatest health threat and while scientists predict its irreversible effects in the next 10 years, countries such as Nigeria are already experiencing the burden of climate change today. This study uses total rainfall to measure precipitation and two Enhanced Vegetation Index variables, total change in greenness …

Exploring Health And Fitness In Cannabis And Cannabidiol Users, Blake Butler

Master's Theses

Cannabis has been reported to decrease fatigue symptoms and aide in sleep quality, among other use cases. It is unclear whether cannabis is linked to alterations in physical activity and fitness. Cannabidiol, an active compound in cannabis, has also been reported to decrease fatigue symptoms and aide in sleep. Cannabidiol has been reported to aide in recovery from physical activity, but there is no clear connection between cannabidiol use and the likelihood of engaging in physical activity. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore fatigue, sleep, physical activity, fitness markers, and fitness outcomes in cannabis and cannabidiol users. …

A Descriptive Study Of The Foster Grandparent Program In Support Of The Creation Of An Afterschool Program To Address Food Insecurity And Chronic Disease Risk In Older Adults And Children, Sara Sorrell

Master's Theses

Volunteer service is associated with self-reported health improvement by older adult volunteers in AmeriCorps Senior programs. However, little is known about how specific chronic diseases and mental health issues affect Foster Grandparents, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s influence on volunteer activities for older adults. Using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, this study outlines the structural influences of the Foster Grandparent program on volunteers’ motivation for volunteering, mental and physical health status before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and current household food security status. The study utilizes a survey, which was distributed by the National Senior Corps Association and …

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 …

Medication Error Prevention: Improving Patient Health Outcome, Brigitta Van Ewijk

Master's Theses

Medication administration errors were reported to have an error rate of 60% in early research mainly in the form of the wrong dose, time, or rate. Working conditions were found to be one of the main contributors to these errors. Recognizing and reporting medication errors are key to the implementation of the reduction of this critical health problem (Hughes & Blegen, 2008). DataRay Inc. (n.d.), states that almost one in five medication doses administered in hospitals is given in error. The two most common errors were (1) dispensing medicine at the wrong time (43% of incidents) and (2) omitting a …

The Role Of Faith In Health Outcomes For Victims Of Physical Intimate Partner Violence, Lauren Moss-Racusin

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

“Mexico, Public Policy And Obesity In A Global Context”, Daniela Carina Bermudez

Master's Theses

Mexico has one of the most obese populations in the world. A country known for its diversity of rich flavorful food is drowning in low nutritional food products. This thesis examines Mexico’s obesity epidemic within the larger global context of international economic trade policies, public policies and Mexico’s health policies. The key research questions are 1) why is there an obesity epidemic in Mexico? and 2) what remedies should Mexico implement to control it? This thesis contributes to a viable policy strategy for the Mexican government to control and prevent the further increase of this obesity epidemic. Reviewing both the …

Overtime Work Hours, Health Behaviors And Health Outcomes For Correctional Officers: An Examination Of Moderated Effects, Diana C. Tubbs

Master's Theses

Most of the existing research on corrections officers (COs) has focused on stress and burnout as well as the organizational factors that contribute to these outcomes. Recent studies have also revealed that COs are more likely to be obese and hypertensive than the general population. Studies not specific to corrections provide evidence that overtime hours are associated with poor employee health, and the present study aimed to address this general lack of research on the potential health impacts of overtime hours for COs. More specifically, this study investigated whether the effect of healthy behaviors on health and wellness outcomes changed, …

Postcolonialism And The Marshallese Diaspora: Structural Violence And Health In The Marshallese Community In Springdale, Arkansas, Alexander J. Hirata

Master's Theses

Despite moving to the United States for better healthcare, among other benefits, Marshallese Compact of Free Association (COFA) migrants residing in Springdale, Arkansas continue to face similar acute health problems as Marshallese living in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and often without access to health services. These problems include high rates of noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and thyroid cancer, as well as rare conditions such as Hansen’s Disease.

To research this, I studied the limited texts surrounding the Marshallese diaspora, as well as relevant bodies of literature: postcolonialism, Pacific migration theory, and global health and …

The Moderating Role Of Chronological Age On The Relationship Between Psychological Age And Facets Of Health: A Longitudinal Analysis, Gretchen A. Petery

Master's Theses

Past research has consistently found a negative relationship between psychological age and health. Nearly all of that research, however, has been cross-sectional, and the few panel studies that exist include only a single aspect of health and measured with older adults. The present study sought to replicate and expand on a recent 2-wave cross-lagged panel investigation that explored the causal interplay between several dimensions of health and psychological age in middle age and older adults. In the current study employees (N = 409), ranging in age from 22 to 70, from six manufacturing organizations participated in three surveys approximately …

The Privilege To Choose: How Class Status Influences The Spread Of Vaccine Refusal, Jordan H. Rees

Master's Theses

Much of the current research that exists on vaccine refusal focuses on point-in-time examinations of who is refusing and how exemptions impact disease outbreaks. In the present study I address the question of who is refusing vaccines over the course of the last two decades. I specifically examine how social class influences the propensity to refuse vaccines over time. Using pooled cross-sectional National Immunization Survey data from 1995 to 2012, I estimate binary logistic regressions on the probability of being unvaccinated. The results indicate that social class does impact the propensity to refuse vaccines, but in dynamic ways. Two components …

Adaptive Filtering For Heart Rate Signals, Samira Jaafari

Master's Theses

This work focused on the effects of suppressing the motion artifact of wrist photoplethysmographic heart rate signals. Monitoring of the heart can offer important insight with regard to health and wellness. The objective of the experiment conducted here was to recover the distorted signal resulting from body movement while measuring the heart rate signal non-invasively from the wrist.

The class of filters, known as adaptive filters, that can extract meaningful information from the distorted signal, used predetermined initial conditions to equalize the signal distortion due to motion. These filters do not require prior knowledge about the system.

Adaptive filters of …

Empowerment And Health In A Low Income Community In Mumbai, India, Lwendo Moonzwe

Master's Theses

The data on which this thesis is based were collected in three study communities located in a marginalized area of Mumbai. We draw on two data sources: in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 66 married women and a survey sample of 260 married women. This thesis examines the relationship between empowerment to women’s self-reported general health status and women’s self-reported health during pregnancy in low-income communities in Mumbai. The results of the analysis show that empowerment functions differently in relation to women’s general health situation and their pregnancy status. Findings indicate that women who are more empowered are more likely to …

Safe Sex As Patriotic Ideograph In Wartime Std Prevention Campaigns, Jessica Ann Johnson

Master's Theses

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a problem that has afflicted people in the USA for centuries. Health communication and mass communication scholars have attempted to determine the effectiveness of STD prevention campaigns. It is crucial for scholars to take into account the persuasiveness of these campaigns and beliefs that become significant to these campaigns.

This rhetorical history examines how acted as a patriotic ideograph in World War I and II STD prevention campaigns. A history of war and knowledge associated with STDs gives readers a broad overview of the cultural aspects that are a part of the context of this …

A Practical Scale For Multi-Faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment, Zandra M. Zweber

Master's Theses

The current study sought to develop a practical scale to measure workplace health climate in a way that has not previously been conceptualized – as a three-faceted approach from the employee perspective serving as an indicator of a healthy organization. The goal was to create a short, useable yet comprehensive scale that could translate into practical use by organizations and occupational health professionals planning workplace interventions. To accomplish this, the proposed multi-faceted organizational health climate scale (MOHCA) assesses three-facets which match up with three organizational levels: 1) organization 2) supervisor and 3) workgroup. Ten items were developed and tested on …

Injury Risk At Work, Safety Motivation, And The Role Of Masculinity: A Moderated Mediation, Timothy J. Bauerle

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Self-Concept Upon Performance Following Failure Stress, Daniel Stern

Master's Theses

Jahoda (1958) has summarized the thinking, which has been done about a group of behaviors jointly labeled "positive mental health." After reviewing the conceptualizations of both phenomenologically and analytically oriented writers, Jahoda distilled six classes of responses, which have been listed as representative of mental health. These general classes of responses includes (1) positive self-attitudes, (2) self-actualizing behavior, (J) integrative behavior, (4) autonomous behavior, (5) accurate perceptual behavior, (6) behavior by which the subject obtains mastery over his environment. Of the six response classes listed, two were chosen for the present study. Specifically, the relationship between the general categories of …