Digital Commons Network^™

Sex Work And Compromised Health: Health Conditions And The Barriers To Accessing Treatment Services In Pelourinho, Salvador, Amelia Fox

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sex workers remain one of the most marginalized populations in Brazilian society, both coming from and living within realities defined by poverty and poor health. Through partnership with Força Feminina – an organization located in Salvador, dedicated to aiding local sex workers– I explored the day-to-day health complications sex workers encounter and the impact these problems have on quality of life. I then questioned how discrimination and stigma impact a woman’s willingness to prioritize her health and seek out healthcare services. To pursue these questions, I utilized participant observation, interviews with 4 staff members – a pastoral educator, financial coordinator, …

Tibetan Women’S Experiences With Childbirth: A Comparative Study Of Present-Day Shangri-La And Previous Studies In Tibetan Communities, Billie Dunn-Mcmartin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

What are the experiences of Tibetan women living in and around Shangri-La with pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood? In order to explore this topic, one must first understand the context in which this topic exists: Tibetan Buddhism and culture. This paper gives a short background on women and the female body in Tibetan Buddhism, the Tibetan Medical system, and the current accessibility and regulation of hospitals, before entering into the topic of Tibetan women’s experiences with childbirth. The experiences and traditional practices of childbirth are important, as birth is universally significant as well as particularly religiously significant in Tibetan Buddhism, and …

Optimized Organic Waste Treatment System An Assessment Of Composting And Biogas Potential At Santos Organics, Abbie Winter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Food waste holds incredible environmental degradation implications due to its ability to produce and emit potent greenhouse gases, as well as allow for the resources initially used to produce it to go to waste. When in a gloabal crisis of environmental degradation as well as food security, it is a shame to see food be wasted when other more optimal outlets are available.

This study utilizes the Triple Bottom Line to assess the ideal systems with which the three branches of Santos Organics should manage their food waste to optimize its lifecycle in order to further promote the business’ status …

#Nodapl: Social Media, Empowerment, And Civic Participation At Standing Rock, Hayley Johnson

Faculty Publications

The struggle for environmental and social justice within American Indian communities is one that has been ongoing since the beginning of United States history, but the main catalyst to effect change and to promote and disperse the American Indian narrative has emerged through the power of social media in today's hyperconnected society. This article examines the power of social media to effect change, as well as a hyperconnected society's ability to empower historically disadvantaged groups that have often been misrepresented within traditional media outlets. The historic movement occurring at Standing Rock, North Dakota, and the #NoDAPL protests illustrates the capacity …

Workforce Well-Being: Personal And Workplace Contributions To Early Educators' Depression Across Settings, Amy M. Roberts, Kathleen C. Gallagher, Alexandra Daro, Iheoma Iruka, Susan Sarver

Buffet Early Childhood Institute Reports and Publications

Building on research demonstrating the importance of teachers' well-being, this study examined personal and contextual factors related to early childhood educators' (n =1640) depressive symptoms across licensed child care homes, centers, and schools. Aspects of teachers' beliefs, economic status, and work-related stress were explored, and components of each emerged as significant in an OLS regression. After controlling for demographics and setting, teachers with more adult-centered beliefs, lower wages, multiple jobs, no health insurance, more workplace demands, and fewer work-related resources, had more depressive symptoms. Adult-centered beliefs were more closely associated with depression for teachers working in home-based settings compared …

When The Health System Fails You: Maternal Care Under Kenya’S 2017 Nurses' Strike, Tessa Coughtrey-Davenport

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study focuses on the 2017 nurses’ strike and how the crippling of the public health system impacted maternal care in Kisumu, Kenya. Kenya has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, and there have been many efforts to reduce this, such as delivery with a Skilled Birth Attendant and attending antenatal care visits, all of which are centered around a functioning health system. The research team used a combination of interviews with key populations and analysis of service delivery data at local health centers to evaluate the effects of the strike on maternal care. The study …

Understanding Sanitation Preferences: An Exploratory Study In The Sirohi District Of Rajasthan, Karen Mac

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Of all the countries in the world, India has the highest number of people practicing open defecation, causing adverse health outcomes from the unconfined spread of faecal matter. The Government of India is ambitiously aiming to end this practice through the construction of 12 million toilets by 2019, but historically, many toilets across India have gone unused. This study focused on understanding: (1) the reasons why people continue to openly defecate despite having toilets and (2) the requirements of a toilet that rural households would be willing to use. Along with 36 observations of household toilets, semi-structured group (n=8) and …

Cash Versus In-Kind Transfers: Comparative Differences And Individual Best Practices To Benefit Recipient Communities, Sarah Wicker

Senior Honors Theses

This research paper seeks to compare cash and in-kind transfers in the context of foreign poverty aid to determine which transfer style is most beneficial and to evaluate long-term best practices of each kind to more positively benefit the recipient communities. It does this by comparing arguments for and against each transfer model. The first argument discusses the differences in distribution costs between the two models. The second compares the cash transfer’s strong concept of choice with in-kind transfer’s typical style of controlled consumption of goods. The second argument discusses the timing and impact of targeting communities in connection to …

Las Condiciones De Vida De Los Usuarios Adultos Mayores Del Hospital Makewe / The Living Conditions Of Elderly Users Of Makewe Hospital, Taylor Selembo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Life conditions are a fundamental aspect of the health of senior citizens, as these are the factors that determine their quality of life and capacity to satisfy their needs. Life conditions are dependent on the particular social, political, economic, and geographic context of the region. This study intends to answer the following question: How are the life conditions of senior citizens belonging to Hospital Makewe, located in the IX region of Chile? This quali-quantitative study utilized observation, surveys (n = 40) and interviews (n = 15) in order to accomplish the main objective. The main objective was to describe senior …

Una Investigación Sobre La Prevalencia De La Lactancia Materna / 62/5000 An Investigation On The Prevalence Of Breastfeeding, Madeline Ferone

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El propósito de la investigación es estudiar la realidad de las prácticas y la prevalencia de la lactancia materna en Chile, y cómo las características demográficas distintas de las mujeres influyen en la alimentación de sus bebés. La lactancia materna es crucial para el crecimiento y desarrollo saludable de un bebé, y también tiene beneficios para la salud de la madre. Sin embargo, las madres a menudo no siguen las pautas de la Organización Mundial de Salud y UNICEF. Los métodos de recolección de datos son una revisión de una Encuesta del Ministerio de Salud de 2013 de 9604 madres …

Bridging The Gap From Policy To Practice: Diabetes In Rural Morocco, Zoe H. Robbin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Morocco is in the midst of an epidemiologic transition ushered in by reduced fertility rates and extended life expectancy. Unlike two decades ago, today’s leading cause of death is chronic disease. In 2006, Moroccan officials launched Vision 2020, a comprehensive plan that seeks to expand access to healthcare and reign back the prevalence of noncommunicable disease, among other goals related to development. Through qualitative interviews with the residents of Tarmilat and Oulmes, a rural community south of Khamissat, this paper represents the first assessment of Vision 2020’s performance thus far to combat the spread of type 2 diabetes among rural …

Convivendo Na Lagoa Do Mineiro: An Education In Living And Loving With, Daniela Aldrich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

One of Brazil’s most pressing issues is unequitable land distribution and agrarian land reform. Movimento Sem Terra (MST) is at the forefront of this struggle and has redistributed land to approximately 1,250 families so far. As well as access and right to land ownership, MST addresses issues from youth development, to education, to ecology and more with the mission to create a more just and inclusive Brazil by training its future leaders. This vision includes moving away from the capitalist system that currently enables hierarchies of power to control Brazil at the expense of many of its citizens and natural …

The Perceived Mental Health Effects Of China’S One-Child Policy, Avery Rasmussen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looked at the perceived impacts of China’s 30 year One-Child Policy (OCP). Previous studies suggested the OCP affected Chinese culture and society in a number of ways, however no studies (to the knowledge of the principal investigator) had looked at perceptions of the effects of the OCP on anxiety levels and other mental health issues of students in China. This study sought to fill the aforementioned knowledge gap and aimed to determine perceptions about the mental health effects of the OCP on students. Specifically, this study endeavored to gain a better understanding of perceptions of the effects of …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 12, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Moore, Noah. Students Reflect on Death of Fresh Worker – Debra Wiley-Mitchell
• Harsh, Spencer. Making the Cut – JC’s Barbershop
• Fletcher, Griffin. Campus Commemorates Banned Books Week
• Deppen, Laurel. WKU Student Nick Lawson Releases EP
• Hovell, Nolan. Exploring Bowling Green’s Music Scene
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Retirement Pensions
• The Pension Crisis
• Hormel, David. Don’t Prioritize Patriotic Iconography Over People
• Mathews, Carly. Faculty Expresses Low Morale in Survey
• Alvey, Rebekah. Attorney General Approves New Requirements for Gatton Academy of Math & Science
• Ziege, Nicole. Student …

Age Drives Distortion Of Brain Metabolic, Vascular And Cognitive Functions, And The Gut Microbiome, Jared D. Hoffman, Ishita Parikh, Stefan J. Green, George Chlipala, Robert P. Mohney, Mignon Keaton, Bjoern Bauer, Anika M. S. Hartz, Ai-Ling Lin

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Advancing age is the top risk factor for the development of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the contribution of aging processes to AD etiology remains unclear. Emerging evidence shows that reduced brain metabolic and vascular functions occur decades before the onset of cognitive impairments, and these reductions are highly associated with low-grade, chronic inflammation developed in the brain over time. Interestingly, recent findings suggest that the gut microbiota may also play a critical role in modulating immune responses in the brain via the brain-gut axis. In this study, our goal was to identify associations between deleterious changes in …

Staying In Place During Times Of Change In Arctic Alaska: The Implications Of Attachment,Alternatives, And Buffering, Henry P. Huntington, Philip A. Loring, Glenna Gannon, Shari Fox Gearheard, S. Craig Gerlach, Lawrence C. Hamilton

Sociology

The relationship between stability and change in social-ecological systems has received considerable attention in recent years, including the expectation that significant environmental changes will drive observable consequences for individuals, communities, and populations. Migration, as one example of response to adverse economic or environmental changes, has been observed in many places, including parts of the Far North. In Arctic Alaska, a relative lack of demographic or migratory response to rapid environmental and other changes has been observed. To understand why Arctic Alaska appears different, we draw on the literature on environmentally driven migration, focusing on three mechanisms that could account for …

Disadvantaged Status And Health Matters Networks Among Low-Income African American Women, Erin Pullen, Carrie B. Oser

Sociology Faculty Publications

A significant gap in current network research relates to understanding the factors that shape the health matters (HM) networks of marginalized, socially disadvantaged populations. This is noteworthy, given that these networks represent a critical resource for mitigating the adverse health effects of both acute and chronic strains associated with marginalized status. Further, research has suggested that the networks of such populations—especially low-income African American women—are unique, and may operate in substantively different ways than those of other groups. Using two waves of data from a sample of low-income African American women, this research identifies the demographic, health status, and health …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 93, No. 6, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. This issue contains articles:

• Alvey, Rebekah. Losing Community – Levi Hanson, ROTC, Transgender
• Hornsby, Morgan. WKU, Bowling Green March to Defend Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – DACA
• DeLetter, Emily. University of Kentucky College of Medicine Construction Continues
• Ziege, Nicole. Student Government Association Approves Funding for Legal Observer Training
• Burgess, Kelly. Eating Produce or Producing Waste
• King, Jennifer. Editorial Cartoon re: Dating
• Murrer, Erick. Godless Entertainment
• Johnson, Kalyn. Working Towards a Cleaner Planet on Campus – Sustainability
• Porter, Sam. WKU Aims to Make History in Illinois – Football
• Manlove, …

Wilderness On The Page, John Steffler

The Goose

This essay explores the role that literature can play in a rethinking of Western culture's relationship with the natural environment.

No. 11: Urban Food Security, Rural Bias And The Global Development Agenda, Jonathan Crush, Liam Riley

Hungry Cities Partnership

This discussion paper sets out the global, African, and South African contexts within which both urban development and food security agendas in Africa are framed. It argues that the pervasive rural bias and anti-urbanism identified in the international and regional food security agendas in the first decade of the 21st century have persisted into the second. In examining whether the last decade has brought any significant changes to the dominant discourse and its accompanying sidelining of urbanization and urban food security in policy debate and formulation, the authors find that there are promising signs for cracks in the edifice but …

Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project : Baseline Assessment Report : Yuen Long, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University

Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project - Reports

The objectives of this baseline assessment was to evaluate the current state of age-friendliness and make a list of recommendations for the future development of Yuen Long District (the District) through a bottom up and district-based study. The baseline assessment provided opportunities for the elderly to voice their opinions and served as an appropriate strategy to meet their needs. Additionally, stakeholders from diverse groups can work together to build and maintain an age-friendly community.

Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project : Baseline Assessment Report : Tuen Mun, Asia-Pacific Institute Of Ageing Studies, Lingnan University

Jockey Club Age-Friendly City Project - Reports

The objectives of this baseline assessment was to evaluate the current state of age-friendliness and make a list of recommendations for the future development of Tuen Mun District (the District) through a bottom up and district-based study. The baseline assessment provided opportunities for the elderly to voice their opinions and served as an appropriate strategy to meet their needs. Additionally, stakeholders from diverse groups can work together to build and maintain an age-friendly community.

Social Capital, Health Literacy, And Access To Healthcare : A Study Among Rural And Urban Populations In Ghana, Padmore Adusei Amoah

Lingnan Theses

There is ample evidence supporting the association between social networks, and health and well-being. However, existing research and policies to address health-related inequalities in Ghana, have largely neglected this critical nexus. To address the knowledge gap, this study uses the concept of social capital (social relationships and the resources embedded in them) to investigate how and to what extent social relationships influence healthcare access and health literacy among selected rural and urban people. The study also examines how the stock of social capital, and the forms it takes, can influence implementation, and sustenance of local level pro-poor health policies. One …

The Construction Of “Discomfort Psychological”: An Exploration Of Italians Teachers' Reports, Antonio Iudici, Matteo Fabbri

The Qualitative Report

Although there are several studies on youth problems in school, there are few studies on how teachers report psychological discomfort of the students and on what criteria does their procedure. Considering that schools increasingly make such reports to social or neuropsychiatry services, we wanted to find out whether it is flawless (bias, etc.) and how it can affect a student's career. This research presents an investigation on how the practice of signaling "psychological discomfort" at school is set up. Objects of the survey are the procedures used by the teachers to submit the psychological problems. The research subjects were Secondary …

The Dynamics Of Participatory Monitoring And Evaluation (Pm&E) In Traditional Pakistan., Aamer Shams

Capstone Collection

This research seeks to explore the interpretation and application of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in the context of Educational Empowerment by analyzing insights gathered from multiple stakeholder groups in four cities of Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. Analysis of the findings reveals nuances of PM&E, including “Equality and Equity, Respect and Tolerance” (pg. 58-61) that limit the potential of this transdisciplinary empowerment process. Empowerment and educational programs often employ the continuous processes of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to gain an understanding of the implementation, efficiency, impact, and overall performance of the program. M&E also provides valuable information about …

Trade-Offs: The Production Of Sustainability In Households, Kirstin Marie Elizabeth Munro

Dissertations and Theses

Over the past half-century, environmental problems have become increasingly serious and seemingly intractable, and a careless, clueless, or contemptuous consumer is often portrayed as the root cause of this environmental decline. This study takes a different approach to evaluating the demand for resources by households, assessing possible pro-environmental paths forward through a study of highly ecologically-conscious households. By modeling "green" households as producers of sustainability rather than consumers of environmental products, the sustainability work that takes place in households is brought into focus. An investigation of household sustainability production makes possible the evaluation of the trade-offs inherent in these pro-environmental …

Ua41 University College Connection, University College

UC Publications

Newsletter created by and about WKU University College.

• George, Dennis. Message from the Dean
• Jennifer Brinkley Travels to Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Sara McCaslin Provides Workshop
• School of Professional Studies BIS
• Diversity & Community Studies
• New DCS Assistant Professor - Dana Cuomo
• African American Studies
• Gender & Women's Studies
• Center for Citizenship & Social Justice
• School of University Studies - Embedded English Tutors
• LAC Tutors - Alice Rowe Learning Assistance Center
• WKU 2017 Part Time Faculty Award Recipient - Diana McQuady
• University Experience Research Awards
• Student Support Programs Summer Early Entry

Exploring The Empirical Relationship Between Civic Agriculture And Community Resilience, Beth Joanna Person-Michener

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Smaller-scale, qualitative and mixed method studies indicate that civic agriculture generates positive, local-level social change, specifically by increasing social, human and economic capital. These social benefits are also identified as some of the crucial components needed for community resilience to disasters. However, literature directly linking civic agriculture to community resilience is sparse and there is little if any research explicitly examining a relationship between civic agriculture and community resilience. This study lends national scope and an empirical examination of evidence for a positive relationship between civic agriculture and community resilience along the applicable domains of social, human and economic capital …

Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Institutional care for children separated from parents is expanding in Africa, but little research exists on caregiving at these institutions. This study explores the caregiver-child relationship in two residential institutions in South Sudan by investigating how caregivers experience their role and how children experience their lives in the institution. Semi- structured interviews assessed 14 caregivers’ backgrounds, parenting experience, attitudes, education, and motivations. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Wellbeing Tool (OWT) assessed 98 adolescent residents, who also gave feedback about their answers. Caregivers employ parenting styles used by their parents and report treating non-relative children the same as biological children. Children …

Swedish Social Welfare And Its Application To American Welfare Systems, Ben Wilson Galloway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Swedish Social Welfare and its Application to American Welfare Systems concerns itself with the issue of determining the origins of the modern Swedish social welfare system. Additionally, the causes behind the formation of the system are evaluated for their relevancy concerning the formation of the American welfare system. Multiple areas of study are considered, including racial impacts, economic factors, sociological impactors, and demographic variables.