Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Data Mining Twitter For Cancer, Diabetes, And Asthma Insights, Kimberly Chulis

Open Access Dissertations

Twitter may be a data resource to support healthcare research. Literature is still limited related to the potential of Twitter data as it relates to healthcare. The purpose of this study was to contrast the processes by which a large collection of unstructured disease-related tweets could be converted into structured data to be further analyzed. This was done with the objective of gaining insights into the content and behavioral patterns associated with disease-specific communications on Twitter. Twelve months of Twitter data related to cancer, diabetes, and asthma were collected to form a baseline dataset containing over 34 million tweets. As …

Risks And Health Consequences Of Forgoing, Delaying, Or Having Trouble Accessing Needed Health Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries, Angelitta M. Spells

Open Access Dissertations

Medicare provides health care coverage for approximately 93% of non-institutionalized older adults. Compared to uninsured adults, Medicare beneficiaries have greater access to needed healthcare including preventative care. However, disparities in accessing needed health care still exist among Medicare beneficiaries. Prior research has described barriers to accessing needed health care among older Medicare beneficiaries, such as transportation and health system characteristics, but little is known about prevalence, risks, or health consequences of older Medicare beneficiaries delaying, forgoing, or having trouble accessing needed health care. The three studies included in this dissertation followed a nationally representative sample of older Medicare beneficiaries to …

Healthcare Leadership Institute, Jayna Clemens

Honors Projects

The Healthcare Leadership Institute is a program designed to offer high school sophomores an opportunity to develop leadership skills, a professional mentorship relationship, and a better understanding of the variety and diversity of professions in the healthcare field. The Healthcare Leadership Institute also includes a 10-day international immersion trip after the completion of the classroom curriculum. In total, the program lasts the duration of one academic year, with the 10-day immersion trip taking place at the beginning of summer break before they begin their junior year. The international immersion trip will not only allow the participants an opportunity to apply …

Implementation Of A Nursing Workload Tool To Reduce Nurse Burnout, Nicole K. Greives

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

Nursing burnout and workload is a complicated issue with far-reaching effects. Nursing burnout and inappropriate nursing workload have been linked to increased risk of urinary tract infection, respiratory infections, decreased patient satisfaction, decreased quality and safety of care, and increased mortality. The purpose of the project was to decrease nursing burnout on a Medical Progressive Care Unit (MPCU) by moving patients with high workloads and medical instability to a higher level of care. Within this project, Rosabeth Kanter’s Theory of Structural Power was used for the theoretical framework, and the Stetler Model guided the implementation. The intervention consisted of a …

Understanding Physicians’ And Non-Physician Practitioners’ Recommending Practices, Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs And Expectations Regarding Music As A Cost-Effective Complementary And Alternative Medicine Approach, Paul F. Franco

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background and Purpose of the Study: With the rise in healthcare costs, partly due to an aging demographic (of whom these care-receivers and their informal family member/friend caregivers are experiencing high stress and anxiety levels resulting in an increase in nursing home placement), a need exists for a cost-effective alternative to the traditional medical approach. Specifically, Music Therapy, a form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) has been shown to decrease the severity of the problem by alleviating symptoms of an illness and improving overall well-being. The purpose of this study was to create a valid tool entitled “The Global …

The Relationship Between Healthcare Spending And Gross Domestic Product: A Study From A Sample Of African Countries, Steven Harrington Addo

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this essay I estimate the elasticity of total healthcare expenditures with respect to gross domestic product. I also address the stationary properties of total healthcare expenditures and gross domestic product, and whether these measures are cointegrated. The empirical exercise uses a sample of African countries so that the estimates can be compared to those that have been made using data on OECD countries. To address the issue of possible endogeneity of GDP in the healthcare expenditure equation, I assume that total healthcare expenditures and gross domestic product are simultaneously determined, and using structural equations, I identify instrumental variables for …

The Deaf Experience In A Hearing Medical World, Sarah Kaylynn Lykins

Online Theses and Dissertations

Background: The purpose of this narrative study was to understand personal experiences of a Deaf individual when communicating with healthcare professionals, to describe personal feelings regarding challenges and successes experienced during healthcare interactions, and express the need for culturally competent healthcare providers with increasingly diverse populations.

Method: The participant interviewed is a member of the Deaf community, uses American Sign Language (ASL), and had multiple decades of major medical treatments. The study was conducted using a semi-structured method with a certified interpreter (CI) present to interpret and was audio and video recorded to account for all aspects of the signed …

Experiences Of Victimization And Health Care Access Among Non-Metropolitan Lgbtq+ Individuals, Ashley-Ann Marcotte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals report substantial rates of violence, discrimination, and negative life events due to homophobia and transphobia and these experiences impact access to health care services and programs (Bauer et al, 2009; Grant, Mottet, Tanis, Harrison, & Keisling, 2010) These experiences result in LGBTQ+ communities needing services, programs, and social supports to provide safer spaces. Although it is well recognized that health care services are not a major determinant of health outcomes and yet use more than 60% of health spending (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2014; Muzyka, Hodgson, & Prada, 2012). As such, …

The Sixty-Six Percent, Natalie Abruzzo

Capstones

The Sixty-Six Percent represent the percentage of women in the U.S. who are overweight. They are regarded as full-figured or “plus” size in the world of women’s apparel. Even though more than half of American women wear a “plus” size - size 14 and up - designs for these women account for a fraction of women’s apparel - Only 37% of women's wear is plus-size.

The Sixty-Six Percent is coming at an important time in a broader conversation about de-stigmatizing what it means to be a plus-size woman in America. Fat shaming has become taboo and mainstream media as well …

Developing Inter-Professional Oral Health Education: An Evaluation Of Educational Resources, Jordan A. Jew

Master's Projects and Capstones

As healthcare continues to evolve, providers will need to uphold the quality of patient care provided to patients. Traditional healthcare holds many gaps that do not recognize the unmet needs that exist within today’s society. To maximize the abilities of healthcare services, inter-professional education introduces a collaborative approach that develops a network of shared knowledge and clinical skills beyond the primary scope of practice.

In this project, oral health learning modules developed for family practice residents were introduced to first-year dental students at the Dugoni School of Dentistry to improve their knowledge and confidence to both educate and practice with …

A Socio-Ecological Model Of Affordable Care Act Acceptance, Pratiksha Vaghela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Since 1965, there have not been any major revisions of the healthcare laws in the United States, until the recent implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, ACA is not well understood and is often controversial. The purpose of this study is to: (1) evaluate the relationship between the employers’ and the employees’ perceptions regarding the ACA mandates for small businesses, (2) evaluate the relationship between the self-reported and the tested knowledge of individuals regarding the ACA mandates for small businesses, and (3) determine if socio-demographic factors influence individual’s perception of the law. Based on the gathered information, …

Syncing Umbanda And Science (Sus): Using Umbanda’S Holistic Healing Methods To Increase Access To Healthcare, Alex E. Rosenthal

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

In 1988, after the 1985 termination of the military dictatorship in Brazil, the constitution was rewritten to guarantee individual rights to all citizens of Brazil. Among the various other rights that the new constitution protected, anyone in Brazil was granted the right to government-funded healthcare under the regulation of the Unified Healthcare System, SUS. Because of structural inequalities in Brazil as well as the rise of privatized healthcare, equal access to healthcare is not a reality in modern-day Brazil. Many citizens who live in the periphery are limited to understaffed and underfunded primary health centers.

This monograph explores the healing …

A Comparison Of Regional Health Care Structures For Emergency Preparedness, Leslie Porth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, increased policy attention and federal funding mechanisms have required more effective disaster response by government actors and private sector organizations, including the health care system. However, there is limited scholarly evidence documenting which structural elements have been associated with efficacious regional coalitions. This study addressed the gap by examining whether the number of different participating disciplines (a proxy for coalition roles), community setting, and prior weather-related disaster declaration influenced the number of activities (a proxy for coalition responsibilities) conducted by the health care coalition. Social network theory was the theoretical lens with which the study results were used …

The Impact Of Crisis Alleviation Lessons And Methods Program On Injuries In Healthcare, Andra Lynn Ferguson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Crisis Alleviation Lessons and Methods -© (CALM), as a behavioral crisis management program, was effective in reducing patient and healthcare professional injuries in a long-term residential care setting. This research was needed due to the lack of peer-reviewed scholarly literature on the effectiveness of behavioral crisis management programs, especially on programs using both nonphysical and physical de-escalation techniques, such as CALM. An auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time series analysis was performed to examine the effect the implementation of the CALM program (independent variable) had on the rate of injuries to …

Building Advocacy In Healthcare: The Impact Of Intergroup Dialogue On The Cultural Sensibility Outcomes Of Health Profession Students Using An Individual Diversity Development Framework, Chassity Leeshell Holliman Douglas

Online Theses and Dissertations

Racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from persistent health disparities such as heart disease, hypertension, cancer, asthma, obesity, and diabetes among others (Sullivan & Mittman, 2010). Several social inequalities influence the characteristics of minority health disparities including higher levels of poverty, insufficient education, unemployment, poor housing conditions, and lack of health insurance. However, healthcare disparities are also influential contributors to health disparities. Healthcare disparities are brought about through differences in access to or availability of quality facilities, care, and services. Given the unequal circumstances that are formed from health and healthcare disparities for minority populations, the increase in the diversity …

Relationship Between Clandestine Methamphetamine Laboratory Seizures And Burns In Kentucky, David A. Wittmer

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that is synthetically produced using equipment and chemicals available in the community. Its burden to society may be determined through a number of mechanisms, including the imposed strain on healthcare systems. The evolution of methamphetamine use and production methods has led to reports of increased methamphetamine related burn admissions among hospital burn units[1-3] . Current literature identifies an increase in injury severity, comorbid complications, and cost of care associated with methamphetamine related burn injuries[1-5]. The intent of this study is to identify burn injuries in Kentucky and assess whether a statistically significant association exists …

Stroke Rehabilitation, Length-Of-Stay, And Re-Admission Rates: A Literature Review, Morgen Hagedorn

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Stroke is shown to be a significant U.S. health problem with a profound impact on the nation’s rising healthcare costs (Hall, Levant, & DeFrances, 2012). Longer patient length-of-stay [LOS] and higher re-admission rates have brought consequences to healthcare systems as institutional budgets are unable to reconcile the additional services and the influx of healthcare demands. Through a comprehensive literature review, the author illustrates the general knowledge available on the stroke experience, on stroke care and rehabilitation, and on patient LOS and re-admission rates. The literature review is based on general medical research with a focus on the stroke population. The …

Do Medical Technology And Healthcare Spending Affect Health Outcomes?, Chandni V. Vaid

Honors Theses

Healthcare expenditures have been on the rise for many countries, especially for the developed countries. As of 2009, Japan, Australia and Canada are spending around 8 to 10% of their total GDP on healthcare, while the United States is currently up to 16%. One of the major factors contributing to increased expenditures on healthcare is the emergence of medical technology. Using data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), I empirically investigate the effects of medical technologies and healthcare expenditure on health outcomes for a group of 17 countries. Medical technology is measured by the number of MRI …

Regional Variation In The Length Of Hospital Stay And Insurance Coverage: A State-Wide Variation In Length Of Stay And Insurance Types, Samuel S. Yoon

Honors Theses

With the continuously growing healthcare expenditure, it is important to examine the causes of this phenomenon. Length of hospital stay is one possible cause. Using the panel data from 2001 – 2008 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, Statehealthfacts.org, Center for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Almanac of Hospital Financial & Operating Indicators 2007, and Current Population Survey March Supplements, this paper utilizes regression analysis to investigate geographic variation on the length of stay, focusing on the relationship between the different insurance types and the length of stay. As a variety of insurance types offers different reimbursement …

Specialty Service Lines In The United States Hospital System: Old Wine, New Bottles, Michael Sajovetz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of specialty service lines in the United States health care system presents many significant questions regarding the access to, provision of, and financing of healthcare. In general terms, specialty service lines represent the newest development in several important trends in the American hospital system and reflect important trends in the wider economy. Many claims have been made regarding the effect of physician-owned specialty hospitals, from their exemption from self-referral prohibitions, their diversion of services away from general hospitals that use high profit margins to subsidize the "safety net," and concerns regarding the over-provision of technologically complex treatments in …