Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

Three Essays About Preventing Mental And Behavioral Disorders, Snehal Lopes

All Dissertations

Prevention efforts in the public health field operate at various levels, including primary prevention among those without a disease of interest, secondary prevention among persons at high risk or showing early signs of the disease, and tertiary prevention among persons with the disease. The three essays presented in this dissertation are centered around the theme of prevention, and taken together, have implications for prevention at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Specifically, the essays focus on the prevention of depressive disorders and the prevention of behavioral and mental health correlates for depression in the context of various populations (general adult, …

Exploring The Usefulness Of Mindfulness Practices Through Zoom Meetings In Reducing Anxiety And/Or Stress Of Adults With Learning And Developmental Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Thatiane Abra

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explored which mindfulness meditations or mindfulness practices could be beneficial in the online sessions, the extent to which adults with learning and developmental disabilities could learn the practices remotely, and how stress and anxiety disorders could be reduced through online mindfulness interventions. Furthermore, it was also necessary to address the online sessions as the only mental health treatment possibility during the Coronavirus pandemic for the clients observed and the benefits and limitations of these interventions. Additionally, the importance of structure and routine for this population, the multi-modal structure of the interventions, and how attunement plays an important role …

Using Mindfulness To Decrease Stress In College Students, Saska Pavlovic

Evidence-Based Practice Project Reports

The prevalence of stress is increasing in colleges, where students are experiencing anxiety at an alarming rate, with anxiety being the topic most discussed in university counseling centers. The purpose of this evidence-based practice project was to determine the effect of mindfulness exercises on college students’ perceived stress. The Stetler Model guided the project development and implementation. The literature search revealed that best practice included mindfulness exercises through a combination of face-to-face instruction and remote online audio meditation for a duration of eight weeks. For this project, 56 undergraduate students (health care-leadership, health-science, and nursing majors) enrolled in a health …

Yoga As A Women’S Population Health Intervention, Lisa Ann Clow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women’s mortality rate in the United States has increased in almost every age group in the past several years. However, more women in the United States are choosing yoga as a complementary health approach to improve general well-being. Thus, research on yoga and other factors that affect women’s health in the United States may inform public health initiatives to address the health disparities in women’s mortality rates. Grounded in the health belief model, the purpose of this study was to explore whether the factors of practicing the components of yoga, doctor’s recommendation for increased physical activity, body mass index (BMI) …

Mindful Mornings: Piloting A Meditation Group With Vulnerable Adults In A Drop-In Center, Iyo Kubota

Master's Projects and Capstones

An accumulation of stress and lack of coping resources can contribute to a higher incidence of mental and physical health disparities. Homeless adults are one of the most vulnerable subgroups who utilize Enterprise Resource Center, a peer-run day-center in Marin County. Because stress from multiple factors was identified in this transient and high-risk population, an intervention for stress reduction and management was explored. The findings from the needs assessment suggested that there was a need for an integrated approach for stress reduction and management. The challenge of sustaining a program was also highlighted during the needs assessment.

A brief mindfulness …