Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Understanding The Perspectives Of First-Generation 4-H Members, Kristy Lee Ouellette Phd

Muskie School Dissertations

Informal education programs like 4-H have the potential to expose young people to opportunities and experiences which may lead to increased social and educational capital. Previous research has consistently found that young people thrive within the 4-H Youth Development program.

The study identified commonalities throughout the multiple modes of participation and identified the ways in which participants are indeed on a thriving trajectory. It involved 12 first-generation 4-H members in Maine between the ages of 14-19. Through the use of in-depth interviews and the creation of ecomaps, this qualitative case study uncovered participants’ perspectives of the Maine 4-H program. This …

The Strategic Impact Of China's Artificial Islands In The South China Sea And Their Influence On U.S. And China Relations, Steven Roy Ma

All Student Scholarship

This is an integrative literature review of various perspectives of different authors of previous scholarly articles discussing the impact of China’s artificial Islands in the South China Sea and how it affects U.S. China relations in the region. This research covers a range of parameters surrounding how the artificial islands were made and how they affect the overall security of naval operations and will also discuss international waterway rights within the South China Sea, one of the World’s biggest trading routes. A review of current events in the region is discussed highlighting the potential powder keg that could explode and …

The Brigade Combat Team (Bct): A Revolution In Organizational Structure, Adam Davis

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This paper explores the U.S. Army’s force reorganization around the Brigade Combat Team (BCT), which began in 2002. The BCT shifted how various army units interacted by changing the echelon at which different types of units report to a single commander, essentially creating self-sufficient units of about 2,500 soldiers instead of the previous self-sufficient units of about 15,000 soldiers. This paper utilizes existing organizational theories and research to better understand the implications for such a dramatic change in organizational structure. It contextualizes the army’s reorganization by applying the Rational Actor, Political, and Bureaucratic Models outlined in Essence of Decision by …

Outdoor Recreation, Greenspace, And Covid-19 In Maine, Jayne Marie Foley

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

In this report we are exploring the significance of outdoor recreation and usage in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will discuss the importance of green space and outdoor recreation as a part of sustainability and what we can do for the future to provide sustainable and safe spaces for the public. I will be looking at the response of 119 individuals from a survey collected and three interviews from stakeholders in Maine on their experiences with the outdoors during COVID-19 and comparing these results to other similar findings. We can use this information from the COVID-19 experience to better …

The Economic Impacts Of School Closure In Rural Maine, Heather Perry

Muskie School Dissertations

The purpose of this case study research was to examine the economic impact of school closures on three rural communities in Maine. I created a conceptual framework around six healthy community economic markers. Each of the six markers are studied in 2010 when schools were closed and then again in 2016. This data, in addition to perceptions data from stakeholders in each of the three communities was studied to determine if the closure of the school had any impact on these healthy economic markers. Findings suggest that there were no negative impact to the economic markers studied within the three …

The Effects Of Grading Practices On Motivations For Learning At The Middle School Level, Justin D. Stebbins Ms

Muskie School Dissertations

The objective of this quantitative survey study was to measure the effect grading traditionally (using averaging) versus non-traditionally (best, most recent evidence) on four types of student motivation. These types of motivation were mastery orientation (learning for learning sake), performance orientation (going for the grade or external recognition), performance avoidance (not wanting to appear incompetent), and mastery avoidance (not wanting to lose what you have). This set of orientations is derived from the goal orientation theory.

In this study, 1,652 students and 93 educators between four schools took an anonymous 20-minute online survey. Due to lack of teacher participation, two …

An Examination Of How Middle School Principals Make Sense Of Their Role In Leading Standards Based Educational Reform, Barbara J. Maling Cas, Ma

Muskie School Dissertations

A dominant feature of the educational policy landscape has been the adoption and use of learning standards to design classroom instruction. As these efforts move forward, often without clear definition of the classroom practices that should be adopted, the role of the school principal is critical in interpreting the changes, and charting a course for the teachers in the building. This qualitative study, examines the sensemaking of four active middle school principals as they interpreted and led standards-based reform efforts in their buildings, using a novel theoretical framework based on prior research (Benford & Snow, 2000; Spillane, Reiser, & Reimer, …

Interrupted Progress: Water And Sanitation In Haiti, Emily Bauer

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Haiti has faced damaging environmental and social impacts, which have interrupted progress towards clean drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities for its over 10 million people. Natural disasters, disease outbreak, political corruption and economic instability have contributed to poor health and social outcomes for the small, island nation. This study used the most recent data from the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund Joint Monitoring Programme (WHO/UNICEF JMP) to assess national trends in water source and sanitation facility improvements from 1990-2015. WHO/UNICEF JMP defines water improvements as piped or non-piped protected water, and sanitation improvements as networked, flushed …

What Gun Safety And Access Policies Did Participants Think Would Be Effective In Preventing Accidental Gun Deaths?, Bridget O’Keefe, Stephen White

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Firearm-related incidents are often highly publicized tragedies that fuel unproductive political debates on gun policies at the local, state, and national levels. Current best practices in safe gun storage suggest that caregivers can protect their children from injury or death from an accidental gun discharge by keeping guns unloaded, locked up, and stored separately from their ammunition (Crifasi, Doucette, McGinty, Webster, & Barry, 2018). Child access prevention mechanisms including trigger locks, lock boxes, gun safes, and safe storage legislation are encouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics (Dowd & Sege, 2012). This study gathers quantitative responses from 1,021 participants using …

Early Data From The Maine Ombudsman’S Hospital Advocacy Program: A Deeper Look At Difficult To Place Patients, Joseph Zamboni

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

There is little data available on the complex cause and effect of delayed hospital discharge; however, some evidence suggests that long-stay patients tend to be complex, older, and sicker. In Maine, a 2014 Maine Health Association report found complex hospital patients were waiting weeks, months and sometimes over a year in Maine Hospitals before accessing long-term services and supports. In response to these concerns around delayed discharge from hospitals, the First Regular Session of the 127th Maine Legislature created the Commission to study Difficult to Place Patients. The Commission ultimately passed Legislation that gave the Maine Long- Term Care Ombudsman …

Hepatitis C In Injection Drug Users: A Study Of A Detoxification Program In Maine, Meghan Rousselle

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The opiate epidemic has had an impact on the lives of millions of people in this county. As we explore ways to address this issue, it is important to consider the long-term consequences that the epidemic will have. One long-term consequence is the spread of the hepatitis C virus (or HCV). Approximately 3.2 million people in the United States are chronically infected with this virus. Without consideration about ways to treat this virus and prevent its transmission, there will be large numbers of people who will die from complications of HCV in the future. These losses will contribute to the …

The Affordable Care Act’S Medicaid Expansion And Food Insecurity Rates, Mary Moran

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Many Americans face difficult financial decisions, often regarding the allocation of limited resources. Household resources may be split among the costs of food, clothing, housing, transportation, childcare, utilities, and health care. For some households, this allocation may present a challenge to purchasing sufficient food, leading to food insecurity. Defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” (2017), food insecurity may decrease when other financial-related aspects of life improve. An improvement in access to affordable health care, as seen through the recent Medicaid expansion under …

Direct Care Nursing Aide Turnover In Long-Term Care Facility, Qilian Luo

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This capstone project, Direct Care Nursing Aide Retention in a Long-Term Care Facility, will uses both qualitative and quantitative analyses to identify the possible contributors to high nursing aide turnover rates in Maine. The quantitative analyses of this project are based on the staffing payroll data of one Maine assisted living facility. The final product of this capstone project will be shared with the study facility, in the hope that they may find uses for its content.

A Qualitative Assessment Of New Graduate Nurse Practitioners First Year Of Practice, Alex Beggs Rn, Msn

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This project serves as a Capstone and final requirement for the Master of Public Health Degree at the University of Southern Maine Muskie School for Public Service. The project is a qualitative inquiry into the experience of new graduate nurse practitioners’ in their first year of practice, and their transition from the registered nurse (RN) into the nurse practitioner (NP) role. Using the theoretical constructs of Benner’s “From Novice to Expert” and the Burch’s “Conscious Competence model” new graduate nurse practitioners’ experiences will be analyzed. Risk and protective factors for role confidence will be identified through the use of qualitative …

New Outpatient Experience Survey Design: A Quality Improvement Case Study, Nathan Paluso

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The purpose of this capstone project is to evaluate the implementation process for a new survey methodology introduced by Maine Medical Partners (MMP), by following the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement cycle framework. This new survey has been implemented to collect data on patients’ experiences in the MMP outpatient facilities, and is offered to the patients via iPad at check-out after their appointment. Through observation at MMP practices and MMP staff interviews, strengths and weaknesses of the implementation process have been identified. Evidence-based solutions pertaining to the identified weaknesses have been selected through a literature review and are incorporated in recommendations …

A Guide For Assessing Older Adults’ Needs On Maine Islands, Beatrice Byrne

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This template may help Maine island communities identify older adults’ needs and island resources, in order to allow older adults to age in the island communities.

Three interviews with island health leaders, one community conversation with older islanders, and one pilot test provided information about what to include in the template.

The template includes a demographic survey, guides for conducting semi-structured interviews and group conversations with older adults and caregivers, a guide and worksheet for analyzing the data, a guide for assessing community resources, a guide for dissemination, and a list of additional resources.

Assessment Of The Use Of Overdose Education And Naloxone Distribution By Maine Buprenorphine/Naloxone Prescribers, Stephen Kirsch

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Background: Overdose deaths, specifically related to opioids, have been identified as a public health problem both nationally and in the state of Maine. Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) is an innovative model of patient education that has been shown to be effective in increasing knowledge of overdose risk and has the potential to help reduce opiate related overdose deaths.

Methods: A 28-item web-based survey examining clinician attitudes, OEND practices and characteristics was distributed to 196 Maine based physicians with a Drug Enforcement Agency waiver to prescribe burprenorphine/naloxone. Facilitators and barriers to the provision of OEND were also assessed. Surveys …

Implementing A Good Catch Program In Nursing Homes, Leigh Raposo

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Rationale and processes for reporting near misses and evidence-based tools were collected by a literature search, seminal works by Sidney Dekker and James Reason, and websites for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Tools, information, and strategies found in this research were evaluated for implementation in Maine nursing homes. The tools provide a communication vehicle for nursing home staff to safely report to management near misses, or mistakes that do not harm residents. To emphasize a positive approach, the project replaces the term …

Capstone Summary Report, Kayla Blais

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Leadership is vital to the practice of public health. The following review of current literature delves into present understanding of leaders that the public health field needs. As leadership within public health is being explored, specific skills required of future leaders, different types of leaders, and the impacts we can expect to see are being defined.

An Analysis Of Women’S Access To Acute Opioid Detoxification Services In Maine: Identifying The Barriers To Treatment, Karen E. Conley

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The lack of treatment facilities and services for opioid use disorder in Maine, combined with an increased prevalence of addiction, creates a potential for health inequity between men and women that may be intensified by barriers in access to care. This capstone study utilized detoxification screening inquiry forms and data obtained from the Milestone Foundation’s acute opioid detoxification program to assess and categorize barriers to access by gender. A barriers model was developed based on existing literature and was to identify potential associations among and between the known barriers to accessing treatment. Barriers were described as internally or externally based, …

An Examination Of Response To Intervention Development And Implementation Relative To Best Practices, Paul W. Austin Phd

All Student Scholarship

For the past 30 years, public education in the United States has been under fire for its failure to address a long decline in student performance. Education reform has been a focal point of the country, calling for improved student performance, and a reduction of the achievement gap for students struggling to meet academic standards. Following the passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the U.S. Department of Education reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 (U.S. Department of Education, 2006). One important issue addressed in the reauthorization was the criteria needed to identify children under the …

A Pilot Benefit And Cost Analysis Study Of Sponsors Of Registered Apprenticeships In Maine, Jonathan R. Payne Phd

All Student Scholarship

A skills gap exists in Maine because of lack of diversity in educational opportunity offered to students. Preparation for college and career readiness has become conflated. High schools focus primarily on core academic knowledge, often forsaking the knowledge necessary to prepare for jobs that do not require college educations. College is not for everyone, and some students fail to graduate, leaving them without a credential, often in debt, and lacking any skills that would lead to meaningful employment.

In countries across the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada those issues are addressed through apprenticeship, and empirical research suggests that …

Expanding Access To Naloxone In Maine: Opportunities And Barriers, Kate E. Richardson

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared prescription drug abuse a national epidemic (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2014). In addition to strategies designed to prevent opioid abuse and misuse, many public health officials, policy makers, healthcare providers and harm reduction task forces seek to increase access to naloxone, a prescription drug known to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. This report provides an overview of the barriers and opportunities for the state of Maine to expand access to the opioid antagonist, naloxone, in an effort to reduce fatal opioid drug overdose rates.

Policy Options For Recruiting And Retaining Rural Primary Care Physicians In Maine, Casey Lancaster

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Maine faces a challenge providing primary care services to over half of its residents, as they live in rural areas – even though Maine has enough primary care physicians practicing in the state to service the needs of the population. Maine has a primary care physician distribution problem. Androscoggin, Oxford, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, Washington, and York Counties, all fall well below the national average of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents. Maine has no true financial incentive program to help rural area’s recruit and retain primary care physicians, though Maine does have two programs that attempt to get primary care …

Breaking Barriers To Achieve The Superintendency, Becky J. Foley Phd

All Student Scholarship

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the phenomenon of the external and internal barriers that exist for women administrators in Maine seeking to reach the school superintendency. During the 2014-2015 school year in Maine, females comprised only 21 percent of all superintendents. While there is research about the shortage of superintendents nationwide, there is scant research from the female perspective. This research provided insights from women’s perspectives about why gender inequality exists at the superintendent level in education in the state of Maine. Through the use of phenomenological interviews, this qualitative research study focused on the views of …

Foodborne Illness Risk Factor Study, Kathi-Anne M. Fortin

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The initial purpose of this capstone was to establish a baseline for the occurrence of the top five foodbome illness risk factors, to write a report on the baseline findings and to develop a plan to repeat this study at least once every 60 months for the Portland Environmental Health & Safety Program. It soon became clear, however, that the scope was too broad. An extensive effort was required to integrate national methodology and comparability principles with the State and local restaurant inspection structure. Subsequently, the focus of the capstone shifted to the development of a comprehensive data collection manual. …

Why Waste Waste? A Strategic Plan To Achieve Zero Waste In Portland, Maine, Nathan J. Broaddus

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

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An Assessment Of The Built Environment And Inclusivity Of Older Adults In Community Planning In Portland, Maine, Elizabeth A. Bissonnette

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This paper focuses on this assessment specific to four: civic participation, housing, transportation, and outdoor spaces and buildings. Four others targeted for study by others include respect and social inclusion, communication and information, community and health services, and social participation. Each domain is reviewed from the perspective of older adults and older although this assessment also benefits people of all ages and abilities. Some data and references were only available with population breakouts of those aged 65 years and older and are noted appropriately.

Visualizing Road Network Congestion To Inform Regional Planning In Southern Maine, G Andrew Smith-Petersen

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

In this analysis, road traffic volumes and capacity estimates are used in conjunction with population data and population change forecasts to visualize the potential for congestion at present, and to project the potential for congestion in 2030. The areas most and least at risk of congestion are identified, so as to inform thought and effort around planning on a regional scale in southern Maine. The area of study includes large portions of York and Cumberland Counties, as well as a small portion of Androscoggin County, in the Greater Portland region.

Exploring Principal Leadership In Improving Elementary Schools, Brian A. Porter Phd

All Student Scholarship

As schools in Maine, and across the nation, are increasingly held to greater standards of accountability in terms of insuring higher levels of student academic growth and achievement, some schools are improving and some are not. Even beyond the constraints of tightening financial impositions and increasing accountability mandates, some are "defying the odds" and producing positive results. This research study sought to explore and understand the characteristics of principal leadership in improving elementary schools in Maine.