Digital Commons Network^™

Bilingual Language Assessment: Contemporary Practice Versus Recommended Practice, Graciela Arias

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students within American school systems, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in school settings must be prepared to distinguish between typically developing bilingual students and those with language impairments. The purpose of this study was to identify current practices of school-based SLPs for bilingual language assessment and compare them to both American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) best practice guidelines, and mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The study was modeled to replicate Caesar and Kohler's (2007) study to include a nationally representative sample. While the survey was opened over 400 times, …

Risk And Protective Factors Associated With Personal Mastery Among Sexual Minority African-American Female Sex Workers, Mance E. Buttram, Hilary L. Surratt, Steven P. Kurtz

CAHSS Faculty Articles

Research among sexual minorities has traditionally examined problems such as substance use, HIV risk, mental health problems, and victimization. Among sexual minority street-based female sex workers, these vulnerabilities can be magnified. Grounded in theories of resilience, this study examines risk and protective factors associated with a high level of personal mastery among a vulnerable population of women. Data are drawn from baseline interviews from street-based African American female sex workers enrolled in a randomized intervention trial in Miami, Florida. We compare sexual minority (N=197) and heterosexual (N=365) women on measures of risk and protective factors; among sexual minority women we …

Medical Education Digest, Vol. 16 No. 6 (November/December 2014), Nova Southeastern University

Medical Education Digest

No abstract provided.

Older Adult Perceptions Of The Assist Program, Joy Anthony

Graduate Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Low Vision Depression Prevention Trial In Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Randomized Clinical Trial., Barry W. Rovner, Robin J Casten, Mark T Hegel, Robert W Massof, Benjamin E Leiby, Allen C Ho, William S Tasman

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of behavior activation (BA) + low vision rehabilitation (LVR) with supportive therapy (ST) + LVR to prevent depressive disorders in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

DESIGN: Single-masked, attention-controlled, randomized, clinical trial with outcome assessment at 4 months.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients with AMD and subsyndromal depressive symptoms attending retina practices (n = 188).

INTERVENTIONS: Before randomization, all subjects had 2 outpatient LVR visits, and were then randomized to in-home BA+LVR or ST+LVR. Behavior activation is a structured behavioral treatment that aims to increase adaptive behaviors and achieve valued goals. Supportive therapy is a nondirective, psychological treatment …

Review Of Toileting Related Fall Data And Proposed Toileting Plan On Tsu An Evidence Based Practice Project, Denise Estephan Rn, Wendy Lebron Bsn, Rn, Cmsrn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

2014 Program, Office Of Academic Affairs

Programs

At its best, a university is a collection of individuals ‐‐ students and faculty ‐‐ focused on learning and discovering new knowledge. For this goal to be realized, a critical element is having faculty members deeply engaged in such discovery within their disciplines. Scholarship, in the form of journal articles, book chapters, monographs and similar endeavors, creative activity which can take an even wider range of forms, and funded research which explores the boundaries of disciplines all contribute to such engagement. Through such participation, faculty members stay at the growing edges of their fields, and in so doing, they enrich …

Functional Behavioral Analysis And Social Scripting For The Older Patient With Schizophrenia: A Staff Development Program, Laura Markwick, Charlene Smith, Diane J. Mick

Nursing Faculty/Staff Publications

Executive functioning is the ability to plan, strategize, organize, and focus on details. Impaired executive functioning plays a significant role in behavior disturbances. Lack of inhibition, impaired abstract reasoning, thought perseverance, rigidity in routine, and lack of insight disrupt social skills and daily life. Autism and schizophrenia present some similar behaviors, including impaired executive functioning, often resulting in pharmacological management as many healthcare professionals receive limited training in executive functioning. Non-pharmacological tools used in autism for behavior management include functional behavioral analysis and social scripting, which help to identify causes of behavior and teach more appropriate behavioral responses. Described here …

Creating An Ongoing Sustainable Culture Of Interprofessional Education And Practice, Cecilia Rokusek, Ed.D., M.Sc., Rdn, Kamilah Thomas-Purcell, Ph.D., Ches, Stacey Pinnock, M.S.W.

JCIPE Conference

Objectives:

Discuss the attitude, knowledge, and skill challenges to address for students, faculty and community clinician in implementing both interprofessional education and practice

Discuss the ongoing work of the university Interprofessional Education Collaborative

Discuss ongoing efforts in evaluation and culture assessment

Dual Task Training For The Geriatric Client: Promoting Attention To Detail, Genevieve Pinto Zipp, Pt, Edd, Catherine Maher, Pt, Dpt

JCIPE Conference

Objectives:

• To describe the impact of dual tasking on the functional mobility of older adults
• To explore the role of interprofessional educational series to impact older adults attention to detail
• To discuss the utilization of technology and social media in dissemination of an interprofessional educational series for older adults

The Significance Of Somatosensory Stimulation To The Hand: Implications For Occupational Therapy Practice, Guy L. Mccormack

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The hands contain numerous nerve endings that are intimately connected to the brain. Mounting evidence supports the concept that willful manipulation of objects contributes to expansion or reorganization of the somatosensory cortex and can produce therapeutic outcomes. In the past decade, research has demonstrated that cortical plasticity can continue throughout adulthood. Brain plasticity is a core principle that demonstrates the ability of the central nervous system to respond to stimuli and modify its structural organization and function as an adaptive response. Occupation-based interventions, which engage the use of the hands, are conceived in this article as a “mindbody” experience because …

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter, Fall 2014

Mid-Atlantic Ethics Committee Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Olfactory Dysfunction Predicts 5-Year Mortality In Older Adults, Jayant M. Pinto, Kristen E. Wroblewski, David W. Kern, L Phillip Schumm, Martha K. Mcclintock

Psychology & Gerontology Faculty Publications

Prediction of mortality has focused on disease and frailty, although antecedent biomarkers may herald broad physiological decline. Olfaction, an ancestral chemical system, is a strong candidate biomarker because it is linked to diverse physiological processes. We sought to determine if olfactory dysfunction is a harbinger of 5-year mortality in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project [NSHAP], a nationally representative sample of older U.S. adults. 3,005 community-dwelling adults aged 57–85 were studied in 2005–6 (Wave 1) and their mortality determined in 2010–11 (Wave 2). Olfactory dysfunction, determined objectively at Wave 1, was used to estimate the odds of 5-year, …

Myasthenia Gravis: A Closer Look, Erin L. Ricker

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare, chronic autoimmune disease that affects the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction (Mestecky, 2013). MG causes fluctuating skeletal muscle weakness and fatigue. According to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) (2010), 20 per 100,000 patients are diagnosed with MG, although researchers believe several more patients are misdiagnosed or missed entirely. Several neurological disorders have similar clinical presentations to MG making it difficult for inexperienced practitioners to identify and properly diagnose patients. Patients are often misdiagnosed and delayed proper treatment for one to two years after initial presentation of symptoms …

Allied Health Student Clinical Placements In Residential Aged Care Facilities: Staff Opinions, Attitudes, And Support Needs, Catherine Johnston, Clint Newstead, Sarah Walmsley, Lesley Macdonald

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: As the population ages, the incidence and prevalence of chronic health issues requiring allied health management is increasing. Currently, there is an undersupply of appropriately skilled allied health professionals working in aged care. This has also been identified as a setting in which many beginning health practitioners are reluctant to seek employment. In order to address this workforce shortage, it is imperative that students are prepared for a possible future career within aged care facilities. Early clinical experience within this setting may increase student confidence, raise awareness of the need for services, and encourage students to consider working in …

Chess Improves Cancer Caregivers' Burden And Mood: Results Of An Ehealth Rct, Lori L. Dubenske, David H. Gustafson, Kang Namkoong, Robert P. Hawkins, Amy K. Atwood, Roger L. Brown, Ming-Yuan Chih, Fiona Mctavish, Cindy L. Carmack, Mary K. Buss, Ramaswamy Govindan, James F. Cleary

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: Informal caregivers (family and friends) of people with cancer are often unprepared for their caregiving role, leading to increased burden or distress. Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) is a Web-based lung cancer information, communication, and coaching system for caregivers. This randomized trial reports the impact on caregiver burden, disruptiveness, and mood of providing caregivers access to CHESS versus the Internet with a list of recommended lung cancer websites.

METHODS: A total of 285 informal caregivers of patients with advanced nonsmall cell lung cancer were randomly assigned to a comparison group that received Internet or a treatment group that …

Nurse Practitioner Screening Practices For Mild Cognitive Impairment In The Older Adult, Margaret Mcilwain

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract

Nurse practitioners (NPs/APRNs) who provide primary care services may be the first line providers in situations where adults present with symptoms of memory loss and forgetfulness. Though protocols are available for evaluating dementia, specific guidelines for evaluating early cognitive changes, Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), are lacking. This descriptive research project assesses the knowledge, current screening methods, and barriers to screening for MCI by nurse practitioners (APRNs) in the state of Georgia. One hundred and thirty two NPs participated in the survey. Forty-five percent of the participants were unfamiliar with the diagnostic category of MCI. Of the major barriers identified, …

Upaya Perlindungan Anak Melalui Pelayanan Shelter Anak : Studi Deskriptif Rumah Peduli Anak Tenaga Kerja Indonesia, Dyah Susilowati, Sofyan Cholid

Jurnal Ilmu Kesejahteraan Sosial

This research discussed about the efforts of child protection through the implementation of shelter children service at Rumah Peduli Anak Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (RPA-TKI). The purpose of this research is to describe on the protection of and services provided by RPA-TKI to children who are vulnerable to the TKI neglect and child trafficking. This research is qualitative research with the kind of descriptive research. The results of this research described that the service which is provided by RPA-TKI is child protection services in the form of children’s shelter in order to meet the basic needs of TKI’s children. The service …

Relationships Among Uncertainty, Coping, And Psychological Distress In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Jennifer Sjostedt Avery

Dissertations (1934 -)

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has an average prevalence of 18.9% and most often affects people 60 years of age or older. It is a cognitive stage between normal functioning and dementia (Petersen, 2003; Petersen, 2011; Petersen et al., 2014). MCI can be broken into two subtypes classified by the presence of memory impairment (amnestic MCI) or the lack thereof (nonamnestic MCI). Medical diagnostic criteria are commonly used to guide research with older adults with MCI. A theoretical framework that addresses the antecedents and consequences of MCI, specifically one examining the relationships among MCI, uncertainty, coping and psychological distress, is essential …

Interpersonal Communication In The Context Of Dementia: Examining Family Caregivers' Appraisals And Burden, Stacy Lynn Barnes

Dissertations (1934 -)

Purpose and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore dementia family caregivers' appraisals of communication behaviors and strategies, and their relationships to caregiver burden. Study objectives were to investigate: 1) the relationship between frequency of dementia-related communication behaviors and caregivers' appraisals of frustration; 2) the relationship between caregivers' use of communication strategies and appraisals of helpfulness; 3) the structural relationships between communication behavior appraisal, communication strategy appraisal, problem behaviors, and caregiver burden; and 4) caregiver education level as a moderating variable of the final structural model. Methods: A written, mailed questionnaire was developed to capture dementia family caregivers' …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Time To Cure Of Incontinence Present At Nursing Home Admission, Donna Z. Bliss, Olga Gurvich, Kay Savik, Lynn Eberly, Susan Harms, Jean F. Wyman

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Abstract

As many as half of older people that are admitted to nursing homes (NHs) are incontinent of urine and/or feces. Not much is known about the rate of cure of incontinence present at NH admission, but available reports suggest the rate is low. There have been racial and ethnic disparities in incontinence treatment, but the role of disparities in the cure of incontinence is understudied. Using the Peters-Belson method and multilevel predictors, our findings showed that there were disparities in the time to cure of incontinence for Hispanic NH admissions. A significantly smaller proportion of older Hispanic admissions were …

Who Cares? Caregiver Well-Being In Europe, Leah Ruppanner, Georgiana Bostean

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

This paper analyzes a multi-national sample comparing self-reported well-being of those who provide dependent care to that of non-caregivers. We pair individual-level data from the 2004 European Social Survey (ESS) for respondents in 22 nations (n=41,000+) with country-level measures of attitudinal support for co-residential familial caregiving (2007 Eurobarometer), old age and family public transfers (OECD Social Expenditures Database, 2014) and economic development (GDP). Using multi-level modeling, we examine the association between country-level co-residential familial attitudes and public spending and individual-level caregiver well-being, comparing effects by gender. We find that: (1) caregiving is differentially associated with well-being for men and women; …

The Impact Of Waist Circumference On Function And Physical Activity In Older Adults: Longitudinal Observational Data From The Osteoarthritis Initiative, John A. Batsis, Alicia J. Zbehlik, Laura K. Barre, Todd A. Mackenzie, Stephen J. Bartels

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: We previously demonstrated that BMI is associated with functional decline and reduced quality of life. While BMI in older adults is fraught with challenges, waist circumference (WC) is a marker of visceral adiposity that can also predict mortality. However, its association with function and quality of life in older adults is not well understood and hence we sought to examine the impact of WC on six-year outcomes.

Methods: We identified adults aged ≥60 years from the longitudinal Osteoarthritis Initiative and stratified the cohort into quartiles based on WC. Our primary outcome measures of function at six year follow-up included: …

The Baystate Frailty Study, John Budrow, Mihaela Stefan Md, Tara Lagu Md, Keith Spencer

All Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Cooking Healthy, Eating Smart (Ches): Evaluating The Feasibility Of Using Volunteers To Deliver Nutrition And Food Safety Education To Rural Older Adults, Morgan Getty

All Theses

Due to their limited resources, rural, older adults in the United States are at risk for poor diet-related health outcomes. Nutrition education is a key component in improving health outcomes in older adults. Cooking Healthy, Eating Smart (CHES) is a nine-lesson curriculum designed to teach rural, older adults culturally appropriate nutrition and food safety information. Funding to hire health professionals to deliver such a curriculum is limited, presenting the need to explore a less expensive mode of dissemination. In this community-based, participatory research study, a formative evaluation and feasibility study were conducted to examine the use of volunteers to deliver …

Department Of Surgery Update, August 2014, Wright State University Department Of Surgery

Department of Surgery Updates

A two page newsletter created by the Department of Surgery documenting changes to the department. This issue contains a message from the chair, a list of important dates, announcements, committee meetings, scholarly activity and more.

A Qualitative Study Of The Perceived Health Care Needs Of Undocumented Latino Day Laborers Living In Las Vegas, Nevada, Siboney Zelaya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Undocumented (unauthorized, illegal) immigrants seek employment on the street corners near home improvement stores offering their services and selling their labor to the employers who arrive in their cars or trucks to pick them up for a few hours of hard work. The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States continues to increase. By percentage of overall population, Nevada has one of the largest shares of undocumented immigrants in the United States, and the bulk of that percentage is Latino.

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study is to gain knowledge about undocumented Latino day laborers' perceived health …

Methodological Quality And Study Report Characteristics Of Current Nursing Education Research, Staci Lynn Warnert

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The state of the science of nursing education is determined by the extent of and characteristics of nursing education research. Based on previous research findings, the methodological quality of nursing education research could be much higher. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the methodological quality, funding, journal impact factor, international nature, and areas of inquiry of current nursing education research (Aim 1). The study also aimed to determine research characteristic differences between current nursing education research and research published four to six years ago (Aim 2).

For Aim 1, this study was a cross-sectional design study. Nursing education …

Grandfamilies Outcome Workgroup’S (Grow) Review Of Grandfamilies Support Groups: An Examination Of Concepts, Goals, Outcomes And Measures, Kerry A. Littlewood

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

A support group is the most widely used intervention for grandparents and other relatives raising children. Support groups require few resources to establish and are relatively inexpensive to implement. Despite the popularity of support groups for grandfamilies, there is little evidence evaluating their effectiveness to improve the lives of its members. In response to this issue and to support outcome-based research in the field, the Grandfamilies Outcome Workgroup (GrOW) was established. This study highlights GrOW’s review of the literature on the effectiveness of support groups for grandfamilies. Next, the GrOW Inventory of Support Groups (GrOW Inventory) was developed to explore …

The Impact Of Fear Of Falling On Functional Independence Among Older Adults Receiving Home Health Services, Katherine A. Lawson, Eugenia Catalina Gonzalez

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Falls are the fifth leading cause of death for adults aged 65 years and older. Several intrinsic and extrinsic fall risk factors have been identified, butthere is less understanding of the impact of a fear of falling on falls. Seventy percent of recent fallers and 40% percent of non-fallers report a fear of falling. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between a fear of falling and a history of falls, as well as the impact on the functional independence of community-dwelling older adults receiving home health services.

Methods: The participants completed the …