Digital Commons Network^™

Community Educational Session On Identifying The Signs Of Depression And Resources Available, Desiree Young

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

The DNP Project was designed to educate the community on identifying the signs of depression and the community resources available to them. The intent of the project was to improve the community’s knowledge of depression symptoms and the community resources available that offer assistance to those dealing with these symptoms. There is a great need for education on depression signs, as many in various communities suffer from untreated depression, which often leads to negative outcomes. The impact of the project implementation was measured by using pre- and post-survey data evaluating the participants' overall knowledge of the signs of depression, stigma …

Marketing Synergy: Digital Product Development & Marketing Strategy, Laura M. Clague

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

An extension of Marketing Analytics class BMKT: 440, this research delves into marketing efforts employed to promote "Chubby’s Swatch Book," a plus-size fashion guide tailored for college girls and a college lifestyle. The guide was created by a college student to address the challenges faced by plus-size individuals in finding fashionable and fitting clothing. The study spans a four-week marketing campaign, focusing on branding, social media marketing, and content creation. This paper outlines the development of the "Chubby’s Swatch Book," it’s marketing strategies, and the effectiveness of said strategies through various metrics such as engagement rates, sales conversions, and follower …

40-Day Fit, A Journey For Heroes, Michael B. O'Neill

Doctor of Leadership

This project is a collective portfolio of discovery and development that explores the intersection of societal health and the vitality of the church, recognizing a state of decline in both areas. This critical, yet often overlooked issue, is the foundation of this research-driven initiative. It is a practical process of diagnosis and treatment of a problem or an opportunity, in context, leading to application. The portfolio project represents a journey of discovery and reframing, where research methods, strategic objectives, and project milestones guide the identification of needs, problems, and opportunities. These elements serve as the driving forces behind crafting solutions …

Improving Mental Health In Hispanic Communities, Paola Vargas

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

AIM Youth Mental Health is advocating for children who are suffering from lack of resources, guidance, and clinical research. The division implementing this project is the outreach program. The intern and team will passionately work together to make this event successful by creating bilingual fliers that share information about the agency's programs and training. Depression and suicide are the most common issues occurring in Monterey county as of today and has been affecting many families. Providing these resources will unite and educate professionals, parents, and students about school programs available for youths and measures for adults as well. The most …

Striving To Increase Bipoc Family Participation In Early Childhood Family Education, Ayuko Boomer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Boomer, A. U. (2023). Striving to Increase BIPOC Family Participation in Early Childhood Family Education. Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) is a public education program designed and available for all parents and families in Minnesota. Despite these intentions, many Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families remain unaware of ECFE's existence and its significance. The purpose of this study is to understand the current methodologies of parent education outreach and collaboration with other programs, in particular, BIPOC communities, and explore and process what efforts have been made to increase BIPOC participation in traditional ECFE parent education group classes (non-affinity …

Addressing Food Insecurity Among Undocumented Immigrants In California – An Expansion And Outreach Approach, Duy Nhan T. Ho

Master's Projects and Capstones

A challenge that undocumented immigrants in California face with is the insecurity of food. The experience of food insecurity for undocumented immigrants is more than just a shortage of food, but rather it is the limited access and poor quality of food. Having accessibility to food is important for one’s wellbeing and in lowering the rate of other health disparities that is a public health problem. This paper will discuss the prevalence of food insecurity among undocumented immigrants in California and the barriers that they face with food assistance programs. Further discussion will focus on current interventions that are being …

The Impact Of Environmental Education Delivery Methods And Outreach Messaging On Attitudes, Interests, And Intended-Behavior Changes Toward Nature, Vanessa Elizabeth Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental education (EE) is important for environmental awareness and stewardship. Involving youth and adults in EE ensures current and future generations will conserve natural resources. This thesis explores impacts of delivery methods on participants’ environmental attitudes and behaviors toward nature through middle school classroom- and camp-based EE instruction, focus group interviews with rural minority youth, and adult responses to aquatic conservation outreach messaging. I observed no difference in environmental attitudes between online versus in-person delivery of EE lessons for middle-schoolers. Outdoor-based learning may be more impactful for EE than experiential, classroom-based learning. Focus group outcomes suggested youth EE programs should …

Educating Reimbursement Specialists About Plagiocephaly: Improving Efficiency Of The Prior Authorization Process For Providers, Healthcare Staff, And Patients, Emily N. Nelson

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) is a condition in which an infant’s head becomes deformed and flattened because of molding forces that manipulate the malleable cranium. DP is very common, impacting an estimated 46% of infants within the United States. The resulting asymmetries of the head and face carry implications for functional, social, and emotional interactions. Helmet therapy is the recommended treatment for persistent moderate-to-severe plagiocephaly. It is most effective when started before six months of life with decreasing correction as the child nears one year old. Helmet therapy is very effective but is also expensive, and insurers have highly variable policies …

Reluctancy In Monterey County To Get Covid-19 Vaccine, Kyle Silim

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The agency is Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association & Hospice. The Clinic department of the agency would be implementing the project. The communities served are Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz counties. The problem related to my project is the vaccine hesitancy within Monterey County. The project’s purpose is to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy in Monterey County. The implementation method would be to do outreach within the county about upcoming vaccine clinics. The expected outcomes would be that more people would attend said vaccine clinics. The most important finding is that more people participated when there was outreach …

A Cry For Inclusivity In The Institute For Innovation And Economic Development, Chelsea Ferolino

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many aspiring entrepreneurs in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz county are making the move to the Bay Area to pursue their careers as business owners, rather than creating jobs and businesses locally. The Institute for Innovation and Economic Development is a non-profit organization that provides entrepreneurial resources, services, and events that help individuals grow as aspiring business owners. The purpose of the program is to offer inclusivity, and encourage everyone in the tri-county area to utilize the resources they provide. The project implemented will be a plan to assist underrepresented individuals who are unaware of the resources iiED provides, …

Campos Seguros In Santa Cruz County, Patricia Barajas Villasenor

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monarch Services is a non-profit organization within Santa Cruz county. The agency provides services for domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Campos Seguros focuses on providing resources and advocacy to vulnerable populations, specifically Campesinos (farmworkers). Violence and abuse perpetrated against farm workers is an issue that demands more public attention and advocacy. Campesinos are highly vulnerable because of different contributing factors, these include immigration status, work uncertainty, and language barriers. Consequences include trauma, lack of reporting, and vulnerability to labor trafficking. Sexual abuse is highly prevalent within the agricultural realm; many employers can take advantage of Campesino’s vulnerable position. …

Medical Needs Grant, Tabark Ahmed

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Children Miracle Network (CMN) is a nonprofit organization under the Salinas Memorial Hospital that serves Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito. The Medical Needs Grant (MNG) is an application that provides medical assistance for families who have children under 17 years of age and may not be able to afford services. The majority of the MGN applications come from Monterey/Santa Cruz county leaving out San Benito due to a lack of outreach in that area.. This project's purpose is to promote the Medical Needs Grant in all areas that connect with children, pediatric hospitals and schools in San Benito County …

Jacobs Heart 5k/10k Fundraiser, Luis Mojica-Ireta

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Support Services exists to improve the quality of life for families whose children have cancer. Jacob’s Heart provides counseling services, direct financial support, food assistance, and transportation services at no cost to the families they serve. Through this project of a 5k 10k fundraiser Jacob’s Heart will be able to reach a broader audience that has not been tapped into in this way, increasing the organizations awareness in Monterey County and raising funds at the same time. The fundraiser was able to raise over $25,000 for Jacob’s Heart and make new connections in Salinas for future …

Improving Outreach With Stroke Patients After Discharge, Marsha Belen

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The 90-day mRS post discharge call project aimed to improve the outreach in stroke patients treated with thrombolytics alone or in combination with mechanical endovascular reperfusion (MER) therapy. An audit of calls was completed and revealed a gap that a number of patients were not reached or did not receive a call attempt. Having a higher outreach provides useful feedback on the patient’s progress within 90-days of being discharged in relation to the effectiveness of the stroke treatment received according to the mRS.

Context: The Neuro Coordinator was responsible for making the 90-day post discharge call and worked in …

Cityengine As A Tool For Visualizing Neighborhood Change: An Initial Study, Zach Noyes

City and Regional Planning

Urban planning is reliant upon genuine public engagement to ensure that planning and policy decisions reflect the ideas shared by the public. Because planning is a profession largely focused on the physical and built implications of more abstract planning concepts, effective graphic communication is critical to securing public support and understanding of policy decisions. ESRI's CityEngine uses procedural modeling technology to render personally-tailored scenes to non-planner members of the public, and shows potential to positively change the way that planners generate graphic representations of physical impacts of policy changes. This initial study establishes a methodology for determining the efficacy of …

Increasing Vaccination Rates In The Latin X Communities Through A Public Health Initiative For Increasing Education And Vaccination, Gabriela Carrico

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: The COVID-19 disease has been found to cause an estimated 570,003 deaths in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2021). Statistics showed that the elderly, immunocompromised, and vulnerable populations are the most at risk for this disease. Vaccination is an important aspect of disease prevention in healthcare issues around the world. Vaccination against the COVID-19 prevents this communicable disease from the spread and serious adverse health outcomes.

Problem: The Latin X communities in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco city are confronted with multiple factors that affect their willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Factors …

Outreach As Dialogue: Lessons From University Forests, Kelly M. Alvidrez

All Theses

University and school forests are managed for a unique set of multiple uses from research and teaching to recreation and forestry. Understanding how outreach is employed in these settings as a component of their land management strategy can offer insights to school forests generally as well as other complex land management efforts. Using outreach, a forest can facilitate communication as a dialogue, connecting to forest participants and stakeholders. This qualitative research study uses a multi-scale case study approach to examine a recent harvest and outreach efforts at the Clemson Experimental Forest, as well the outreach efforts at eight other university …

Social Isolation Interventions For Older, Underrepresented And Vulnerable Americans: A Descriptive Study Of Public Library Outreach Services During The Covid Pandemic, Sally Mathews Inglett

Leadership Education Capstones

The United States entered a state of lockdown in March 2020 in order slow the spread of the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus. With this lockdown came mandatory social isolation, which was especially impactful for older, underrepresented and vulnerable Americans. Public libraries acted as community information centers and took on many unexpected roles to benefit the common good. This study identified these interventions through research and survey, and their relationship to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943). This study also brought to light collaborative relationships between agencies, the redeployment of library staff and resources to meet these needs, the impact of the …

‘Standing Side By Side, Looking At The Student’: School And University Staff Perspectives Of Partnership In The Australian And United Kingdom Widening Participation Contexts, Kylie Suzanne Austin

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Partnerships have been positioned as a critical vehicle to delivering Widening Participation (WP) and subsequently increasing access to higher education in the Australian and United Kingdom (UK) national policy contexts. Collaboration between schools, universities, vocational education providers, community organisations and industry is needed to broaden exposure to diverse pathways and professions beyond post-secondary schooling and reduce barriers to enable individuals to seamlessly transition between education and employment. Despite this, there has been an absence of guidelines and clear processes in the creation, implementation, and evaluation of WP partnerships in Australia, resulting in partnerships being implemented in disparate and underdeveloped ways. …

Implementing A Faith-Based Weight Loss Outreach Program For The Westside Community Of Jacksonville, Florida, Jonathan Peinado

Professional Dissertations DMin

Problem

Jacksonville, Florida’s adult population has an obesity rate of 65.4% which is slightly lower than both regional and national averages (66.1%) but higher than the state average (63.2%).

Method

A faith-based weight loss program was developed for the residents of the west side of Jacksonville. The intervention incorporated behavioral, spiritual, and psychological modules. The program lasted a total of 10 weeks from beginning to end, with the main segment taking place over a 40-day (6-week) period. Participants underwent two biometric screenings, one at the beginning of the program and one at the end. They had daily health challenges such …

Connecting First-Generation Students To Leadership Opportunities, Christian Walker

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that current outreach methods utilized by the Associated Students of UC San Diego are having on first-generation students’ engagement and pursuit of leadership opportunities, and ways that the department of Associated Students can adapt their approaches to better encourage participation from this student group. My research question was: How can I create outreach efforts that increase the number of first-generation students seeking student leadership roles? This research led to an enhanced understanding of how the department can connect members of this student group to open roles and opportunities for student …

Education Inequities In South Monterey County: No English Learner Left Behind, Alejandra Zavala

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is established in the state of California to serve primarily low-income individuals and farmworkers in rural areas. English learner students, in South Monterey County esp. San Ardo & San Lucas Elementary, are not receiving the high-quality education they deserve. Latinx parents in rural areas such as South Monterey County are unaware of where to seek legal assistance for their children’s education. In return, the education system fails English learner students, and they do not succeed in school. Furthermore, Prop 227 in California made it harder for English learner …

Access To Public Assistance Benefits & Services Outreach, Maria Saucedo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monterey County Department of Social Services Community Benefits Branch provides temporary public assistance to eligible residents of Monterey County to meet their basic needs. Programs include temporary cash assistance, General assistance, Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and CalWorks. The goal of the agency is to promote the social and economic self-reliance of each individual they serve. Low-income families and individuals are faced with a lack of access to benefits and services that are provided to help. There are many factors as to why we see inequality and a lack of access to benefits and services, such as access to technology, education around resources, …

Reproductive Health Education For Teens, Nataly Diaz

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The paper focused on Reproductive Health Outreach for Teens, through the implementation of a new teen brochure. The purpose of this project is to create new outreach pathways for teens of the Watsonville, CA community to take advantage of the free services Salud Para La Gente has to offer. Specifically, services relating to reproductive health and sex education.

Outreaching For New Providers, Mari Arredondo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Intern was able to be part of In home Support Services with the County of Santa Cruz. The program provides services to people that have a current disability and are not able to care for themselves. The program allows people to continue to live in their own homes and get the services they need to be able to keep living independently. The program currently needs providers to care for the people in their homes. There are currently about 165 providers and out of those they only have 65 that are available to be able to help the current clients that …

Standardized Outreach: Increasing Vaccine Uptake In The Latinx Community Through A Standardized Phone Call Process, Vanesa Vazquez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic has been an issue in several minority communities since the initial discussions of the emergency use of the experimental Moderna and Pfizer vaccines (Increased risk, 2020). The aim of this project is to standardize the patient outreach process to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake, particularly in the Latinx community. Patients at a community clinic in Oakland, California have made apparent their distrust of the healthcare system and their disbelief in the positive outcomes of the COVID-19 vaccine. Most of these patients are Latinx-identifying and are considered more at risk for development of COVID-19 in …

Improving Covid-19 Vaccination Uptake In The Latino Community Through Standardized Outreach, Bianca De La Piedra

Master's Projects and Capstones

Vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic has been an issue in the Latino community since the approval of the emergency use of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Latino patients from a community health clinic in Oakland, CA have expressed their hesitancy. Only 47% of patients 65 years and older at the community health clinic received the COVID-19 vaccine. With COVID-19 disproportionately affecting this community, focusing on prevention through the uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine is necessary. A microsystem assessment concluded the need for the improvement of patient outreach via calls. This project seeks to examine if standardizing the patient outreach …

Employee Benefits Managers’ Understanding Of Occupational Therapy And Their Influence On Employees’ Knowledge, Andrew D. Noble

Master of Arts in Occupational Therapy Theses and Projects

This study investigated what employee benefits managers know about occupational therapy and the influence they have on employees’ knowledge of, and access to, occupational therapy services. This qualitative research focused on what employee benefits managers know about occupational therapy, how they learned what they know, how they prefer to learn about healthcare services in general, and the reasons they would or would not recommend occupational therapy services to their employees. The study included ten semi-structured interviews with ten employee benefits managers who were employed at nine different organizations. The interviews were coded and analyzed to develop categories and themes in …

More Than A Language: A Detailed Look At The English Major, Hannah Woods

Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the perceptions of the English Major in order to come up with suggestions for the Univeristy of Mississippi English Department with the purpose of increasing enrollment in the English Program. The last decade has seen a large decrease in the number of English Majors throughout the country, and this decrease has been reflected in the University of Mississippi. This thesis looks at recent opinions of the English Major in society, including popular criticisms of the major and responces from the English community. It was found that the two main criticisms of the English Major are that graduates …

Heart Ambassador Newsletter, Montserrat Abrego

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Jacob’s Heart Children's Cancer Support Services is a non-profit organization located in Watsonville CA. It serves Children with Pediatric Cancer and their families in the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and South Santa Clara. When families are given a diagnosis of cancer, especially their child’s many of them undergo high levels of stress and face financial instability. The Heart Ambassador Newsletter is a monthly newsletter that is shared with the Heart Ambassadors who have completed the training to become a Heart Ambassador for Jacob’s Heart. This monthly newsletter includes information on events/community opportunities, variation of stories and op-ed …