Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Expressive Writing As A Coping Mechanism For Caregivers Of People With Parkinson's Disease, Sarah Beck

Honors Theses

Caregivers face challenges that take a tremendous toll both mentally and physically, while also having to experience their changing relationship with a loved one who continuously deteriorates. (Ornstein, Gaugler, Devanand, Scarmeas, Zhu, & Stern, 2013). The purpose of my study will be to examine if utilizing expressive writing (EW) can benefit caregivers of loved ones with Parkinson’s disease. I hypothesized that EW would help alleviate caregiver burden, and decrease negative mood and healthier coping means, while caregivers who write within a positive framework will experience the greatest alleviation of burden, better reported mood, and coping means. In this study the …

Control System For 3d Printable Robotic Hand, Htoo Wai Htet

Honors Theses

Humanoid robotics is a growing area of research due to its potential applications in orthosis and prosthesis for human beings. With the currently available technologies, the most advanced robotic hands used in prosthetics or robotics can cost from $11,000 to $90,000, making it inaccessible to the general population of amputees and robotics hobbyists. Most of the features provided by these expensive technologies are superfluous to many users, creating a great gap in cost and services between users and technology. Using the emerging 3D printing technology, my project is to construct a 3D printed robotic hand that can reproduce as many …

The Effect Of Balance Training On Disruptive Behaviors In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Claire A. Scates

Honors Theses

Objective

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of balance training on disruptive behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Methods

Fourteen parents of children with ASD participated in this study. Data was collected using the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) distributed to various therapy centers around the Hattiesburg and Jackson areas. A secondary survey was included that collected demographic data and basic data on what therapies the children have been involved in. The ABC provided a measure of the incidence of disruptive behaviors exhibited by the children with ASD as evaluated by their parents. Three of …

Recurring Ankle Injuries In Dancers, Alexis Jawny

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research, obtained from various Journals of Dance Medicine and Science, is to identify the cause of recurring ankle injuries in the dance community. Ankle injuries are the most common type of injury making up 50% of injuries in dancers. The main cause of recurring ankle injuries is improper diagnosing and then leading to the wrong treatment plan. The research focusses on how to prevent these improper diagnoses and what the dancer and specialty care professional (orthopedics, physical therapists, and rehabilitative medicine) can do to decrease the number of ankle injuries occurring and reoccurring in the dance …

Effects Of Body Weight Loading On Arch Height, Anastasia Bjelopetrovich

Honors Theses

Deformation of the medial longitudinal arch under body weight loading is often assessed using the Arch Height Index Measurement System. This system assesses change in arch height between sitting and standing, estimated to be 10 and 50% of body weight, respectively. However, body weight forces during ambulation exceed these loads, therefore limiting our understanding of arch deformation under ambulatory load ranges. Thus, the study aims were 1) to assess if sitting and standing arch height differed from that seen under 10 and 50% body weight using a force target-matching procedure, and 2) to characterize the relationship between arch deformation and …

Fall Risk Assessment Of Older Adults With Dementia Attending Goodwill Easter Seals Adult Day Services Programs, Jamie Wynk

Honors Theses

Background and Purpose: Elderly individuals, especially those with dementia, are at an increased risk for falls. These falls can result in extremely serious injuries. However, little is known as to what factors put an Alzheimer’s patient most at risk for falls. This study seeks to determine which known fall risk factors are experienced by adults with dementia who attend adult day services. By understanding what risk factors put an individual at an increased likelihood for falls, a specific intervention can be designed to prevent falls in this population.

Participants: To be included in this study, participants had to …