Digital Commons Network^™

Effect Of Ginseng On Obesity And Neurogenesis, Hayden L. Withers, Claudia A. Grillo, Lawrence P. Reagan, Natalia Maciejewska, Sai V. Nallu, Jennifer L. Woodruff

Senior Theses

Obesity and major depressive disorder are two conditions with high comorbidity as well as overlapping pathophysiological mechanisms, including neuroinflammation, metabolic/endocrine dysfunction, and impaired hippocampal neurogenesis. Panax ginseng, a medicinal herb, is known to demonstrate anti-inflammatory and metabolic regulatory properties. Ginseng has demonstrated its effective antidepressant-like effects within preclinical studies, but its potential to restore neurogenesis in the context of obesity-induced depression is not clear. Within this study, male Sprague-Dawley rats were tested in either a high fat diet (HFD) or control diet (Cont) for 12 weeks and then was treated subsequently with daily intraperitoneal injections of either ginseng or saline …

Empowering Mothers: Occupational Therapy Video Series For Postpartum Depression, Brenda J. Ramos

Student Capstone Papers

The purpose of this research is to highlight the importance of maternal mental health and the use of self-regulation techniques to improve PPD. OTs can use self-regulation techniques as an intervention to assist mothers feel regulated and get through day-to-day tasks.

Gamification And Serious Games In Undergraduate Nursing Education For Disaster Preparedness In The United States, Jacob Fast

Dissertations

Disaster preparedness is a critical component of undergraduate nursing education, yet traditional instructional approaches often inadequately prepare students for the complexity and uncertainty of real-world emergencies. Emerging literature suggests that gamification and serious games may enhance engagement and applied learning; however, limited research has examined their integration within nursing curricula from the perspective of faculty responsible for instructional design. This convergent mixed-methods study investigated the extent of integration, perceived effectiveness, and practical utility of gamification and serious games in undergraduate nursing education for disaster preparedness. Quantitative data were collected through a national survey of faculty teaching in CCNE- and ACEN-accredited …

Effects Of Ndbi With Just-In-Time Programming Of Vsds On Communication Of Children With Asd, Jenna M. Rogers

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prominent neurological and developmental disability that often requires communication support, such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). Visual Scene Displays (VSDs) are an AAC support that directly immerses in the user’s life, using images from real environments the user has or may experience. Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) is an evidence-based approach to early intervention that targets social communication during naturalistic routines, including those who rely on AAC support to communicate. Despite recent research indicating that combining NDBI and AAC is a promising approach (Pope et al., 2024), no studies to date have examined …

Neurophenomenology: A Research Method Combining Neuroscience And Philosophy, Jonas Lokensgard

Posters - 2026

Neurophenomenology – Cognitive Sciences + Phenomenology Phenomenology – the study of consciousness (basically just how you experience things) Cognitive Sciences – The study of the functional processes of the mind, and the operations of the brain that enable these processes to be performed. (“Cognitive Science” 2004)

Efficacy, Acceptability, And Feasibility Of Stayquit For Sustaining Smoking Abstinence After Psychiatric Hospitalization: A Pilot Study, Corinne N. Kacmarek, Hannah C. Smith, Alicia Lucksted, Lan Li, Laché Wilkins, Gabriella Coakley, Peter Phalen, Deborah Medoff, Faith Dickerson, Julie Kreyenbuhl, Melanie E. Bennett

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Veterans with mental illness have high rates of tobacco use and psychiatric hospitalization in the Veterans Health Administration (VA). VA is smoke-free, and guidelines recommend that smoking cessation medication and counseling be delivered during and one month after hospitalization to sustain abstinence. Little is known about how patients experience this intervention. This pilot study evaluated the acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy of an evidence-informed, novel smoking intervention, StayQuit, for psychiatric inpatients.

Methods: Participants were recruited from an inpatient VA psychiatric unit. Changes in self-reported cigarettes smoked per day, nicotine dependence, and abstinence self-efficacy were evaluated between baseline and 12-week follow …

Comparison Of Levels Of Bmi, Stress, And Depression Of Women During The Prenatal Period Relative To Their Activity Levels, Kalayna King

Honors Theses

This study aimed to analyze the relationships between activity levels, Body Mass Index (BMI), stress levels, and depression symptoms in obese pregnant women in Arkansas. Two separate exercise intervention studies were combined in this analysis to ultimately give a sample size of 293 pregnant women who were randomized into standard of care group (control) and an exercise group (treatment/experimental) (n = 115 and n = 178, respectively). Women in the control groups were instructed to independently continue to follow the physical activity guidelines recommended by their gynecologist, whereas the experimental groups participated in a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise …

Patient Views On Blood-Based Biomarker Tests For Alzheimer's Disease In Primary Care, Andrea Russell, Abigail Vogeley, Rebecca Lovett, Rachel O’Conor, Stephanie Batio, Jeimmy Hurtado, Morgan Bonham, Julia Benavente, Adam Brickman, Chinedu Momoh

Brain and Mind Institute

INTRODUCTION Blood-based biomarkers could offer accessible, cost-effective detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in primary care. This study examined patient attitudes toward AD biomarker testing.

METHODS Crosssectional surveys were conducted with 572 adults from Chicago-area clinics. Participants received brief education on biomarker tests before completing the survey.

RESULTS Most participants (83.8%) were unfamiliar with biomarker tests; 1.8% previously completed testing. After brief education, most (94.5%) supported offering tests to patients with memory complaints, and 85% were willing to complete testing if recommended by their clinician. Facilitators included tests informing clinical care, coverage by insurance, and education in advance. Barriers included cost …

Reducing The Incidence Of Acute Care Falls In Medical-Surgical Psychiatric Adult Patients, Ijeoma Nwosu

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

The purpose of this scholarly project was to implement a multifactorial fall prevention program within a medical-surgical psychiatric unit. The program was intended to reduce the incidence of falls, strengthen staff compliance, and bridge the gap of fall education. The interventions were developed based on evidence-based fall prevention strategies. The project was implemented within a large healthcare organization in the Texas Medical Center (TMC) located in Houston, Texas. The project utilized the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework. Staff were given education prior to implementation and reeducation during the project cycle. Visual guides were created to guide staff and assist with documentation expectations. …

2026 Research Day Program, Lincoln Memorial University

Research Day

This program contains abstracts and presentation summaries from LMU's 2026 Annual Research Day conference.

We Are Each One Second Away From Being Someone Else's Patient, Paul B. Freeman Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Editorial

Modeling Early Indicators For Success In An Associate Degree In Nursing Program, Joseph D. Moss

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Persistent nursing workforce shortages across the United States have increased the importance of Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) programs as primary entry points into the profession. Community colleges prepare a substantial portion of the nursing workforce; however, attrition within ADN programs limits the number of graduates entering practice. Understanding factors associated with academic performance and program completion is essential for strengthening nursing education pathways and supporting workforce development. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine early academic and sociodemographic factors associated with successful completion of an ADN program at a suburban community college.

Guided by Becker’s Human Capital …

Ptsd Symptoms And Cannabis Use Among College Students: Examining The Role Of Trauma-Related Cannabis Use To Cope, Christopher T. Latourrette

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more than four times as likely to develop cannabis use disorder (CUD) as those without PTSD. This common co-occurrence is often interpreted through a self-medication framework in which cannabis is used to manage PTSD symptoms. Prior work has relied heavily on veteran samples, includes measures of cannabis coping that are not specific to PTSD, and has most commonly examined total PTSD symptom severity, limiting precision in understanding how discrete symptom clusters relate to cannabis outcomes. The present study sought to examine associations between individual PTSD symptom clusters and cannabis use severity and to …

“Recollecting The Told Story”: Storytelling, Activism, And The Black Maternal Health Emergency, Lamaya C. Williams

English Theses & Dissertations

Storytelling is a foundational component of Black knowledge creation and transmission. This dissertation centers Black women’s stories of birth and mothering—drawing on both primary source birth stories and fictional narratives—to examine the United States’ Black Maternal Health Emergency (BMHE). The BMHE is a complex and urgent issue wherein structural racism, medical bias, and intersecting social determinants disproportionately endanger the health of Black mothers. As such, Black mothers in the United States are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related condition compared to their white counterparts.

This study examines the birth stories of women who survived the BMHE and …

Analyzing Pressure Injury Trends Among Hospitalized Older Adults From Tarrant County, Oluwafunto M. Olorundare

2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects

Pressure injuries occur when skin and underlying tissues are damaged due to unrelieved pressure that reduces blood circulation to the affected area. Hospitalized older adults are vulnerable to pressure injuries due to factors such as limited mobility, physiological changes associated with aging, chronic conditions, and longer hospital stays. Despite multiple studies on the prevalence and incidence of pressure injuries at the national and global levels, there is limited research that analyzes trends among hospitalized older adults at the county level, specifically Tarrant County. This research aims to examine pressure injury trends among hospitalized older adults residing in Tarrant County. Using …

Reducing Humpty Dumpty Syndrome In Pediatric Inpatients, Jeanene Burns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Doctor of Nursing Practice project examined pediatric inpatient falls. The healthcare agency involved in the project identified concerns regarding pediatric inpatient falls. Data were collected on pediatric inpatient falls that occurred on two nursing units at this agency based on the Generalized Risk Assessment for Pediatric Inpatient Falls and the Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention Scale. Results from the project indicated marginal statistical significance, with approximately a 60% reduction in falls after the implementation of the Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention Scale. A recommendation for future research is a comparison of the two pediatric fall risk assessment tools after the Humpty …

Exploring How Parental Involvement Impacts Police Encounters And Delinquent Behaviors Among Black Adolescent Girls, Danielle Porter, Elizabeth A. Otto, Dyamon Brown, Jasmine Alli, Robyn Douglas, Noni Gaylord-Harden

Presentations

Adolescents’ contact with police is a complex outcome that is influenced by both individual behavior and the broader social context. Specifically, while delinquent behavior can lead to more police contact (Crutchfield et al., 2012), hyper-surveillance often occurs in marginalized communities, increasing unjustified police contact for youth of color (Campos-Manzo et al., 2020; Geller, 2021). Indeed, racial disparities in police contact during adolescence persist even after accounting for delinquent behavior (Campos-Manzo et al., 2020; Crutchfield et al., 2012). Thus, it is important to identify factors that may protect Black youth from contact with police. Parental involvement refers to parents’ active and …

Embodied Horror: Women And Medical Authority In Video Games, Jocilynn Denise Colombo

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

Through a critical analysis of interactive horror, this paper argues that video games can function as ethical diagnostic narratives that uniquely expose systemic failures surrounding women’s bodies and medical authority. Focusing on Silent Hill 3 (2003) and Alice: Madness Returns (2011), I examine how these games render harm legible through player participation. By requiring players to move characters through hostile environments and make decisions within systems that simultaneously grant and restrict control, these games foster identification and complicity by positioning players directly within the structures they critique.

While feminist horror scholarship—notably from Julia Kristeva and Barbara Creed—has explored societal anxieties …

Optimizing Communication In The Periprocedural Area: Implementing Sbar: A Quality Improvement Project, Autumn Chang

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The primary aim of this project is to improve standardized nurse-to-nurse communication at the electrophysiology lab of a large Los Angeles hospital. By providing nursing education on a unit-specific, structured handoff communication framework (SBAR) and incorporating a procedure-specific handoff form for electrophysiology (EP) across pre-, intra-, and post-procedure units, this project aims to improve nurses’ perceptions of the handoff process and the effectiveness of handoff education across the periprocedural units. The project further aims to assess nursing incorporation of the training four weeks post-education and changes in patient satisfaction related to nursing teamwork and communication.

Scrub Up For Success: Transforming Infection Control In Transplant Patients Through Microlearning Video And Poster – A Quality Improvement Project, Wendy Dio

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Introduction and Background

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) threaten patient safety, affecting about 1 in 25 hospitalized patients. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant contributor, impacting both high-risk groups and the general population. Proper hand hygiene is crucial for preventing CDI transmission. In the U.S., hospital-acquired CDI costs over $1.5 billion annually and causes nearly 500,000 cases and I15,000 deaths each year. California reported 3,526 CDI cases in acute care hospitals, with Loma Linda University hospitals accounting for 16 cases, or 23% of their health system's infection rate.

Methodology

Nurses in the 6A West-Transplant Unit received a PowerPoint presentation on when …

Bridging The Gap: A Trauma-Informed Approach To Real-Time Counselor Support Training At Kesem, Elizabeth Fallon

Capstone Projects

This capstone project involved the development and implementation of a trauma-informed care training program for college-aged counselors within Kesem, a nonprofit organization supporting children affected by a parent or caregiver’s cancer. The project addressed gaps in existing counselor training related to recognizing and responding to trauma in real time. The literature identified increased risk for psychosocial challenges in this population, including anxiety, depression, as well as the importance of peer support, safe environments, and developmentally appropriate communication.

The training program included different modules on trauma, grief, and child development, as well as interactive role-play scenarios tailored to different age groups …

Creation And Implementation Of Nature And Sensory Based Therapy Programming To Support The Health And Well-Being Of Catholic Dominican Sisters, Sydney Payne

Capstone Projects

As the older generation ages, diseases such as dementia can cause sensory processing systems to be less efficient. When they become less efficient, it can create confusion and undermine one’s sense of safety (Champagne, 2018 pg 29-30). Engaging in sensory experiences provides support for these deficits while fostering participation in everyday life activities (Champagne, 2018 pg 30). This capstone project included a sensory garden (nature-based therapy) and associated multi-sensory activities. This was done through creation of nature and sensory-based programming, implementation of this programming one-on-one with sisters, two group sensory, dementia-friendly activities, and formation of a sustainability binder. Occupational therapy …

Implementation Of A Cardio Drumming Program To Promote Health And Wellbeing In Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Amanda Moyer

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience focused on implementation of a cardio drumming program at the Ecumenical Senior Center (ESC), a day center for older adults, in Kalamazoo Michigan. Cardio drumming is a unique way of exercise that combines drumming to upbeat music with an exercise ball, laundry basket, and drumsticks. Cardio drumming is low impact and can be adapted to many different abilities. This form of exercise can be done in a seated or standing position. The program began once a week for 30 minutes but soon increased to two times a week for 35 minutes and lasted 9 weeks due …

Life Skills To Promote Independence Following Discharge From Inpatient Psychiatric Care, Alli Bammert

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience focused on program development through the creation and implementation of a structured life skills program and the initial planning of a simulated life skills training space within an inpatient psychiatric setting at Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital. Individuals with serious mental illness often experience barriers to community reintegration following hospitalization and benefit from opportunities to practice daily living skills prior to discharge (Gibson et al., 2011). In response to this need, a 12-week life skills curriculum was developed and piloted to address topics including daily routines, medication management, emotional regulation, grocery shopping, cooking, employment readiness, technology use, and …

Social Skill Program Development: Social Thinking Curriculum, Anna Holman

Capstone Projects

This capstone project examined the implementation of the Social Thinking It: Tweens and Teens curriculum to support adolescent social participation within a group-based setting. Social participation is a core domain of occupational therapy; however, many adolescents experience challenges with communication, emotional regulation, and peer relationships. This project addressed a gap in structured, evidence-based social skills programming at the capstone site. Primary objectives included implementing the Social Thinking curriculum, facilitating weekly group sessions, evaluating participant engagement, and skill development. Intervention strategies included role-playing, guided discussion, modeling, and reflective activities embedded within the curriculum framework. Outcomes demonstrated increased participant engagement and improved …

Creative Art-Based Program To Address Body Image In Cancer Survivors And Caregivers, Tisa Lightfoot

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone experience (DCE) explored the role of occupational therapy in promoting the use of creative art-based interventions to address body image in cancer survivors and caregivers. Within the oncology population, body image concerns are a prevalent psychosocial factor that affects survivors’ self-perception, emotional well-being, and occupational engagement in their daily lives. To address this gap, a six-week program was developed to promote art as a meaningful occupation to support the psychosocial well-being related to body image in cancer survivors and caregivers. Additional initiatives of the program included resource development and integration of education on current literature on the …

Developing And Implementing Pediatric Pelvic Health Education Groups For Autistic Youth Focused On Toilet Training, Sasha Poland

Capstone Projects

Occupational therapists (OTPs) have a crucial role in treating pelvic health conditions as toileting is an activity of daily living. However, pelvic health research is primarily focused through a physical therapy lens and doesn’t always address challenges pertaining to children, and even more so neurodivergent youth. Furthermore, there is a gap in the literature in how specifically OTPs can assist in providing pelvic health care to all individuals including neurodivergent youth. The goal of this doctoral capstone was to create and provide educational sessions to educate parents, educators, and BCBAs on the role of pelvic health OT in solving their …

Sensory Processing At A Children’S Advocacy Center: Staff Education And Resource Development To Support Trauma-Informed Care, Hayley Jackson

Capstone Projects

This capstone addresses a critical gap in understanding sensory processing within trauma-informed care for children who have experienced sexual abuse. Occupational therapy (OT) offers a unique perspective for supporting children’s sensory processing and regulation needs; however, OT is not utilized in Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) settings. This project aimed to enhance understanding of OT's scope within trauma-informed care, provide education on sensory-based strategies, and develop resources to support regulation in clinical, home, and school settings. Project objectives were achieved through the development of caregiver and educator handouts, a SMART room sensory binder, a visual schedule binder, SMART movement cards, and …

Designing Inclusive Dog Training Opportunities For Handlers With Diverse Access Needs: An Occupational Therapy Approach, Lauren Huffman

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone focused on designing inclusive dog training opportunities in the community by integrating occupational therapy approaches to empower meaningful participation and increase carryover of skills into daily life. The project addressed a need for options that are supportive of dog owners (typically referred to as “handlers” in the dog training setting) who experience health and learning barriers impacting human-dog interactions and the ability to attend dog training classes in a group setting. Occupational Therapy’s role in adaptive recreation and use of occupation-based practice guided the development of a foundations-level accessible small group class, individual adaptive sessions, and educational …

Beyond Baby: How Occupational Therapy Supports Families In The Prenatal And Postpartum Period, Taylor Maysonet

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project focuses on the role of occupational therapy in maternal and infant health, supporting families during the prenatal and postnatal period. While occupational therapy has a strong foundation in promoting health, independence, participation and roles and routines, there remains a gap in community awareness of available support for families during this life transition. Many caregivers report feeling underprepared, overwhelmed, and disconnected from resources that could support their physical, emotional, and occupational wellbeing.

The objective of this project was to identify gaps within the interdisciplinary team during the prenatal and postpartum period. From there, I was able to …