Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

The Power Of Protective Factors: A Framework For Mental Health Action And Education, Rich Stowell

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Mental health advocates, practitioners, and research have long used the framework of risk factors and protective factors to understand mental health. This article examines the origins of the concept of protective factors and describes how it contributes to the applications of resources in the mental health space.

Defending The Constitutionality Of Abortion Rights, Sydney Reil, Cynthiana Desir

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In 2018, the constitutionality of the Mississippi Gestational Act was called into question by the Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This act illegalized the majority of abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Given the constitutional right to abortion granted by Roe v. Wade and upheld by Planned Parenthood v. Casey, both the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit deemed the Act unconstitutional as a violation of that right. The State of Mississippi brought the case under the review of the United States Supreme Court in 2021, seeking …

Adolescent Girls' Mental Health, Amanda Hardy

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

The Etiology Of Mdd In Sexual Minority Youth And Its Implications For Treatment, Keith Burns

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Greater tolerance and understanding of homosexuality, transgenderism, and other forms of gender nonconformity have sparked an increased effort to reach out to and help sexual minorities (i.e., groups whose sexual identity, orientation, or practices differ from cisgender heterosexuality), especially those who experience mental health challenges. Despite immense progress in society, deeply rooted social stigma, prejudice, and discrimination have often left sexual minorities feeling bullied, ostracized, and isolated, which tends to reinforce a host of negative mental health outcomes, such as increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidality (Hatchel et al., 2018). While mental health clinicians have become increasingly …

Experiences Of Nonbinary And Gender Nonconforming Individuals Within The Healthcare System, Chloe B. Lacey

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Though nonbinary and gender nonconforming people are becoming increasingly recognized in North America, specialized healthcare—specifically gender-affirming procedures—are not becoming available to them. Researchers have examined the subjective experiences of these individuals as they have navigated the healthcare system in order to further understand possible limitations for nonbinary and gender nonconforming populations. Methods include assessing the procedures available to participants and their interpersonal experiences with healthcare professionals and family members. Scientific resources on this topic are limited, and the results are overwhelmingly represented by self-report. Furthermore, the content of the results is majorly negative toward the participants’ experiences. Participants report verbal …

Helping Babies: The Mental And Physical Effects Of Massage Therapy On Preterm Infants, Sadie Johnson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

The purpose of this paper is to address and review the literature regarding the effects of massage therapy on preterm infants. Each of the studies done focused on infants aged 0–12 months. The literature specifically looks at irritability states, stress, analgesia, weight-gain, sleep-wake cycles, cognition, and gastrointestinal function. In accordance with the studies reviewed in this article, I deduce that massage therapy can be used with preterm infants to reduce irritability and stress, increase weight-gain, support greater rest, facilitate short-term cognitive improvement, and create a greater improvement in gastrointestinal function. Massage therapy can also reduce pain in infants who have …

Sports-Injury Recovery Through Psychological Interventions, Harley T. Hamilton

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

The biomechanics of an injury is the typical focus of athletic trainers and coaches. Surgery is often the result of sports injury and is routinely followed by a rehabilitation plan. This plan usually includes physical therapy and focuses on the return of mobility and function of the injured anatomical structure (Rodriguez et al., 2019). Athletic trainers are usually not properly trained on the psychological aspects of injury recovery (Bennett et al., 2016). Sometimes the involvement of a sports medicine professional (SMP) or sport psychology consultant (SPC) is necessary to help the athlete fully recover. Because there is a psychological change …

The Comorbidity Of Drug And Alcohol Consumption In Relation To Mental Health Disorders, Sydney Dawson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

The constantly increasing use of drugs and alcohol in young adults has created great controversy in the medical community on the long-term effects of these substances. The average brain development of adolescence and young adults is not complete until the age of 25, though drug and alcohol intake occur across the United States at younger ages each year. Impulsive behavior and underdeveloped neural pathways create a strong pull for addiction formulations and the development of severe mental-health problems. This paper reviews the positive and negative effects of illicit drugs and alcohol intake and their comorbidity with mental health disorders. There …

Mindfulness: A Promising Practice To Reduce Accountant Stress, Abigail Anderson

Marriott Student Review

This article considers the practice of mindfulness as an approach to reduce stress within the lives of accountants. Mindfulness has existed for centuries as a Buddhist tradition and has only recently become popular in the Western world as a stress-reduction technique that can lead to improved mental and emotional well-being. This article also examines the prevalence of mindfulness within the Top 10 accounting firms in the United States and some results regarding employee performance. As more and more firms begin to utilize mindfulness as a low-cost method to better employee performance and well-being, university accounting programs should consider incorporating the …

The Nba Restart: A Numbers Game, Nathan L. Clark

Marriott Student Review

This paper examines how the NBA plans to overcome the risks of returning to play during a global pandemic by analyzing data from medical devices that monitor player health, perform contact tracing, and promote social distancing.

Underlying Racism Within The Opioid Epidemic, Hannah L.A.S. Wilson

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Within the past century, the United States attempted different legal

avenues to address drug abuse. Some of these efforts made access

to drugs punishable and illegal. Others encouraged research to look

at underlying issues of drug abuse and implement those findings.

Within the past fifty years, these laws tended to treat drug addicts

as criminals instead of as persons suffering from a health crisis.

According to the FBI and Uniform Crime Reports, from the 1980’s

to the 2000’s, drug arrests rose by 1.5 million per year, while drug

usage rates stayed the same.3 The severe increase in the criminalization

and …

Stretching The Law: The Application Of Public Nuisance To The Opioid Epidemic, Lindsay Manning, Hannah L. Thompson

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Opioid use in the United States increased five-fold in the last decade.

Every day ninety Americans die from drug abuse overdose. Is it

illegal opioid trafficking, or is it a problem within the medical profession?

Recent litigation strategies, like those used in the recent

landmark case of Oklahoma v. Johnson and Johnson, show that opioid

production and distribution are being linked to fueling the opioid

epidemic. Oklahoma is just one of the states that have concluded that

Johnson and Johnson, a large pharmaceutical company, is “overstating”

the efficiency of opioids and “understating” the harmful effects

of these drugs. Consequently, litigation …

An Image Of Perfection

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Dimensions Of Symptom Presentation And Scholarly Representation Of Young Females With Fragile X Syndrome, Andrew N. Snell

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Thinking Outside The Checkbox: Examining The Benefits Of Depression In The Workplace, Tyler L. Jensen

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Boomers And Fraudsters: A Closer Look At The Financial Elder Abuse Cycle In America, Ryan E. Brown

Marriott Student Review

In 2011, a landmark study was published by the Metlife Mature Market Institute claiming that nearly $3 billion disappears from the wallets and bank accounts of senior citizens annually. More surprising is that a similar study reported that figure could be as high as $36 billion. Because so many seniors let incidents of fraud or financial deceit go unreported, there is a huge discrepancy in annual reporting. This contributes to the overall lack of understanding we have of elder financial abuse, or why seniors continue to lose to fraudsters and scam artists. In a brief overview of financial elder abuse …

Standardized Education For Parents Requesting An Immunization Exemption For School Entry In Utah: A Mentored Experience, Lacey Eden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a pedagogical strategy, the purposes of this service-learning activity were two-fold: 1) to provide students with an organized service activity that also met identified community needs; and 2) to help augment the students’ learning, giving them a broader appreciation of any given discipline, and enhance their sense of civic responsibility. Nursing students were mentored through the process of creating an online education module for parents choosing to exempt their children from immunizations and to assist county health departments to fulfill exemption requirements. The students collaborated with the state Immunization Exemption Workgroup, the Utah Association of Local Boards of Health …

The Predictive Validity Of A Kindergarten Dynamic Assessment Of Language, Veronica White, Douglas Petersen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kindergarten students are often administered screening instruments designed to identify weaknesses in emergent literacy skills. Unfortunately, these screeners, which only measure what a student currently knows, cannot validly differentiate between students who have low scores because of limited exposure, language/dialectal differences, or a disability. A more valid approach to identifying kindergarten students for future reading difficulty is needed. Dynamic assessment is emerging as a valid alternative to traditional screening measures. The language subtest of the PEARL (Petersen & Spencer, 2016) uses a dynamic assessment approach where students are administered a pretest (a story retell), participate in language instruction on story …

Unseen, But In Plain Sight: Identifying Developmental Patterns Of Females With Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rebecca Lundwall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met I will document the academic objectives met in terms of posters, presentations and papers.

Standardized Education For Parents Requesting An Immunization Exemption For School Entry In Utah: A Mentored Experience, Lacey Eden

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a pedagogical strategy, the purposes of this service-learning activity were two-fold: 1) to provide students with an organized service activity that also met identified community needs; and 2) to help augment the students’ learning, giving them a broader appreciation of any given discipline, and enhance their sense of civic responsibility. Nursing students were mentored through the process of creating an online education module for parents choosing to exempt their children from immunizations and to assist county health departments to fulfill exemption requirements. The students collaborated with the state Immunization Exemption Workgroup, the Utah Association of Local Boards of Health …

Interpreting Speech Perception In Children With Phonological Deficits: Evidence From Event Related Potentials (Erp), Camille Nuttall, Kathryn Cabbage

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Children with dyslexia and children with speech sound disorder exhibit differing issues in regard to their speech and language. Dyslexia is a difficulty decoding written language, such as with word recognition or spelling. Speech sound disorder is characterized by speech production errors. Although dyslexia and speech sound disorders are often co-morbid, each can occur singularly (Lewis et al, 2011). Although both disorders respond to expert intervention, the underlying deficits last a lifetime and may negatively affect quality of life. Early identification is paramount to preventing long-term negative outcomes. A better understanding of how these disorders are activating in the brain …

Improving Healthcare Through Interdisciplinary Education, Jonathan Jacobs, Katreena Collette-Merrill, Rn, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The culture of education prepares healthcare professionals in silos, then expects them to work collaboratively upon graduation. Medical errors, resulting from communication issues, are considered a leading cause of patient death. Interdisciplinary education of future professionals may prevent communication issues and reduce patient deaths. Interprofessional education (IPE) of undergraduates may improve communication of future professionals educated in universities without medical schools. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of interprofessional education (IPE) on undergraduate students’ attitudes of interprofessional work, perceptions of working together, and ratings of teamwork.

Transforming Health Through Precision Medicine: Content Analysis Of U.S. Guidelines Related To Genetic Counseling And Testing, Nicole Jackson, Deborah Himes

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My mentor and I conducted a descriptive, mixed-methods study involved content analysis of U.S. Guidelines as they relate to Precision Medicine. We were able to identify the prevalence of Precision Medicine healthcare guidelines through the completion of this project. In working with my mentor, I was able to learn about the research process, gain experience in the field of research and develop research skills. I was also able to develop my presentation skills and attend a national conference to learn how scholarly works are shared in the nursing profession.

Religiosity And Psychological Well-Being: A Correlational Meta-Analysis In North America, Niyeli Herrera, Yerenia Flores, Timothy Smith

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In recent years, the demographics of the United States has evolved at exponential rates and now includes an increasingly diverse population of people who are in need of a variety of services, including mental health interventions. Mental health interventions strive to promote well-being, but have historically focused on serving white populations, thus neglecting minority groups who are at an elevated risk of mental illness. Their unique cultural experiences and ethnic-specific needs are also often incompatible with theoretical frameworks, experiences and needs that must be addressed in order to provide effective mental health services (Remy, 1995).

Genetic Susceptibility To Co-Infections Involving Respiratory Syncytial Virus (Rsv): Impact On Immunocompromised Adults, Taylor Brown, Dr. Chantel Sloan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infects almost all infants before their second birthday and can progress to lower respiratory infections such as bronchiolitis or pneumonia. However, few are aware of the effect this has on adults, particularly those who are immunocompromised through organ or bone marrow transplants, treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS), etc. Infection is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among the immunocompromised. This is of note because RSV is one of the few diseases for which humans are the reservoir species, meaning that this virus only infects and lives in humans. The study investigated genetic susceptibility for a …

Can Stress Management And Personal Wellness Courses Improve Student Resiliency? A Pilot Study, Aimee Schouten, Michael Thomas

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The nursing profession is emotionally and physically demanding. Long shifts, complex and often difficult patients, as well as working in an emotionally challenging environment all contribute major stress for nurses.[1,2] Over time this stress often turns into compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue and burnout become overwhelming to nurses, leading to physical, mental, and emotional health problems. Compassion fatigue not only negatively affects the nurse but patients as well. Many nurses experience burnout and leave the profession. Resiliency has been shown to be an important factor in retention of nurses as well as positively associated with empowerment among nursing students.[3,4,5] The purpose …

Literature Survey To Understand Why Parents Don’T Receive Tdap Vaccine, Analisa Dawson, Janelle Macintosh

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to understand the reasons expectant and new parents don’t receive the pertussis vaccine and then to provide educational materials for parents on the importance of receiving vaccinations, specifically to protect infants from contracting pertussis.

Studies conducted over the past several years have shown a decline in vaccination rates. In fact, one study was done just a few years ago, with the purpose of educating parents and grandparents of newborns about the importance of receiving a vaccination against pertussis. During the follow up a month later, only 8% had been vaccinated (Tam, 2009). Because information …

Identifying Maternal Healthcare Needs Of Pregnant Refugee Women In Utah, Amanda Brower, Dr. Sheri Palmer, Rn, Dnp, Cne, Ctn-A,

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The refugee crisis has impacted nations and global health worldwide. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates there are currently 22.5 million refugees throughout the world (UN Refugee Agency, 2018). Since Fiscal Year 2016, over 300 refugees have resettled in the state of Utah (Refugee Processing Center, 2018); these individuals represent various cultures and health needs. Data from other regions of the world indicates there are great discrepancies and complications in maternal healthcare of refugees, including increasing risks of C-section births, preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW) infants, perinatal mortality, postpartum depression, and stillbirth (Lancaster 2017). Aim: The purpose of this …

A Comparative Study On The Developing Impact Of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners In Utah, Lauren Bretzing, Julie Valentine

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In 2016, a case report was published revealing that the prosecution rate of adult sex crimes in Salt Lake County from 2003-2011 was a shockingly low 6% (Valentine, Shaw, Lark & Campbell, 2016). This research quickly became a front news story, with one local news station launching their own investigation and arriving at the same disturbing statistic (Headrick & Mashburn, 2014). The research findings and subsequent news coverage sparked a state-wide conversation concerning the far-reaching implications of sexual assault and the responsibility of each branch of government in stopping sex-crimes. In the years that followed, multiple new trainings and procedures …