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 …

Lowering Disciplinary Rates: Looking At Social And Emotional Learning At Blackstone Academy Charter School, Ariel C. Davey

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Social and emotional learning is a method that may benefit school culture and the environment for a student’s learning. Including social and emotional learning to school curriculums, specifically schools that have large numbers of students of color enrolled, allows students to learn how to manage their behavior and emotions and in turn benefiting themselves and others in present and future relationships. With more social and emotional learning is happening in the classroom, discipline towards students may be reflected on and seen as more harmful than helpful to students. As the days pass by, discipline rates for students of color in …

Funding Childhood Science: Life Or Death, Kathleen Garvey

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

This thesis draws the connection between an individual’s early childhood science education, health literacy comprehension, and quality of health. A better understanding of science leads to an increased understanding of health, benefiting the individual’s own health care as a result. Thus, proper and equitable educational funding of schools for all districts, regardless of income wealth, is essential to public health. In this thesis I propose that integrating effective science curricula into early education can work to reduce disparities in health literacy and ultimately benefit public health. I wish that this thesis will bring awareness to not only the importance of …

The Importance Of Properly Addressing Mental Health On College Campuses, Michaela M. Hunt

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Michaela Hunt, in her Thesis titled, The Importance of Properly Addressing Mental Health on College Campuses, discusses an array of factors that contribute to the conversation around mental health relative to diagnosis, treatment, and adequate patient care. In Section III titled Proposal Paper, Michaela utilizes 10 peer-reviewed sources from her comprehensive literature review to dive into four major themes regarding appropriate ways to address mental illnesses. She discusses the climate of mental health on college campuses by studying trends in help-seeking behaviors and mental health literacy. She also delves into barriers to treatment, such as racial disparities, low …

Service Work In Youth Development: The Power Behind Extracurriculars, Lyndsy Cadet

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

At the heart of all underprivileged areas are underfunded public and charter schools that are not given a chance to properly educate the leaders of the future. The wealth disparities across school districts penalized students who live in low socioeconomic and non-dominant demographic neighborhoods. The biggest attack on educational rights is showcased through the achievement and opportunity gap in which the lack of funding and quality educational experience is limiting the quantity of knowledge students are obtaining in inner city, underfunded school districts. Students, regardless of socioeconomic or ethnic background deserve a chance at quality funded public schools in order …

Youth Homelessness And Rapid Re-Housing Programs In Rhode Island, Laura Fusco

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Major: Public and Community Service

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Keith Morton, Public and Community Service

The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of Rapid Re-Housing programs in Rhode Island for youth 18-24. There is currently no published research that addresses the satisfaction or effectiveness of Rapid Re-Housing from the perspectives of the youth that are using the services. Additionally, youth are not included in conversations about the creation of these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to shed light on youth’s experiences and dive into their evaluations and suggestions for the future of Rapid Re-Housing. I …

The Examination Of Individuals: How People Have The Ability, Power, And Voice To Change The Way People View The World In A Positive Way, Amelia Aaron

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Throughout my four years of learning about different people who have changed the world and the different ways in which they have gone about it, I have strived to find myself in qualities that match those of influential leaders and change makers. For the sole purpose of this thesis, I did a year’s worth of research trying to distinguish what qualities, characteristics, and backgrounds create positive and impactful leaders. For a lack of a better word, you could say that I made a formula to fully understand what an individual should be striving towards in order to make a positive …

Ending The Notion Of “I Do Not Belong Here” Recommendations For Predominantly White Institutions To Support First Generation Student’S Success, Perla Castillo Calderon

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Ever wonder what it means to be a first-generation college student? This thesis focuses on bringing visibility to the first-generation identity college students carry. Divided in two parts, the first part explains what it means to be first-generation, how mentoring programs are supposed to run, and how beneficial extracurricular activities are for both students and the institution as a whole. This first part is based on research and interviews I have conducted with current undergraduate Providence College students. The second part is a proposal for a centralized space where the first-generation identity is celebrated and have easy to access resources.

Learning From The Shadows: Undocumented Students In Higher Education, Sean J. Richardson

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

Education policy and immigration policy intersect in dangerous ways which creates conditions for different types of students to be isolated in the development of their education. Immigration policy in the United States is a constantly shifting context. Providence College serves as a microcosm of the United States in the experience of being an undocumented student. This thesis serves as a call to action, but also a peak into the world of the undocumented experience. Through critical research, and experiential learning in my last four years at Providence College, we’re coming to understand how the institution not only condones white supremacy …

A Reflection And Discussion Of Philanthropy And Its Relevance And Practice In Service And Society, Brigid Mcgrath

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

This paper seeks to answer the question, “What model of philanthropy has the most positive impacts on a community and is least disruptive to the vulnerable populations which it intends to serve?” A thorough reflection of each type of philanthropy: traditional philanthropy, organization building philanthropy, venture philanthropy and catalytic philanthropy, leads to a careful selection of the most significant elements of each type. Ultimately, an archetype of philanthropy that combines elements of strategic philanthropy, emergent strategies, and catalytic philanthropy is shared as a guide for companies or foundations looking to engage in philanthropic endeavors is provided in the conclusion.

The …

Trust In The Truth As A Healing Measure To Long-Lived Histories Of Gendered Violence: A Representation Of Congolese Refugee Women And Their Resilience To Love, Gabrielle Amorelli

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

This paper explores the historical contexts of the gendered violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a preface to the overall sense of mistrust that remains, especially that of which is forced within women themselves. Paired with personal testimonies of Congolese refugee women living in Providence, RI and formal academic research, I hope this will bring an authentic awareness to the effects that the practice and feelings of trust has on women. I anticipate the personification of the overarching power of resilience that refugee women exhibit to shine through to you as a result of my work.

Hope: The Core Of Social Justice, Emily K. Locke

Public & Community Service Student Scholarship

The purpose of Hope: The Core of Social Justice, is to defend the role of hope in social justice movements. For those who are aware of or who face systematic oppression, the idea of having hope can seem ineffective or even detrimental to any progress in overcoming such systems. But, by clearly defining hope and analyzing its characteristics, one may find that the goal of hope and the goal of any social movement are nearly identical. Philosophical, theological, psychological, and historical references help to shine light on the limited conceptions many have of hope and to support the idea …

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, …

Shoes, Sabrina Morelli

Common Reading Essay Contest Winners

First Place

Essay Prompt: In Justice, Sandel discusses a number of contemporary political issues (e.g. price gouging during the 2004 Hurricane, the 2008-9 financial meltdown, the volunteer army, pregnancy surrogates, executive pay, slavery reparations, immigration, and gay marriage). Take a position on one of the issues discussed in the book and make the best case that you can for why this position is the most just. You may include evidence from the book, your prior studies, your own experience, and/or outside research. (Outside research is not required.)

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 …