Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Positive Deviance As A Framework For Understanding Motivations And Barriers To Exercise For University Students At Campus Recreation, René Dario Herrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to use qualitative research methodologies to better understand motivations and barriers to exercise for university students at campus recreation. The secondary purpose was to identify any correlations between physical activity habits and academic success. Ethnographic data obtained from a positive deviance sample and critically analyzed with feminist and postmodern theory could provide additional validation for campus recreation's value in positively contributing to the academic success of university students.

Participant observation, questionnaire, cultural domain analysis, interview, and focus group provided qualitative data.

Results indicate university students who frequent campus recreation to exercise are highly motivated …

Investing In Change: Illuminating Interactive Systems In Hiv Research, Communication Diffusion, And Financing In Lesotho, Sharon Elizabeth Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the field of HIV, more than 30 years into the epidemic, the need to ensure that what researchers learn makes its way into tangible actions in the real world is especially poignant. This dissertation addresses the critical divide between research production and its translation into practice. It advances ways to measure the investments of citizens and stakeholders in qualitative studies and offers new perspectives on the losses inadvertently caused by particular investments in health research and services. Unfortunately, many of the problems in how we practice and disseminate research are rampant throughout the health and development research sector. Therefore, …

Women’S Use Of And Decision‐Making Regarding Geo‐Social Networking Applications To Arrange Sexual Experiences, Shireen Mary Noble

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to learn more about geo-social networking applications and how they are used by women to meet sexual partners. Currently, there are no known studies that have looked at heterosexually-oriented geo-social networking applications or at the way women have used these apps for heterosexual sexual encounters. This thesis attempts to begin to bridge this gap in the literature.

For the first study, apps were selected based on their appearance in popular media articles about dating applications. Results generally related to online safety concerns, while occasional features were related to sexual safety concerns. Communication options were …

The Experiences Of Mothers Of Children With Autism In Jamaica: An Exploratory Study Of Their Journey, Angela R. Mann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), also referred to as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs), are characterized by deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and repetitive or restricted interests and behaviors. To date, much of the literature on ASDs has been conducted from a western perspective, although interest in ASDs from a global perspective has dramatically increased in recent years. Over the last decade, there have been numerous conceptual papers attempting to explain how autism might be experienced in other parts of the world. However, in actuality, little research has been conducted in this area, and further exploration of the experiences …

An Exploration Of The Meaning And Consequences Of Unintended Pregnancy Among Latina Cultural Subgroups: Social, Cultural, Structural, Historical And Political Influences, Natalie Dolores Hernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, prominent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, abortion, and unintended births exist. Recent analysis suggests that Latinas are three times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than non-Latina white women. More than half of pregnancies among Latinas (53%) in the United States are unintended and have higher unintended births as they are less likely than black women to have an abortion. In addition, in 2006 the unintended pregnancy rate was highest among women aged 20-24. Little research has 0been conducted to understand unintended pregnancy particularly among young adult Latina women.

The purpose …

Responsiveness Of The Federal Health System To The Needs Of 18-45 Year Old Adults With Physical Disabilities In Islamabad, Pakistan, Shaista Habibullah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The health system has been defined as all people, institutions and resources that undertake actions with the primary intent of improving health, while responsiveness of the health system refers to its objective of responding to the legitimate expectations of the population it serves. Although responsiveness is a non-health objective of the health system, it affects the health status of the population by influencing treatment compliance, patient-provider communication and health services utilization. Furthermore, responsiveness has a fundamental value as it concerns basic human rights of the individuals being served by the health system.

This study was undertaken to determine how …

Navigating The Child Welfare System: An Exploratory Study Of Families' Experiences, Lianne Fuino Estefan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Growing up in a family environment that includes child maltreatment can result in an array of negative consequences for children, including health, behavioral, developmental, and social difficulties, and these consequences can persist over the lifetime. Families who have come to the attention of child welfare services for child maltreatment are at particularly high risk for experiencing multiple concurrent problems, including intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and mental health issues, as well as other family challenges. It is essential to intervene effectively with this population. However, there are few qualitative studies of parent experiences in the child welfare system through which …