Digital Commons Network^™

Tapering Buprenorphine, Alexis Diane Snyder

Student Works

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is increasing in incidence in the United States. Buprenorphine is the mainstay of medication-assisted treatment for OUD. Nurse practitioners play an essential role in solving the opioid epidemic and are increasingly relied on to prescribe buprenorphine. Even though buprenorphine is considered a long-term therapy, many patients request to taper off the drug. Evidence suggests that tapering from buprenorphine is frequently unsuccessful and remains as a challenge. The purpose of this article is to provide the best available evidence regarding the taper of buprenorphine in patients with OUD. Considering a buprenorphine taper should begin by evaluating if …

To What Extent Are Appropriate Resources Provided To Veterans With Mental Illness To Prevent Contact With The Criminal Justice System?, Riley Christine Doyle

Master’s Theses and Projects

United States military veterans are a special population of men and women that have willingly sacrificed their lives to serve their country. They are perceived to be patriotic, honorable, strong, and disciplined people. Unfortunately, veterans are not exempt from committing criminal acts that land them in the criminal justice system. In fact, veterans are highly susceptible to developing mental illnesses and substance use disorders which can ultimately lead to criminal behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine to what extent available resources are provided to veterans to help them prevent contact with the criminal justice system. This study …

Bail Discrimination: Racial Disparities In The United States Bail Determination Process, Collin Porter

School of Professional Studies

Nationwide, there is a systemic problem with bail determination: the process that a citizen goes through after they are arrested and before they go to trial to determine guilt or innocence for the crime they have been accused of committing. The United States leads all other countries with approximately half a million individuals detained before trial each year, a number nearly double the next highest country (China) (Nejdl, 2017). The high rate of pre-trial detention in the United States is due to both widespread use of monetary bail and the limited financial resources of most defendants; specifically, African American men. …

Alternative Response To Mental Health- Related 911 Calls, Nayo Macauley

PCOM Capstone Projects

Over the last 3 decades, efforts to improve interactions between law enforcement and mentally ill individuals has resulted in several training programs for police officers with the goal of reducing the risk of violent altercations and incarceration and instead, seeking to connect this population to the resources they need. Despite widespread mental health training for police officers, people suffering from mental illness were found to be 16 times more likely to be met with excessive force resulting in injury or death when police officers responded to a 911 call. The review will investigate the largest mental health training program called …

The Aftermath Of Sexual Assault: Creating The "I Am More Than My Experience" Workbook, Isabella Chung

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

The following thesis includes a literature review of the immediate and long-term effects of sexual assault on victims in regards to their physical, mental, and emotional health and romantic relationships, followed by a proposed workbook for sexual assault victims/survivors. Being that typical responses immediately after an assault are fear, disbelief, and activation of the sympathetic nervous system, it is to no surprise that long term issues of depression, anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) often arise as well. Thus, a workbook was created with the intention of educating readers about sexual assault and helping victims/survivors to heal from the trauma …

Examination Of The Effects Of Speech Disorders On Juvenile Delinquency And The Potential Benefits Of Speech Therapy For Offenders, Katie Paparelli

Senior Honors Projects

In the United States, there are currently over 50,000 juveniles housed in youth confinement facilities for delinquent acts ranging from truancy to murder. To decrease that number, it is pertinent to identify possible risk factors of juvenile delinquency, but also to establish impactful preventative strategies as well as reactive solutions. Speech disorders and speech differences have been identified as potential risk factors for juvenile delinquency. Having a speech disorder/difference has an undeniable impact on a child’s life, with potentially negative impacts ranging from poor engagement with school and bullying—both risk factors in themselves for juvenile delinquency. Unsurprisingly, researchers have found …

The Public Health Crisis Of Alcoholism: What Could Be Done Better In Rhode Island?, Carlos Borges

Senior Honors Projects

Alcoholism is a chronic issue that affects over 3 million people per year in the United States. It is characterized by an individual who is physiologically dependent on alcohol to the point where they cannot carry out common social activities such as having friends or holding down a job. Approximately 88,000 people die per year due to alcohol related events. The economic impact due to hospital bills, criminal justice costs, and lost productivity of the abuser is estimated at $400 billion annually. Alcohol abuse can be used as a coping mechanism in adolescents who are struggling with behavioral health issues …

Disrupting Gender Normativity Through A Social Learning Framework, Ashley Shank

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Through a social learning theoretical framework, this thesis seeks to understand the mechanisms by which gender normativity is perpetuated, as well as how it may result in the marginalization of transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth. Additionally, ways in which TGNC youth navigate oppression and how discrimination against TGNC youth may be reduced through disruption of gender normativity are explored. Using qualitative methods that include the analyzation of community meeting transcripts as well as townhall meetings with TGNC/queer community members, the present study will attempt to answer the following research questions through a social learning theoretical framework: 1. How can …

A Comparative Study Of Recovery Ecosystems For Opioid Use Disorder In Portugal And Appalachia, Jonathan David Mullins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A comparison of the structure and effectiveness of recovery ecosystems for opioid use disorder in Portugal and Appalachia, with a focus on identifying areas for improvement within the Appalachian region.

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Their Connection To Autoimmune Disease In Adulthood, Emma J. Molden

Honors Theses

Everyday in the United States, a child experiences a traumatic event. Autoimmune disease is one of the top two leading causes of death in the United States. Can these two horrifying events be connected? Autoimmune diseases currently affect millions of Americans and are considered an epidemic because of their prevalence within the adult population. Even with a high number of cases, this possible connection has been largely ignored and under researched for the history of modern medicine. However, two studies have begun to make the connection between adverse childhood experiences and how that affects the onset of autoimmune diseases in …

Relationship Of Utilization Of Mental Health Care In Patients With Substance Use Disorders With And Without History Of Prior Incarceration, Linda Zhang, Harrison Ross Galicki, Gerald Demasters, William B. Dehart

Psychiatry

No abstract provided.

Mental Health Of Individuals Within Incarceration: A Systematic Literature Review, Steven I. Valladares

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Mental Health Illness is on the rise in the United States. About 90% of incarcerated individuals have at least one mental health condition. The current federal and state incarceration systems do not seem to be well-equipped to transition an incarcerated individual to the civilian life. This is so because the incarceration system focuses too much on the punishment rather than rehabilitation. This framework could be deemed unsafe and dangerous to the civilian world once a prisoner gets released, due to incarcerated individuals not receiving adequate mental health treatment. This literature review highlights the flaws of the current incarceration system mental …

Transitioning To Housing First: Perceptions Of The Role Of The Rehabilitation Counselor In Serving Homeless Individuals With Disabilities In Puerto Rico, Ana Vanessa Serrano Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1980s, the federal government has developed strategies to eradicate homelessness in the US and its territories. The introduction of evidence-based practices like the Housing First Model helped decrease the number of people living homeless. Still, it continues to be a public health problem, especially among chronically homeless individuals, defined broadly as people with disabilities and substance abuse problems experiencing homelessness. Rehabilitation counselors are professionals specialized in serving individuals with disabilities. However, their role in programs identified as Housing First was unclear.

Thus, the study aimed to identify service providers' views, opinions, knowledge, and experiences about the role of …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

Media Framing, Moral Panic And Covid-19: A Comparative Analysis Of China, South Korea, And The Us., Deena Devore, Sinyong Choi, Yudu Li, Hong Lu

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

COVID-19 is perhaps the single most impactful event defining 2020 globally. Drawing on theory on media typology involving freedom and responsibility, media framing and moral panic theories, this paper examines media coverage on COVID-19 in three countries, China, South Korea and the United States. Data were obtained from six news outlets, Xinhua News, South China Morning Post, Chosun, Hankyoreh, CNN and Breitbart, two from each of the three countries. More than 1,000 COVID-19 related reports, spanning six days (the last day of January to June, 2020) were selected and coded based on common priming themes such as tone, the othering, …

Covid-19 Student Mental Health Check Ii, Dianna Blankenship, Irma S. Jones

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The year 2020 will forever be known as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the entire population in one way or another. What began in January 2020 still has the world population firmly in its grip a year later. The students’ responses, in their own words, to changes in living, daily `routines, and health fears can be seen in the following paper. In this article, the responses of students in several undergraduate classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 155 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: …

Investigating The Association Between Adolescent Polysubstance Use, Crime, And Violence In The United States, Christian Nwabueze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The lifetime prevalence of alcohol in the United States is 8% and lifetime prevalence of illicit drug use is about 2-3%. Substance use is common among adolescents and polysubstance use is becoming a public health threat.

The prevalence of adolescent physical dating violence was 8.2%, the prevalence of adolescent sexual violence was also 8.2% while the prevalence of dual adolescent physical and sexual violence was 2.6%. Compared to those who used only single substances, adolescents who did not use any substance were 60% less likely (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.24 – 0.74) to experience physical dating violence, 50% …

Criterion Validity Of The Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method In A Criminal Justice Sample, Sarah M. Monaghan

Student Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the clinical utility of the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method (OSU-TBI-ID) in a criminal justice sample, by evaluating the criterion-related validity of this instrument. It was hypothesized that this tool could differentiate between incarcerated individuals with or without a history of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on measures evaluating important TBI-related sequalae. The sample consisted of 95 incarcerated men detained at a private correctional facility in a Mid-Atlantic state. Measures used in this study to evaluate executive functioning difficulties, psychiatric difficulties, substance use problems, institutional misconduct and recidivism were …

A Participatory Action Research Study Of Police Interviewing Following Crisis Intervention Team Training, Maria Felix-Ortiz, Catherine Steele, Marisa Deguzman, Georgen Guerrero, Melissa Graham

Verbum Incarnatum: An Academic Journal of Social Justice

Estimates vary, but a third to one half of individuals shot and killed by police have a mental illness or disability, and many who are taken into custody languish in county jails where no treatment for their illness is available. The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model is an increasingly important adjunct to U.S. police training because it de-escalates tense situations, diverts people with mental illness away from jail and into treatment, and can reduce the risk of civilian deaths during a police encounter. As such, it is a strategy for reducing the social injustice of incarceration or deaths of people …

Innovative Virtual Role Play Simulations For Managing Substance Use Conversations: Pilot Study Results And Relevance During And After Covid-19, Glenn Albright, Nikita Khalid, Kristen Shockley, Kelsey Robinson, Kevin Hughes, Bethany Pace-Danley

Publications and Research

Background: Substance use places a substantial burden on our communities, both economically and socially. In light of COVID-19, it is predicted that as many as 75,000 more people will die from alcohol and other substance use and suicide as a result of isolation, new mental health concerns, and various other stressors related to the pandemic. Public awareness campaigns that aim to destigmatize substance use and help individuals have meaningful conversations with friends, coworkers, or family members to address substance use concerns are a timely and cost-effective means of augmenting existing behavioral health efforts related to substance use. These types of …

Opioid Overdose Prevention And Naloxone Training Among College Students, Mackenzie Thode

DNP Projects

Background: Opioid abuse is a serious national crisis affecting both public health and economic welfare across the United States. In Tennessee, more than 1,800 overdose deaths were reported in 2018, with nearly 20% of those deaths occurring in Davidson County alone. The number of overdose deaths in Nashville has steadily risen amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by approximately 32% since 2019 to a total of 619 fatal overdoses in 2020, making it the city’s deadliest year on record. Review of evidence: Research shows that intranasal (IN) naloxone training is an effective approach to combating the opioid overdose crisis and can be …

The Effect Of Smartphone Addiction And Self-Control On Phubbing Behavior, Binti Isrofin, Eem Munawaroh

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

Phubbing is a behavior of ignoring the interlocutor and focusing more on smartphones. This behavior, which is quite common recently, has a negative impact on social interactions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of smartphone addiction and self-control on phubbing behavior. This study employed a correlational research design. Three hundred and seventy-nine samples involved in this study were recruited using random sampling techniques. The data were collected using the Smartphone Addiction Scale, Phubbing Scale, and Self-Control Scale. The data were analyzed using regression analysis assisted by JASP software version 0.11.10. The findings show that smartphone addiction …

Pulling The Food System Up By The Roots: How Do We Build An Equitable Food System In The Twin Cities?, Aubrey A. Hagen

Geography Honors Projects

Prior to 2020, food insecurity was already a pervasive problem in the United States, with limited access to adequate, nutritious foods being linked to numerous poor physical and psychological outcomes. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and civil uprisings in response to police brutality and state-sanctioned violence, the Twin Cities communities are facing overlapping crises that threaten individual and community wellbeing and food security. How do we build a just, equitable, and “crisis-proof” food system? Drawing from theoretical frameworks in social epidemiology and radical food geography, this paper assesses how the local food system and community food insecurity in …

Dnp Final Report: Enhancing Nurses' Knowledge On Opioids To Promote Safe Opioid Use In Post-Operative Patients: An Evidence-Based Practice Project, Amardeep Gill

DNP Final Reports

Pain control remains suboptimal in the United States, while the use and misuse of opioids are growing. Opioid use disorder and opioid misuse are associated with an increased risk of postoperative mortality and morbidity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 232,000 deaths from a prescription opioid overdose from 1999 to 2018. The economic burden related to prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year. According to the literature, lack of knowledge makes patients vulnerable to misuse and nonmedical use of opioids. This lack of patients’ knowledge and over-prescription of opioids are among …

From Bunks And Bars To Sidewalks And Skies: Support For Reentry From Incarceration, Ashley Ann Steen

Theses and Graduate Projects

Currently, there are over 2.3 million inmates in the prison system throughout the United States (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018). Over 10,000 ex-prisoners are released from America's state and federal prisons every week and studies show that approximately two-thirds will likely be rearrested within three years of release (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2018). This scholarly project will explore the literature on why inmates face such a high rate of recidivism. It will further explore the current programming that is provided to inmates prior to release back to the community and offer a questionnaire to utilize in all reentry programs to …

Latina Adolescent Dating Violence Public Narrative, Megan Staffen

Theses and Graduate Projects

A scholarly project has been conducted to assess use of public narrative between health care providers (HCPs) and Latina adolescents to reduce dating violence (DV) health consequences. Latina adolescents require an innovative, transcultural approach for dating violence care to reduce barriers to care. Healthcare providers must structure dating violence care to Latina adolescents due to different dating violence patterns and health consequences compared to other ethnicities and generations. There is minimal evidence- based research on the use of public narrative and its effects of use in the healthcare setting. The application of public narrative and the citizen professional will be …

Spirituality And Opioid Addiction Recovery, Carol A. Ammon, Msn, Mba, Dnp, Stacey Boyer, Psyd, Stephen Dutton, Mdiv, Pd, Courtney Slater, Phd

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is chronic relapsing disease and requires intense rehabilitation. A link between spirituality and addiction recovery. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether addressing spiritual concerns among hospitalized patients with OUD warrants a specific intervention to assist patients with their unique spiritual needs.

Methods: This qualitative-only study recruited fourteen eligible participants and resulted in five qualitative interviews. The FICA Spiritual Assessment Tool© was used to conduct the interviews and all interviews were coded for theme development.

Results: The results of this study demonstrated that spirituality as a phenomenon in addiction recovery can be determined …

Are Underprivileged And Less Empowered Women Deprived Of Respectful Maternity Care: Inequities In Childbirth Experiences In Public Health Facilities In Pakistan, Waqas Hameed, Mudassir Uddin, Bilal Iqbal Avan

Community Health Sciences

Background: Attainment of healthcare in respectful and dignified manner is a fundamental right for every woman regardless of the individual status. However, social exclusion, poor psychosocial support, and demeaning care during childbirth at health facilities are common worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. We concurrently examined how women with varying socio-demographic characteristics are treated during childbirth, the effect of women's empowerment on mistreatment, and health services factors that contribute to mistreatment in secondary-level public health facilities in Pakistan.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted during August-November 2016 among 783 women who gave birth in six secondary-care public health facilities …

Violence Has No Home In Healthcare, Ellen Crowe, Mba, Ms, Carl J. Schiessl, Jd, Mary Reich Cooper, Md, Jd

Population Health Leadership Series: PopTalk Webinars

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, increased stress and anxiety has only further exacerbated the problem of violence in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Through the Safer Hospitals Initiative, Connecticut hospitals have united to develop and implement strategies to create a culture of safety for patients and staff within each of the institutions. This initiative applies the power of high reliability principles to standardize approaches to combatting violence in microsystems and macrosystems throughout an organization. We will share the strategies that may be replicated in your organizations to keep individuals working in healthcare organizations safer by stopping violence before it begins.

Increasing Law Enforcement Understanding Of Special Needs And Disability Populations: The Role Of The Occupational Therapist, Rekha Tabjula

MOT Student Capstones

Incidences of fatalities and injuries among populations with disabilities continue to occur during police interactions. There is an increased need to address this concern with a new method, or reform, to training that has not allowed law enforcement to properly and safely engage with those who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disabilities, Traumatic Brain Injuries, and mental health conditions. Occupational therapists can provide a collaborative approach to increasing law enforcement's awareness, knowledge, and confidence to these aforementioned 0 conditions. Law enforcement officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department viewed a training video on various conditions with a supplemental video with guest …