Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Interactive Health Literacy And Self-Management Of Lung Cancer Symptoms, Julie Kieffer Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

Patients with lung cancer experience multiple symptoms requiring self-management. Health literacy skills are necessary for obtaining and processing information related to symptom self-management. Interactive health literacy involves communicating with healthcare providers regarding health-related information, but the role of interactive health literacy in self-management is not clear. This study used a critical realist approach to address these specific aims: 1) explore interactive health literacy and how it relates to symptom self-management for patients with lung cancer; and 2) describe patients’ experiences of interactive with healthcare providers regarding symptom self-management for lung cancer. The study was conducted using a cross-sectional mixed methods …

Factors Affecting Blood Pressure Target Outcomes For Veterans Using Home Telehealth, Vincent Boom

Theses and Dissertations

Hypertension is the most common diagnosis among Veterans, contributing to approximately 15,000 veterans hospitalized for stroke every year. The high prevalence of hypertension found in the Veteran population suggests a need to better define the risks and benefits associated with the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. The U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) home telehealth program provides chronic care management for hypertension to facilitate Veteran access to care. Existing evidence suggests Veterans’ monitoring of blood pressure at home may selectively assist in managing hypertension. This secondary analysis of data used a self-management lens to assign meaning to traditionally demographic …

Expectations Of Aging And Goals As Motivation For Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management In Individuals With Early Diagnosis, Lisa M. Blohm

Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 diabetes continues to plague the United States as a major cause of disability, mortality, and healthcare cost. Engagement in self-management before complications develop is the goal for individuals in early stages of the disease. Those newly diagnosed often do not engage in health behaviors to improve their prognosis. Reasons for their lack of engagement vary widely. The purpose of this study was to understand relationships between aging expectations, personal goal setting, perceived quality of life, and self-efficacy on motivation to engage in type 2 diabetes self-management. Social Cognitive Theory provided the framework. Using a cross-sectional design, 99 newly …

Description Of Self-Regulation In Health Behavior Change Using Ecological Momentary Assessments, Melissa Anne Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the known associations between unhealthy behaviors and disease, reduced quality of life, and morbidity, individuals struggle to initiate and maintain health behavior change. Self-regulation is a process that includes activities in which people engage to achieve a goal. Poor self-regulation (i.e., inability to set specific, achievable goals; impaired planning skills; limited emotional control) may contribute to unhealthy behaviors across the lifespan. Self-regulation as a concept is inconsistently applied and inadequately understood. The purpose of this secondary analysis of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data was to develop an in-depth description of self-regulation, as conceptualized in Ryan’s Integrated Theory of Health …

Self-Management Experiences Of Community-Dwelling Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Wendy Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an incurable lung illness causing significant individual and public health burden. Individuals with COPD often experience high symptom burden, unpredictable exacerbations, numerous comorbid conditions, and frequent health care utilization. Self-management can improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs; however, many individuals with COPD struggle with effective self-management. Improving the self-management of individuals with COPD and the delivery of self-management support from health care providers is crucial to reducing the individual and societal costs of the illness.

The purpose of this study was to explore the self-management experiences of community-dwelling adults living with COPD …

Adults With Cystic Fibrosis: Self-Management And Health Outcomes, Amanda Rose Lambie

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts for publication reporting on adults living with cystic fibrosis, self-management behaviors and health outcomes. Chapter I explores what is known about adults living with cystic fibrosis (CF) and the factors impacting their self-management, including the complexities of a health maintenance regime required for survival while integrating and balancing the realities of adulthood. The review of literature provides direction for future research and implications for adult-focused CF studies. Chapter II is a manuscript describing the characteristics of prognostic survival models utilized in adult CF research and provides an overview of their development, validation, predictive …

Self-Care And Quality Of Life In Patients With Heart Failure, Chantira Chiaranai

Theses and Dissertations

Although it is well known that self-care reduces the frequency of hospital admissions and exacerbations and enhances quality of life (QOL) in heart failure (HF) patients, little is known about self-care in this population. Therefore, the study purpose was to examine relationships among selected individual characteristics (demographics, severity of illness, comorbidities, and social support), self-care strategies, and QOL using Reigel's Model of Self Care in Patients with Heart Failure as the guiding framework. In this descriptive correlational study, self-care was measured using the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI), which measures self-care maintenance (SC-Mt), self-care management (SC-Mn), and self-care self-confidence …