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Introducing Motivational Interviewing Skills To Community Health Workers, Stella Antony

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Abstract

Background: Rural population accounts for 15% of the population in the United States of America. Rural residents have a higher risk of health disparities than urban populations. The significant health inequities in the underprivileged population include a higher incidence of chronic diseases, lack of access to healthy foods, unhealthy eating habits, lack of access to health care, poor socioeconomic status, lack of health insurance, cultural and language barriers, and lack of health literacy. Local Problem: The population in Fresno and Tulare Counties in Central Valley, California is underprivileged, lacks access to proper health care and has higher rates of …

Multilingualism And Augmentative Alternative Communication: A Review Of The Literature, Hannah N. Lamarca, Natalie R. Andzik

Honors Capstones

Purpose: Individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who use Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) are often offered English-only AAC systems that do not meet their language needs. Devices that host multiple languages often only offer one at a time.

Method: The authors reviewed the literature by searching relevant databases using a variety of search strings. Following our inclusionary and exclusionary criteria, 15 articles were yielded for analysis.

Results: Authors found that more than half of the included articles were discussion-based papers on AAC delivery, barriers to AAC and multilingualism, and codeswitching using AAC. The included interview studies aimed to …

Examining Asian Americans' Perceived Barriers To Healthcare Access, Kathleen Nguyen, Jennifer Ramos

Honors Thesis

This research aimed to examine Asian Americans and their perceived barriers to healthcare access. Asian Americans, due to not being a homogenous ethnic group, experience health disparities that are different to those that other ethnic groups experience. Compared to whites in America, Asian Americans are less likely to have job-based insurance coverage and because of this are then less likely to be insured (Brown et al., 2000). Additionally, the most common perceived barriers to accessing healthcare for Asian Americans are cultural attitudes, financial and socioeconomic status, as well as language barriers. These barriers found in the literature served as the …

Black Male Educator Shortage In The Mississippi Public School System: Impact, Challenges, And Intervention Strategies, Jilkiah Bryant

Honors Theses

The shortage of Black male educators in Mississippi's public school systems is a critical issue with far-reaching implications for the state's education system. Despite the state's sizable Black population, the percentage of Black male teachers remains disproportionately low, and there is little evidence of progress being made to address this issue. This paper examines the impact of the Black male educator shortage on Mississippi's education system, the challenges faced by Black male educators, and related intervention strategies to increase the number of Black male teachers in Mississippi's public school systems. Through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with Black male …

Art Therapy: Mechanisms Of Change And Identity: A Heuristic Study, Kirsten O'Loughlin

Art Therapy Counseling Final Research Projects

The aim of this arts based heuristic study was to uncover emergent themes through an intensive immersion in clay work to deepen my own embodiment and understanding of my identity as an art therapist in training and artist. As I moved through the immersion process, I experienced several mechanisms of change often theorized as reasons why art therapy works. By experiencing these mechanisms of change on a personal level, I have strengthened my ability to understand how these mechanisms work and their potential effects on clients. This has led to a better understanding and acceptance of my identity and the …

Lessons Learned From All For Them: Best Practices For A Cross-Collaboration Approach To Hpv Vaccination In Public Schools, Paula M Cuccaro, Jihye Choi, Efrat K Gabay, J Michael Wilkerson, Diane Santa Maria, Sanghamitra M Misra, Mayra Aguilar Mcbride, Sally W Vernon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Community Preventive Services Task Force endorses vaccination programs in schools to increase access to vaccinations. However, implementing a school-based approach requires substantial coordination, planning, and resources. All for Them (AFT) is a multilevel, multicomponent approach to increase HPV vaccination among adolescents attending public schools in medically underserved areas in Texas. AFT comprised a social marketing campaign, school-based vaccination clinics, and school nurse continuing education. Process evaluation metrics and key informant interviews to understand experiences with AFT program implementation informed lessons learned. Lessons emerged in six domains: strong champion, school-level support, tailored and cost-effective marketing approaches, mobile provider collaboration, community …

Detecting Medication-Taking Gestures Using Machine Learning And Accelerometer Data Collected Via Smartwatch Technology: Instrument Validation Study, Chrisogonas Odero Odhiambo, Lukacs Ablonczy, Pamela J. Wright, Cynthia F. Corbett

Publications

BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is a global public health challenge, as only approximately 50% of people adhere to their medication regimens. Medication reminders have shown promising results in terms of promoting medication adherence. However, practical mechanisms to determine whether a medication has been taken or not, once people are reminded, remain elusive. Emerging smartwatch technology may more objectively, unobtrusively, and automatically detect medication taking than currently available methods. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the feasibility of detecting natural medication-taking gestures using smartwatches. METHODS: A convenience sample (N=28) was recruited using the snowball sampling method. During data collection, each participant recorded …

Evaluation Of Available Medical Interpretation Resources Available To Spanish-Speaking Patients In Nj Ahec Counties, Magdalene Lederer, Cindy Nativi, Madhav Patel, Joseph Mendoza, Nhi Tran, Yesha Patel, Melissa Vincent, Rebecca Moore

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

According to the US Census Bureau Spanish is the most common non-English language spoken in the US. Despite the growing population of Spanish-speaking individuals, most healthcare providers can only communicate in English. Linguistic differences between patients and providers have been identified to impact the quality of care received, therefore, it is not surprising that Spanish-speaking patients have been found to be less satisfied with healthcare. Language barriers in healthcare lead to poor compliance and underuse of services which eventually negatively impact health outcomes. Several studies found that the most effective communication tools are often underutilized, with healthcare providers relying on …

Redefining Anger For Sexual And Gender Minorities Using Art As A Visual Voice, Kirsten Ranheim

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Art therapy is an increasingly popular approach for addressing trauma and anger in clinical settings. This literature review explores the connections between art therapy, trauma, gender, and anger, drawing on a range of studies and theoretical perspectives. Background is provided on the history of anger within the context of societal institutions, interpersonal power dynamics, psychiatric nosology, and social justice movements. The review concludes that art therapy is ideally suited as a trauma-informed approach to addressing anger in the therapeutic setting. This is due to the unique opportunities that art making provides for helping individuals express and process their emotions nonverbally, …

The Effect Of Exercise Interventions On Cognitive Functions In Individuals With Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Emma Moreland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Purpose: Previous research showed that exercise positively impacts cognition, specifically executive functioning. This systematic review aims to determine the impact of exercise on cognitive functions in people with Down Syndrome.

Method: A systematic review of the research literature related to the influence of exercise on cognition for individuals with Down syndrome was carried out. Included studies were evaluated for level of evidence and appraised for strength of study design. Post-intervention change score differences between groups were analyzed using effect sizes (Hedge’s g).

Results: Fifteen intervention studies met inclusionary criteria and were included in the systematic review. Levels of evidence for …

Qualitative Development Of Items For A Young Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder Screener, David Roehm

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits across multiple domains such as deficits in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. The prevalence of ASD has increased over time, and while there are ample screeners and assessments for children, there is a distinct lack of screeners for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 years. The present study focused on exploring the gap in screeners for ASD in young adults and assessing the insight of experts in the field toward the development of a screener for ASD in young adults. Participants (N = …

Efficacy Of Coping Strategies On Emotional Regulation For Individuals With Childhood Trauma, Alyssa Szatmary

MOT Student Capstones

In childhood, individuals may be exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and carry the weight of the trauma throughout the lifespan. Childhood trauma can have a negative impact on mental health, causing emotional dysregulation, and influencing perspective, actions, and social patterns. Individuals who have experienced childhood trauma may improve their quality of life by creating resilience, advocating a healthy lifestyle, and developing adaptive, coping strategies to cope with adverse, or major life events. In the Upper Cumberland of Tennessee, there are limited resources within the community that targets this population. This capstone project aims to assess the differences in emotional …

Factors Affecting The Success And Persistence Of Pre-Nursing Students, Leslie Ann Jennings

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

This article-based dissertation consists of two manuscripts related to factors affecting the success and persistence of pre-nursing students. The first manuscript was a matched cohort study that compared selected academic variables between two groups of pre-nursing students admitted to a pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program via two different routes. The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any differences in academic performance between these two groups of students in the first semester of a formal nursing program. Analyses of the data revealed a difference in semester grade point average (GPA), but no significant differences in the RN Fundamentals …

An Evaluation Of A Structural Competency Training For School Nurses, Rachel J. Torres

Doctoral Projects

The aim of this quality improvement project was to use structural competency as a tool to highlight the broad social, political, and economic structures that influence health and subsequent inequities and disparities. A one group, pre-and post-design quality improvement project was used to determine whether the Structural Competency Working Group curriculum influenced school nurses’ thought processes regarding the factors that influence health outcomes. The curriculum was adapted to a 1.5-hour training and delivered to a group of school nurses from a highly populated and socially, economically, and culturally diverse urban county in northern California. The results showed that after the …

The Relationship Between Communicative Confidence And Identity In Everyday Life For People With Aphasia, Karina Escobar

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Aphasia is primarily a neurological language disorder, which can also affect cognition, attention, and executive functioning skills. In recent years, researcher has taken an interest in understanding quality of life for people with aphasia, specifically communicative confidence, social relationships, and identity. The aim of this study was to determine how communicative confidence and social relationships affect a person’s identity, as well as the importance of therapy groups. We designed and used confidence and independence survey scales pre-aphasia, post-aphasia but before attending aphasia therapy groups, and post-aphasia and after having attended aphasia therapy groups. We also asked clarifying questions based on …

What Cognitive Processes Drive Attentional Bias, And How Does Stress Affect Them?, Colton L. Hunter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attentional biases toward or away from emotionally evocative stimuli have been well documented and related to clinical outcomes such as social anxiety. Some work has suggested that stress modulates attentional biases, but there are a number of inconsistencies in this literature regarding the direction of that modulation, highlighting a need to examine moderators of that effect. Sex differences in stress effects could potentially explain this inconsistency, as acute stress can affect males and females differently. It is also possible that stress differentially influences multiple component processes underpinning attentional bias, but these processes have not been well character, and to date …

The Effects Of An Intervention Using Pokemon Trading Card Game On The Decoding Abilities Of Children, Derek Emmett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study focuses on illustrating the relationship between word decoding instruction and word decoding abilities within the context of a trading card game. Additionally, an argument for reading motivation and improvement of literacy skills is made. Three participants between the ages of 9 and 13 were recruited for participation in this study. Several decoding strategies such as phonemic awareness and morphological awareness strategies were implemented and trained over the course of several trading card games. Performance in decoding of several lists of compiled nonwords following treatment phases were systematically measured by the researcher. Two of the three participants demonstrated …

The Utility Of Machine Learning For Predicting Donor Discard In Abdominal Transplantation, Rowland W Pettit, Britton B Marlatt, Travis J Miles, Selim Uzgoren, Stuart J Corr, Anil Shetty, Jim Havelka, Abbas Rana

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Increasing access and better allocation of organs in the field of transplantation is a critical problem in clinical care. Limitations exist in accurately predicting allograft discard. Potential exists for machine learning to provide a balanced assessment of the potential for an organ to be used in a transplantation procedure.

Methods: We accessed and utilized all available deceased donor United Network for Organ Sharing data from 1987 to 2020. With these data, we evaluated the performance of multiple machine learning methods for predicting organ use. The machine learning methods trialed included XGBoost, random forest, Naïve Bayes (NB), logistic regression, and …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Efforts Among Healthcare Providers And Systems In The United States, Peyton Jobe

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare patient experiences measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey to healthcare provider’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a patient survey given upon patient discharge. The results cumulate to score hospitals on patient experiences. In the sample, there were 392 hospital websites that were evaluated for the existence of policies, procedures, or statements related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts or stances. Of those, 121 of the hospitals received the lowest possible rating for patient experience …

Unheard Victims Of Covid-19: The Impact Of Mask Use On Communication For D/Deaf And Hard Of Hearing People, Kym Couch

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Masks are effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, but they also impact communication for d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people. This research is a mixed methods approach to analyzing the impact that the widespread use of masks in response to COVID-19 has had on DHH people. Building on the allowance for nuance and paradox presented by Deborah Stone in her book Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (2012) and holding to the Social Model of Disability, this research involves the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a survey of one-hundred and ninety-eight (198) DHH people, interviews with …

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Computerized Battery For Neuropsychological Evaluation Of Children (Benci) Among School Aged Children In The Context Of Hiv In An Urban Kenyan Setting, Rachel Maina, He Jia, Amina Abubakar, Miguel Perez-Garcia, Manasi Kumar, Jelte M. Wicherts

Brain and Mind Institute

Introduction Culturally validated neurocognitive measures for children in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries are important in the timely and correct identification of neurocognitive impairments. Such measures can inform develop‐ ment of interventions for children exposed to additional vulnerabilities like HIV infection. The Battery for Neuropsy‐ chological Evaluation of Children (BENCI) is an openly available, computerized neuropsychological battery specifically developed to evaluate neurocognitive impairment. This study adapted the BENCI and evaluated its reliability and validity in Kenya.

Methodology The BENCI was adapted using translation and back‐translation from Spanish to English. The psy‐ chometric properties were evaluated in a case–control study of 328 …

A Proof Of Concept For Detection Of Palato-Lingual Contact Without Intraoral Electrodes In A Human Participant, Amitava Biswas

Master's Theses

The author of this thesis conceived and investigated an unexpected electrical signal that may not be noticed during regular electroglottography (EGG) when electrodes are conventionally placed on the anterior surface of the throat. It appears that there is a measurable electrical signal from the EGG equipment when electrodes are placed over the frontal cheek (belly of zygomatic muscle), and the tongue is elevated to contact the hard palate, or the tongue is lowered to break the contact. Therefore, this phenomenon is designated as unconventional electroglottography (UEGG, Dr. Steven Cloud, private communication, July 17, 2022).

Two distinctive patterns of waveforms were …

Enhancement Of A Peer Mentorship Program For Student Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Cassie Starrett, Katrina Harlan

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Nurse anesthesia programs are associated with rigorous didactic work, doctoral projects, long clinical days, and high levels of financial debt (Mesisca & Mainwaring, 2021). Doctoral students experience significantly higher levels of stress than other graduate students, necessitating resources that support emotional wellness (Griffin et al., 2017). A mentorship program for student registered nurse anesthesiologists (SRNA) may help minimize perceived stress and lessen the adverse physical and psychological effects. While mentorships foster both personal and professional success for mentees, mentors also report increased interest in professional development, productivity, and satisfaction (Flexman & Gelb, 2011). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness …

Ots Delivering Culturally Sensitive Care For Dementia Family Caregivers From Diverse Backgrounds, Abraham Lai, Lucy Palacios Mendez, Darren Sarmiento

Occupational Therapy | MSOT Capstone Projects

As occupational therapists, addressing key cultural barriers that may obstruct access to dementia care and education for individuals with dementia and their caregivers from diverse backgrounds is a priority for client-centered care. Stress, racial discrimination, and distrust may exacerbate symptoms and prevalence of dementia in certain populations, such as Chinese- Americans and Latinx (Quinones et al. 2020). Immigrants’ experiences of aging and health are diverse due to belonging to different socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups and having varying levels of education and work experience (R. S. 2020). There are existing cultural differences regarding caregiving and family networks, perception and …

Using Natural Language Processing To Automatically Identify Dysplasia In Pathology Reports For Patients With Barrett's Esophagus, Theresa Nguyen Wenker, Yamini Natarajan, Kadon Caskey, Francisco Novoa, Nabil Mansour, Huy Anh Pham, Jason K Hou, Hashem B El-Serag, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Identifying dysplasia of Barrett's esophagus (BE) in the electronic medical record (EMR) requires manual abstraction of unstructured data. Natural language processing (NLP) creates structure to unstructured free text. We aimed to develop and validate an NLP algorithm to identify dysplasia in BE patients on histopathology reports with varying report formats in a large integrated EMR system.

METHODS: We randomly selected 600 pathology reports for NLP development and 400 reports for validation from patients with suspected BE in the national Veterans Affairs databases. BE and dysplasia were verified by manual review of the pathology reports. We used NLP …

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perceptions Of The Severity Of Speech Sound Disorder, Alexis Moser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs’) perceptions regarding the concept of severity of speech sound disorder (SSD).

Methods: An online survey of 40 questions was created using REDCap® and disseminated to currently practicing SLPs across the United States. A total of 296 responses were completed, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and coding according to grounded theory.

Results: The top five factors SLPs consider when determining SSD severity are types of errors, intelligibility, perceptual judgment, normative data, and percentile rankings. Most SLPs were unfamiliar with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health …

Mental Illness And Substance Use Disorder (Sud) Among Pregnant And Postpartum Women In A Women's Residential Treatment Center In El Paso, Texas, Adren Darius Warling

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) and opioid use disorders (OUDs) are a major public health concern in the United States. SUD/OUDs are often linked to co-occurring physical disorders and serious mental illness (SMI). Stress and trauma are often contributing factors to the development of SUD/OUD and/or co-occurring SMI, which impact pregnant and postpartum women (PPW), who concurrently, may face specific risk factors and barriers to care for these conditions. These risk factors and barriers to care may be exacerbated by Hispanic/Latino identities. Studying social determinants of health based on a social ecological model approach can help increase knowledge about this …

The Effects Of Using Baby Sign Training On The Interactions Between Mothers And Infants, Ayzzar Gurrola

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Baby sign has been becoming more popular and known through the publication of parenting books and websites dedicated to its use. Research continues to blossom on the subject, demonstrating that it is indeed beneficial on many levels for both the infant and their caregiver. Several researchers have implicated the effects of baby sign on infantsâ?? cognitive and behavioral development. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of a baby sign training on the interactions of mothers and their babies. Five typically developing infants between the ages of eight and fourteen months and their parent participated in this …

Critical Role Of The Ventral Temporal Lobe In Naming, Kathryn M Snyder, Kiefer J Forseth, Cristian Donos, Patrick S Rollo, Simon Fischer-Baum, Joshua Breier, Nitin Tandon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Lexical retrieval deficits are characteristic of a variety of different neurological disorders. However, the exact substrates responsible for this are not known. We studied a large cohort of patients undergoing surgery in the dominant temporal lobe for medically intractable epilepsy (n = 95) to localize brain regions that were associated with anomia.

METHODS: We performed a multivariate voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping analysis to correlate surgical lesions within the temporal lobe with changes in naming ability. Additionally, we used a surface-based mixed-effects multilevel analysis to estimate group-level broadband gamma activity during naming across a subset of patients with electrocorticographic recordings and …

Brain Engagement During A Cognitive Flexibility Task Relates To Academic Performance In English Learners, Tehila Nugiel, Mackenzie E Mitchell, Damion V Demeter, Annacarolina Garza, Paul T Cirino, Arturo E Hernandez, Jenifer Juranek, Jessica A Church

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

English Learners (ELs), students from non-English-speaking backgrounds, are a fast-growing, understudied, group of students in the U.S. with unique learning challenges. Cognitive flexibility—the ability to switch between task demands with ease—may be an important factor in learning for ELs as they have to manage learning in their non-dominant language and access knowledge in multiple languages. We used functional MRI to measure cognitive flexibility brain activity in a group of Hispanic middle school ELs (N = 63) and related it to their academic skills. We found that brain engagement during the cognitive flexibility task was related to both out-of-scanner reading …