Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“The More People’S Stories That We Learn, The More We Can Wrap Around Our Support”: How Postoperative Bariatric Surgery Patients Use Online Communities, Breisha George

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

Bariatric surgery (also called weight loss surgery) is often thought of as a one-day medical procedure. However, after surgery, there are long-term physical and psychological changes that each patient manages. The goal of this study was to gain deeper insights into how a patient navigates their postoperative experience after bariatric surgery, specifically examining their use of online bariatric communities. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Three major themes were identified: (1) Mental Health, (2) Belonging to Community, (3) Support. Each theme incudes several sub-themes, showcasing a range of helpful and harmful experiences from engaging with these online …

Dementia: Review Of Long Term Care Facilities, Theresa Staab

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

Dementia is a disease in which people lose parts or, in the case of more severe cases, all of their cognitive functioning, negatively impacting their daily lives. Remembering, thinking, and reasoning are examples of these functions. As dementia progresses in a person, performing tasks becomes challenging, bringing families to consider long-term care institutions as an alternative to informal caregiving. Families look at the combination of characteristics and socio-cultural background of an institution's patients and formal caregivers before entrusting their loved one to their care (Yaffe et al., 2002). The World Health Organization states that "more than 55 million people live …

American Gun Violence: A Cause To Combat The Epidemic, Colin Fonseca

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

The following paper examines the role assault weapons and high-capacity magazines play in mass shootings within the United States. With reference to compelling statistics, the extent to which political ideology impacts decisions on gun reform is assessed. Specifically, the paper recognizes the stark contrast in opinion between Democrats and Republicans on the severity of the problem of gun violence in America; while Democrats identify gun violence as a public health crisis in need of immediate attention, Republicans express their worry that citizens’ freedoms are being violated if stricter reforms are established. Considering the fact that gun violence has remained an …

Bariatric Surgery As A Treatment To Obesity, Morgan D. Dunn

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

This paper focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness that bariatric surgery provides as a treatment for the obesity epidemic that is ever-growing in our country. By taking into account scientific, ethnographical, scholarly, statistic-based, and various other forms of research, this paper argues for the widespread use of bariatric surgery for weight loss, decrease in obesity, and resolution of obesity comorbidities. This paper also focuses on the various factors that affect patient success in bariatric surgery, such as gaps in access, economic problems, psychological issues associated with the procedure, and more. Nevertheless, bariatric surgery, if these factors are taken into consideration, …

Reclaiming Fat, Emilie Debaie

Health Policy & Management Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Let's Move! From Dc To Pc: Policy And Programming In Providence Charter Schools Around Student's Awareness Towards Living Healthy, Carmine Perrotti

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

A thesis developed out of an intership for the Office of the First Lady's "Let's Move Initiative". Following said internship, the author conducted original research on the local level - namely, Providence charter schools - to design, implement, and assess a series of educational “interventions”. These interventions were created to provide information to students and their parents about the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. Over 500 elementary-level students were surveyed for the research. See document abstract for more information.

Review Of "Experiencing Politics" By John E. Mcdonough, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Reviews the book 'Experiencing Politics: A Legislator's Stories of Government and Health Care,' by John E. McDonough.

Making Sense Of Medicaid Reform, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Reviews the books 'Medicaid Reform and the American States: Case Studies of Managed Care,' by Mark Daniels and 'Remaking Medicaid: Managed Care for the Public Good,' by Stephen Davidson and Stephen Somers.

The Politics Of Reform, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Comments on the implication of individual health insurance market reform for policy making in the United States. Role of competitive markets in promoting access to health care; Notion on the rejection of enrollment and rating claims; Effectiveness of incremental reforms in limiting discrimination against high-risk subscribers.

Groping For Autonomy: The Federal Government And American Hospitals, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

This article chronicles the slow but steady emergence of countervailing power in the hospital industry since mid-century. The transformation of American health care policymaking reflects the federal government's growing fiscal obligations as the single largest purchaser of health care. As John Kenneth Galbraith [1956,113] notes, "Power on one side of a market creates both the need for, and the prospect of reward to, the exercise of countervailing power from the other side." The federal government's effort to exercise countervailing power over health care providers shows no sign of abating in the future, for Medicare and Medicaid costs threaten the stability …

Institutional Design And Regulatory Performance: Rethinking State Certificate Of Need Programs, Robert B. Hackey, Peter F. Fuller

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

The success of state efforts to control rising health care costs depends on the incentives contained in the legislative design of regulatory policies and in the administrative capacity and autonomy of state agencies. States have regulated the construction and expansion of health care facilities and services for more that two decades through “certificate of need” (CON) programs designed to limit the diffusion of expensive new medical technologies and to avoid the duplication of health care facilities. Although the cost-control record of state certificate of need programs has been widely criticized, Rhode Island’s experience with a reformed CON process from 1985 …

The Politics Of Trauma System Development, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Regulatory Regimes And State Cost Containment Programs, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

New Wine In Old Bottles: Certificate Of Need Enters The 1990s, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

Although state certificate- of-need (CON) programs have been the subject of intense criticism over the past decade, recent evidence suggests that CON programs may be more effective than commonly believed. While many state programs have yielded disappointing results, the CON process can also be used to achieve other important policy objectives, such as increasing access to care for the uninsured and increasing lay participation in health policy planning. In sum, rather than fading away after the termination of federal support for health planning in 1986, state CON programs are poised to assume new roles during the 1990s.

The Illogic Of Health Care Reform: Policy Dilemmas For The 1990s, Robert B. Hackey

Health Policy & Management Faculty Publications

After more than a half century, supporters of health care reform now argue that the passage of national health insurance is "inevitable," for all of the major players in the health care policy arena-physicians, insurers, hospitals, and the mass public-are now favorably disposed toward reform. Periods of optimism are not new in health care debates in the U.S., but in each such era (in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1970s), reform efforts fell victim to ideological fissures in Congress, an overabundance of reform proposals, intense conflicts over what a new health care system should look like, and wavering support from the …