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School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer

Honors Theses

School gardens have existed since the late nineteenth century and today are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world, including where I studied in Maine and Australia (AUS). Multiple organizations support school gardens in Maine, including the Maine School Garden Network, which has over 125 registered school gardens. In AUS, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation primarily supports the school garden movement and has over 800 registered school gardens. While many researchers have studied school gardens, few have compared two countries, focused on environmental sustainability, or investigated Maine in particular. This thesis combines information from literature reviews, and …

Learning From Women About Hiv Risk, Hiv Testing Behaviors, And Prevention Practices In Mpumalanga, South Africa: A Descriptive Study To Inform Microbicides Introduction, Martha Brady, Saiqa Mullick, Barbara Friedland, Marlena Gehret Plagianos, Linda Du Plessis, Thabiso Mango

HIV and AIDS

The provision of any new prevention product in clinical trial settings is often vastly different from implementation in “real life” public sector settings. In addition, use of antiretrovirals (ARV), such as tenofovir gel, for pre-exposure prophylaxis requires regular HIV testing to ensure users are uninfected before initiating and continuing product use. Therefore, before any ARV-based prevention product can be introduced to women, information is needed on HIV testing practices, how best to integrate products into existing primary health care systems, and women’s risk perception and health-seeking behaviors. The Population Council, in partnership with Solutions IPPT, conducted a study to learn …

Learned Helplessness And Depression: Comparison Of Skilled Nursing And Assisted Living Facilities, Paul Lynn Susic

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research with geriatric populations suggests high levels of clinical depression and greater financial and psychological costs of treatment in long-term care facilities with more restrictive care. Research on learned helplessness, a construct separate from depression, suggests learned helplessness and perceived control are useful theories for the study of elder depression, but the relationship between depression and learned helplessness in this population is not clear. This cross-sectional quantitative study examined the relationship between depression and learned helplessness by comparing residents over age 65 in less restrictive assisted living (n =42) versus those in more restrictive skilled nursing facilities (n =63). Data …

The Great Migration And Health Of The Left-Behind Elderly In Rural China, Qian Song

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In face of massive internal migration in China, this dissertation brings attention to the wellbeing of the left-behind elderly in the social context that adult children, the potential out-migrants, are still the culturally expected and de facto major eldercare providers. This dissertation has attempted to untangle and explain associations between adult out-migration and the psychological and physical health of the left-behind elderly in rural China.

Evidence Of Son Preference And Resulting Demographic And Health Outcomes In Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Gul Rashida, Sabahat Hussain, Anushe Hassan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Pakistan has a highly patriarchal society. Consequently, the desire for sons is a dominant and widely prevalent cultural value that is reinforced by feudal kinship systems that permeate many parts of the country. While reliance on sons is stronger in rural areas because of agricultural work and the tying of land ownership with male inheritance, even in other areas boys are seen to be important in carrying on the family name and taking care of parents in old age. On the other hand, daughters are seen as an expense and an economic burden in both rural and urban areas. A …

The Medicalization Of Nonhuman Animal Rights: Frame Contestation And The Exploitation Of Disability, Corey Lee Wrenn, Joanne Clark, Maddie Judge, Katharine A. Gilchrist, Delanie Woodlock, Katherine Dotson, Riva Spanos, Jonothan Wrenn

Animal Rights Movement Collection

Nonhuman Animal rights activists are sometimes dismissed as ‘crazy’ or irrational by countermovements seeking to protect status quo social structures. Social movements themselves often utilize disability narratives in their claims-making as well. In this article, we argue that Nonhuman Animal exploitation and Nonhuman Animal rights activism are sometimes medicalized in frame disputes. The contestation over mental ability ultimately exploits humans with disabilities. The medicalization of Nonhuman Animal rights activism diminishes activists’ social justice claims, but the movement’s medicalization of Nonhuman Animal use unfairly otherizes its target population and treats disability identity as a pejorative. Utilizing a content analysis of major …

Health Facility Guidelines And Management Benchmarks: Improving Workplace Health Services And Health Management In Factories, Farms And Other Workplaces In Low- And Middle-Income Countries, David Wofford, Marat Yu, Lauren Shields, Maria Pontes

Reproductive Health

This document contains a set of voluntary health and management guidelines for corporations and their supply chains to promote continual improvement and application of good practices, better access to men’s and women’s health services, and more effective use of health resources at workplaces in the developing world. It is focused on both quality of health services provided at the workplace and adequacy of company policies and management systems to ensure that workers have access to health services. The main goals of the guidelines are to: 1) help enterprises—multinational companies and their supplier or subsidiary companies in developing countries—improve the management …

Progesterone Vaginal Ring: Results Of A Three-Country Acceptability Study, Saumya Ramarao, Heather Clark, Deepa Rajamani, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Babacar Mane, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Nafissatou Diop, Wilson Liambila, Fatou Mbow, Chi-Chi Undie, Godwin Unumeri, John Townsend

Reproductive Health

Global and national policies have refocused attention on postpartum family planning as an important component of ensuring healthy outcomes for women and babies. The progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) is used to extend the contraceptive effectiveness of lactational amenorrhea among breastfeeding women. Clinical trials have proven the PVR to be safe and effective; it is currently registered in eight Latin American countries. There is a need to assess acceptability prior to introduction into country programs, and the Population Council conducted PVR acceptability studies in Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. This report represents the results from a pooled analysis of data from the …

Curriculum On Adolescent-Friendly Health Services And Health Voucher Mechanisms: Facilitator's Training Manual, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP) in rural and urban Zambia aims to build social, health, and economic assets of adolescent girls. A safe spaces component is at the core of AGEP. Girls groups, under the guidance of a female mentor from the same community, provide a safe and supportive learning environment. The meetings are critical in building social assets for vulnerable girls—including friendships, self-esteem, trusting relationships with adults, and social support. The training content over the course of the year varies from sexual and reproductive health and life skills to financial education and nutrition training. Girls in AGEP receive …

Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya: Program Overview, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Many adolescent girls in Kenya face considerable risks and vulnerabilities that affect their education, health, and general well-being—including early marriage; teenage pregnancy; early, unprotected, and/or unwanted sexual activity; violence; social isolation; and HIV/STIs. For the most part, very young adolescent girls who live in risk-prone environments have not yet experienced these negative outcomes. It is critical, therefore, to intervene early and increase girls’ capacity to overcome these risks before the challenges result in outcomes that may be irreversible. Research has shown that single-sector interventions are not adequate to obtain the range of outcomes needed to help girls enter into adulthood …

Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya: Baseline Report, Karen Austrian, Eunice N. Muthengi, Taylor Riley, Joyce Mumah, Caroline W. Kabiru, Benta Abuya

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Many adolescent girls in Kenya face considerable risks and vulnerabilities that affect their education status, health, and general well-being. The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya (AGI-K) will deliver multisectoral interventions for over 5,000 girls aged 11–14 in two marginalized areas of Kenya: the Kibera slums in Nairobi, and Wajir County in Northeastern Kenya. Implemented by Plan International in Kibera and Save the Children in Wajir, these interventions will be implemented for two years and will comprise a combination of girl-level, household-level, and community-level interventions. A randomized controlled trial will be used to compare the impact of four different packages of interventions to …

Gender-Biased Sex Selection In India: A Review Of The Situation And Interventions To Counter The Practice, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Sharmistha Basu, Rajib Acharya, A.J. Francis Zavier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report on gender-biased sex selection in India is divided into six chapters, including an introduction in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 describes the laws and policies adopted by India to address gender-biased sex selection, as well as those intended to support and empower women and girls. Chapter 3 analyzes the trends and geographic variation in the sex ratio at birth and in the child sex ratio. Chapter 4 briefly describes the socioeconomic differences and factors underlying distorted sex ratios and gender-biased sex selection in India, and the social consequences of these practices. Experiences in implementing the PCPNDT Act, initiatives intended …

The Adolescent Experience In-Depth: Using Data To Identify And Reach The Most Vulnerable Young People—Tanzania 2009–2012, Population Council, Tanzania Commission For Aids (Tacaids), Zanzibar Aids Commission (Zac), Unicef Tanzania

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

“The Adolescent Experience In-Depth: Using Data to Identify and Reach the Most Vulnerable Young People: Tanzania 2009–12” is part of a series of Population Council guides that draw principally on data from the Demographic and Health Surveys to provide decisionmakers at all levels—from governments, nongovernmental organizations, and advocacy groups—with evidence on the situation of adolescent girls and boys and young women aged 10–24 years. The data are presented in graphs, tables, and maps (wherever possible), providing multiple formats to make the information accessible to a range of audiences. Section I is the Foreword. Section II offers brief technical notes specific …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Seniors Aging In Place, Magaly C. Dante

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Baby boomers are living longer, and as they age, they will need more supportive services that may include housing, mobility, nutrition, personal care, or health care. Despite the studies that have been conducted on baby boomers aging in place (choosing to stay in their home versus move to an institution), the focus has been on the old and frail and very little has been done to address the lifestyle of active (physically functioning) baby boomers. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived, shared experiences of active baby boomers regarding their beliefs and attitudes about aging in …

Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding: A Content Analysis Of Responses To Public Breastfeeding On Internet News Stories, Christina M. Miller-Bellor

Wayne State University Theses

Leading medical organizations recommend breastfeeding for at least a year. The Center for Disease Control (CDC 2011) estimates that 74% of women initiate breastfeeding, while only 23.8% of infants are breastfed until age 1 in the United States. These statistics indicate that while there is an increase in women trying to breastfeed, there are barriers to sustained breastfeeding. Some studies indicate that negative experiences while breastfeeding in public creates a barrier to breastfeeding (Boyer 2010; McIntyre et al. 1999; Smyth 2008). This research contributes to existent literature on breastfeeding. I used a different type of analysis to explore attitudes and …

Exploring Community Gardening: Motivations And Impacts, Kathleen Marie Gersky

Wayne State University Theses

Research shows the emergence of community gardens in urban areas serves to address issues such as food scarcity and community cohesion, creating positive implications at the neighborhood and city wide level. However, the research does not adequately address the impact it may have on a micro level in middle-upper class areas, potentially hindering the gardening movement. Understanding community gardens in all socioeconomic settings will be important to the broader sustainable food movement’s current and future success. In this thesis, I ask: what are the motivations and impacts of community gardening? The objectives are to understand how motivations and impacts may …

Equality And Difference - The Restrained State, Martha Albertson Fineman

Faculty Articles

Contemporary American law, culture, and political theory restrain the concept of equality as a tool of social justice. Equality in conjunction with a strong emphasis on personal liberty operates as a mandate for curtailing state action, rather than an aspirational measure of the comparative wellbeing of individuals. As a check on state involvement, our cramped notion of equality limits the state's ability to affirmatively address economic, political, social, and structural inequalities.

As interpreted in modern Supreme Court jurisprudence, the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution actually works to restrict the remedial ability of the state. Equality is understood as …

Destination Marketing Organizations’ Stakeholders And Best Practices, Bonifacio Lopez Torres, Godwin-Charles Ogbeide

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

As marketing practices continue to advance, the tourism industry is constantly evolving in terms of marketing strategies and in the shifting duties of its stakeholders. Different organizations plan the advancement of their marketing strategies differently, and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are no exception. With so many destination options, travelers may find themselves with too many destinations and too much information to easily make the decision on their own. The main role of the DMOs is to sell the destination using different marketing strategies and various incentives to make their destination more appealing, and by working with all of their stakeholders …

Women And Time: Food Work Politics Of Self Defined Healthy Men, Juan Barredo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the way gender operates in relation to time within the food work spectrum discussed in 19 narratives. The 19 narratives came from individual open ended face-to-face interviews with self-defined healthy men who shop at healthy food stores. This study's examination of how gender operates in the narratives was based on how the men constructed their experiences with women and work in relation to time through the food work spectrum. Women mentioned in the sampled narratives taught the men how to shop and eat in a healthy manner but women still did the cooking. Work wise the findings …

Gender-Biased Sex Selection In South Asia: The Situation And Promising Approaches To Restore Balance, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This project summary indicates that sex ratios at birth in South Asia vary considerably. While the sex ratios at birth in Bangladesh and Pakistan have been normal at the country level (103 and 102.5 males per 100 females, respectively), Nepal is showing signs of disturbed sex ratios at birth, with a sex ratio of 106 males per 100 females, and the situation in India is particularly adverse, with a sex ratio at birth of 110 males per 100 females. In all of these countries, preconditions for a deterioration of the sex ratio at birth are evident. Preferences are expressed for …

Sex, Dementia, And Long-Term Care: Public Perspectives, Erin L. Yelland

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The current mixed methods study utilized an ecological framework to examine public perspectives toward sexual behaviors among long-term care residents with dementia. Analyzing attitudes of the public is an integral component of understanding the entire ecological system that affects the development and overall well-being of a long-term care resident. Attitudes were examined using a multiple segment factorial vignette with a probability sample of 329 respondents from a southern state. Results indicate that attitudes were not statistically affected by sex or the elapsed time since diagnosis, and age, spousal disposition, and degree of intimacy predicted attitudes. A respondent’s education level also …

An Exploratory Study Of Parenting Dimensions And Family Conflict Among Head Start Participants: An Examination Of Hispanic Mothers, Narketta M. Sparkman-Key, Inglish Morgan-Gardner

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Understanding the dynamics of the relationship between family conflict and parenting is important to human service practice. When assisting clients, human service practitioners must address many different systems including culture, historical era, ethnicity, gender, and other systems in which the individual operates (Martin, 2013). This study explores this phenomenon by examining the relationship between family conflict and the six dimensions of parenting; warmth, rejection, structure, chaos, autonomy support, and coercion among Hispanic mothers who access an inner city Head Start program. Findings are discussed in terms of cultural impact, human service practice and the need for further research.

Health Literacy Proficiency, Sources Of Health Information, And Perceived Barriers To Health Literacy Among Selected Members Of The Hmong Community In Minnesota, Amanda Vang

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine health literacy proficiency, sources of health information, and perceived barriers to health literacy among selected members of the Hmong community in Minnesota. Data for this cross-sectional study were collected using the Short Assessment on Health Literacy-English (SAHL-E) screening tool and a questionnaire. The SAHL-E screening tool and a questionnaire were distributed to 40 Hmong residents in the St. Paul/Minneapolis in Minnesota. When combining the numbers of health literacy scores, a mean of 15.5 was reported. The overall findings of this research assessed that the Hmong community in Minnesota has adequate health literacy …

Panel Survey Of Young People In Egypt (Sype) 2014: Generating Evidence For Policy, Programs, And Research, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Panel Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE), first conducted in 2009 among Egyptian youth aged 10–29, focuses on education, employment, health, family formation, migration, reproductive health, social issues, and civic/political participation. This second round, SYPE 2014, was conducted in the wake of two youth-led revolutions (2011 and 2013). SYPE 2014 attempts to understand changes that occurred among Egyptian youth over the period between the two rounds through targeting the same group of respondents of the 2009 survey in 2014 to accurately document changes and progress in the status of these young people. Preliminary findings indicated: a slight decrease …

Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya: Financial Education Curriculum, Wajir, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya builds the social, health, and economic assets of adolescent girls in urban slums and Northeastern Kenya. This collection of learning sessions was designed to prepare adolescent girls for the financial responsibilities of adulthood. The sessions were developed to be delivered without a lot of resources or materials, with limited time available for training. The guide contains step-by-step descriptions of the learning activities as well as background information.

Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya: Health And Life Skills Curriculum, Wajir, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya builds the social, health, and economic assets of adolescent girls in urban slums and Northeastern Kenya. This collection of learning sessions was designed to increase adolescent girls’ knowledge of reproductive health and sexuality; reinforce and promote attitudes and behaviors that will lead to a better quality of life; and instill skills among adolescents to enable them to overcome the challenges of growing up and becoming responsible adults including communication skills, decision-making, assertiveness, setting goals and resisting peer pressure. The sessions were developed to be delivered without a lot of resources or materials, with limited time available …

Abriendo Oportunidades Program: Integrated Curriculum Guide (8 To 17 Years Old)—Two-Year Cycle, Cecilia Garcés, Paola Broll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The Abriendo Oportunidades program aims to support indigenous girls in Guatemala to reach their maximum potential and overcome the cycle of poverty. The program created safe spaces for girls at the community level, reaching adolescent girls with an asset-based curriculum implemented by community mentors. This is the third version of the curriculum. It was designed to foster reflection and dialogue, sisterhood, and critical thinking among adolescent girls. The first two versions focused on reproductive health, nutrition, hygiene, communication skills, and financial education. Several of the initial topics, as well as some activities from these previous versions, are included in the …

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep): Program Overview, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts girls at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Therefore, the solutions must be interconnected as well. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners are implementing a social, health, and economic asset-building program …

Panel Survey Of Young People In Egypt (Sype) 2014: Generating Evidence For Policies And Programs—Summary Report, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This document contains the Summary Report to the Panel Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) 2014: Generating Evidence for Policy, Programs, and Research. SYPE, which was first conducted in 2009 among Egyptian youth aged 10–29, focuses on education, employment, health, family formation, migration, reproductive health, social issues, and civic/political participation. The second round, SYPE 2014, was conducted in the wake of two youth-led revolutions (2011 and 2013). SYPE 2014 attempts to understand changes that occurred among Egyptian youth over the period between the two rounds through targeting the same group of respondents of the 2009 survey in 2014 to …

Understanding Factors Influencing Adverse Sex Ratios At Birth And Exploring What Works To Achieve Balance: The Situation In Selected Districts Of Nepal, Mahesh Puri, Anand Tamang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The goal of this study is to identify programs and sociocultural factors underlying disparities in sex ratios at birth in some parts of Nepal, by comparing the situation in districts with high and normal sex ratios at birth and among under-5 children. Findings are expected to inform the design of programs intended to raise the value of girls in general and counter the practice of gender-biased sex selection in particular. The study was conducted in two adjoining hill districts of the western development region of Nepal, namely Kaski (where sex ratios are adverse) and Tanhaun (where sex ratios are normal). …