Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Relationship Between Consistent Workout Regimen On Quality Of Life Among Crossfitters In South Mississippi, Christian Glass

Honors Theses

Robust literature exists to support the utility of CrossFit in improving metabolic and cardiovascular well-being. However, a metaphorical chasm exists not in the study of the physiological effects of CrossFit but in the psychological effects, namely quality of life (QOL). This thesis aimed to offer an installment into this gap by investigating trends among a population of 81 CrossFitters in south Mississippi. To best fulfill this task, a quantitative study was conducted using a 32-item survey composed of a mixture of questions from the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL- BREF) to assess reported quality of life …

Exploring The Ethics Of Human Space Travel: Navigating The Challenges And Implications Of Missions Past, Present, And Future, Emily A. Brettschneider

Honors Theses

This comprehensive exploration delves into the multifaceted landscape of human space travel, spanning physiological challenges, astronaut training, spacecraft manufacturing, ethical considerations, societal influences, and technological frontiers. The study elucidates the physiological impacts of microgravity on astronauts, emphasizing the necessity of personalized interventions and rigorous exercise protocols. Psychological dimensions, including isolation, interpersonal dynamics, and support systems, emerge as critical considerations. Astronaut training is dissected, encompassing physical conditioning, systems proficiency, and cultural competence. The paper delves into spacecraft manufacturing, emphasizing adherence to stringent standards, quality control measures, and the integration of additive manufacturing. Space governance challenges, the role of the private sector, …

Predictors Of Future Physician Practice Location, Allegra Latimer

Honors Theses

Healthcare disparities exist throughout the United States. While Mississippi does not stand alone in the maldistribution of physicians and medical practices across the state, it does exist as a state that has been historically medically underserved. According to data collected by The County Health Rankings Model developed by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in 2019, the ratio of population to primary care physicians in Mississippi was 1860:1. This is nearly 30% higher in disparity than the national average. It is also important to note that of Mississippi’s 82 counties, 79.3% are considered rural with the majority of physicians …

Pharmacists’ Perceptions And Knowledge Of The Legalization Of Medical Marijuana In Mississippi, Faith Houston

Honors Theses

The legalization of medical cannabis in Mississippi was a debated topic among all citizens. This thesis specifically explored pharmacists’ perceptions and knowledge as medical professionals who will be involved with patients certified to use medical cannabis. Information was gathered using a voluntary online survey on the Qualtrics platform to produce a cross-sectional, descriptive study.

From the information gathered, it was apparent that pharmacists in Mississippi have varying opinions regarding medical marijuana. Some are in favor of using these products, and some are not. However, as cannabis has been officially accepted and put into patient's medical plans both current and future …

From Big Farm To Big Pharma: A Differential Equations Model Of Antibiotic-Resistant Salmonella In Industrial Poultry Populations, Rilyn Mckallip

Honors Theses

Antibiotics are used in poultry production as prophylaxis, curative treatment, and growth promotion. The first use is as prophylaxis, or prevention of common bacterial diseases. The crowded conditions in concentrated animal feeding operations necessitate management of infectious disease to ensure overall animal health and the profitability of such operations. In these farms, between 20,000 and 125,000 birds are raised in shed-like enclosures [3], with an average of less than one square foot of space per chicken [34]. Antibiotics are currently used in chicken farms to manage and prevent common bacterial diseases such as respiratory and digestive tract infections, as well …

Ageism, Eldercare, And Healthcare: An Examination Of Growing Old In Costa Rica, Akshaya Vijayasankar

Honors Theses

The world’s aging population and the Covid-19 pandemic have revealed the high level of ageism against older adults around the globe, which has resulted in an overall decreased quality of life for elders. Societies are now faced with the challenge of creating a suitable and equitable model of care to support their aging population. Despite the recent publication of the World Health Organization's Global Report on Ageism, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding ageism. This paper addresses the issues of institutional ageism in the eldercare and healthcare sector. I argue that Costa Rica serves as a …

Racial Health And Productivity Inequalities In The United States, Elissia Vecere

Honors Theses

Across America, it is frequently seen that there are may differences by race in economic and social outcomes. This variability can be seen in judicial, social, and economic systems. The breakdown of economic systems presenting racial variability can be displayed via workplace statistics. There is a general discrepancy between the workplace statistics represented with Black and White employees. These differences frequently are blamed on the productivity and background education supplied by the employee upon being hired. However, the levels of variation across these two races varies minutely in comparison to the differences in wages supplied. When all factors are kept …

A Guide To Common Nutrition, Troy Scheer

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to use the knowledge I have gained through my undergraduate courses and apply it in a format that would be beneficial for the average consumer. This project was researched, written, and designed to be accessible by someone without a background in science or nutrition with the goal of educating the reader of some basic nutrition principles. With this knowledge, it is my hope that the reader will be able to make better nutritional choices and liver a longer and healthier lifestyle by first learning how to choose the right foods. While putting this project …

Small-Family Mindset: An Analysis Of The Impact Of China's Family Planning Policies On Family Culture, Sarah Ansley Croft

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the impact of China’s family planning policies on women’s attitudes towards family culture and the implications on China today. The family planning policies began in the 1970s as an emergency measure intended to create a short-term voluntary small-family culture by decreasing fertility rates. My research, comprised primarily of primary and secondary qualitative sources, discusses the development and implementation of the policies, the economic reforms beginning in the 1980s, and their joint effects on fertility rates, sex ratio at birth, women’s liberation, and changes in family culture, particularly in rural areas. This study found that the family planning …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Physical Activity And Health Influences Among College Students, Rachael Larkin

Honors Theses

Objective: To assess the associations between physical activity, subjective well-being (SWB), and social media influences before, during, and after the 2020 COVID-19 period among college-aged students. Participants: Male and female students from the University of Mississippi who were between the ages of 18-25 volunteered to participate in this study. Out of 10,000 invitation emails distributed, a total of 290 individuals responded and were used for the subsequent analysis. Results: Almost half of the respondents (46.1%) noted a decrease in physical activity from before March-May (M-M) 2020 to during M-M 2020. In addition, 41% of the respondents reported an increase in …

Associations Between The Chemical Constituents Of Fine Particulate Matter And Human Health Outcomes: A Literature Review, Lenora Davis

Honors Theses

Exposure to fine particulate matter, PM_2.5, a component of air pollution, has known systemic effects on the human body. Research on the specific chemical constituents of PM_2.5 that impact human health is fairly new, however. This literature review aims to draw connections between the chemical constituents of PM_2.5 and their implications on human health. We conducted an online search for scholarly articles using a number of key-terms, and created a system to filter the search results. We focused on 69 articles pertaining to PM_2.5 and its effects on different health systems. We found positive associations …

A Look Into The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status And Health, Hunter L. Howell

Honors Theses

Disparities in health have always been present, and major steps have been made to narrow this gap in healthcare. With that said, socioeconomic status still plays a significant role in access to healthcare. This study looks into how socioeconomic factors such as age, race, and income affect access to healthcare while also studying avenues as to why these disparities exist.

An Evaluation Of Community Based Food Intervention: Cooking Matters In Charleston, Ms, Lindsay Fournier

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Cooking Matters classes in producing improvement in individuals’ cooking skills and confidence, as well as their eating behaviors, shopping skills, and perceptions of cooking in rural Charleston, MS. These classes have reported great success in more urban areas such as Atlanta, GA; Philadelphia, PA; and Washington, DC; however, different challenges may be faced in rural Mississippi. To study the effectiveness of the interventions in a new context, pre- and post-intervention self-report surveys were performed and evaluated using Wilcoxon statistical analysis as well as paired sample t tests, and bootstrap …

Nrc Health: Loyalty Insights, Grace Dickas, Allie Rauner, Keenan Allen, Utkarsh Hardia, Teckhong Lee

Honors Theses

One of the biggest concerns of health systems is to know how they can better serve their patients. Health systems seek to exceed patient expectations and inspire patients to return to their system for all their health needs. A patient who returns can be considered loyal to that health system. NRC Health collects patient data from over 9,000 health systems across the country. This allows it to provide data insights that inform health systems’ decisions. The ultimate goal is to increase patient loyalty for health systems by helping them understand how to serve their patients better. The team was tasked …

Perspectives Of Health Care Providers In The Dominican Republic Towards Pregnant Haitian Women, Diana Hernandez

Honors Theses

Due to the lack of basic health care in Haiti, many Haitian women cross the border looking for a better public health service in the Dominican Republic. However, differences in cultural and medical practices exist between both countries. Thus, for my thesis, I intend to study and explain the challenges that Dominican health care providers feel might impede their abilities to provide adequate health care to pregnant Haitian patients and how they respond to and manage those challenges that they face.

A Case Study Of Barriers To Dental Care In Nebraska, Kaitlin Buhler

Honors Theses

An important aspect of overall health is access to dental care, which is, unfortunately, oftentimes difficult to obtain. This study used data collected from a case study of three registered dentists in Nebraska to investigate the barriers to dental care, and identified the lack of dental insurance, limited access to free or reduced-price dental care, and dental anxiety as perceived barriers to dental care. Factors that did not seem to have an impact were language or ethnicity differences between patients and workers, distance to travel, comfortability with receiving free or reduced-price dental care, knowledge of how often to visit the …

Does Money Buy Healthiness: An Examination Of The Effects Of Socioeconomic Indicators On Physical And Mental Health, Caleb Nigrin

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of socioeconomic status indicators on physical and mental health. This study hypothesizes that higher socioeconomic status indicators are correlated with better physical and mental health while examining the extent of these relationships. In order to determine this, previous literature regarding health and socioeconomic status will be evaluated. The results of the General Social Survey (2016) will be used to test the effects of socioeconomic status on health using regression analysis. The responses of 1418 participants were used in this analysis, controlling for age, gender, race, political ideology, and religiosity. Two …

Indigenous Healing In New Zealand: An Anthropological Analysis Of "Traditional" And "Modern" Approaches To Well-Being, Lillian T. Brice

Honors Theses

Drawing on contemporary anthropological approaches used by scholars of well-being and medical anthropology (i.e. Michael Jackson and Lisa Stevenson), I explore how indigenous healers in New Zealand blend “traditional” and “modern” elements to establish a creative and inclusive system. Specifically, I explore the use of herbal treatments, ritual chanting, and ceremonies that encapsulate Māori cultural values. I also explore the impact of biomedicine and New-Age wellness approaches on indigenous healing. I argue that Māori healing moves beyond the binary of “tradition” and “modern” as healers merge the past and present and combine the foreign and native. My research is based …

The Development And Implementation Of “Mission Nutrition”: An After-School Nutrition Education Program For Youth Grades Kindergarten Through Fifth, Rachel Maloy

Honors Theses

Childhood overweight, obesity, and food insecurity are serious problems that are especially prevalent in low-income areas. Belmont Elementary School serves many children from low-income households (classified as a Title I school with 82.6% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch) and, thus, was a perfect setting for the birth of an original nutrition curriculum.

A six-week after-school nutrition education program called “Mission Nutrition” was developed and implemented at Belmont Elementary School over the course of three and a half years. While originally designed for third through fifth grade students, the program was adapted for kindergarten, first, and second grade students …

Stigma Mitigation Through Fine Arts, Kendall Owens

Honors Theses

Social stigma has plagued our society for centuries. It isolates groups of people based on erroneously defined characteristics causing stigmatized persons to be viewed as socially “abnormal”. This debarment from full social acceptance results in poor population health and well-being. Fine arts have been an integral component of society since the beginning of civilization; current and past research have found involvement in fine arts to improve health and well-being in many ways. In this project, relevant studies related to stigma, fine arts, and population health will be reviewed to support the argument that “fine arts combat and mitigate the …

The Business Cycle And Health: An Analysis Of How Macroeconomic Conditions Impact Health Outcomes In The U.S., Talitha Kumaresan

Honors Theses

The U.S. spends about twice as much per person on healthcare, yet the disease burden remains higher in the U.S. than in comparable countries (Sawyer and Cox 2018; Sawyer and Gonzales 2017). Although health status is perceived to be an outcome of individual decision making, the business cycle also affects health. While the effect of macroeconomic shocks on health outcomes has been studied extensively, results remain inconclusive. This analysis uses longitudinal data over 30 years and panel data models to examine the effect of macroeconomic conditions on obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression, congestive heart failure, and heart attack or myocardial infarction. …

The Impacts Of Discrimination On Mental And Physical Health, Mahal Alvarez-Backus

Honors Theses

The present studies investigated the role of campus climate and discrimination on college students’ mental and physical health. Young adults completed measures that assessed their perceptions of campus climate, sense of belonging, depressive symptoms, anxiety levels, sleep quality, physical health symptoms, and experiences with discrimination. Despite the fact that there were not any differences in physical health or sleep quality, there were significant differences in phycological health, specifically with depressive symptoms. Across both studies, there were significant group differences in mental health, particularly that students of color reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than white students. Having empathetic faculty was …

Sports Injury And Recovery Analyzed Using Blum's Model Of Health Determinants, Daniella Batarseh

Honors Theses

This study explores the effects of various health determinants on the ability of a college athlete to recover from a sport’s injury. Blum's Model of Health Determinants explains that there are four factors that contribute to the overall health of an individual: lifestyle, environment, medical services and heredity. Blum argued that each factor affects health to a different degree. To understand how each of these determinants affects an athlete’s recovery, different people involved in this process were interviewed, including coaches, trainers, athletes and sports psychologists. These interviews illustrated the need for an expansion within this model of health. While all …

A Survey Of A Rural Southwest Arkansas Baptist Church On Attitudes Toward Nutrition And Physical Activity In The Church, Elizabeth Fast

Honors Theses

Background: The Christian Protestant church is known for its dedication to the spiritual well-being of its members. It is also known for its outreach and charity efforts in the community. A large need in the community is health behavior interventions, but more research is needed to assess the appropriateness and the receptiveness of the church to promoting health interventions.

Objective: The purpose of this research was done to evaluate current research regarding health behaviors in the church and contribute to the existing data by conducting a survey of a Baptist church in Southwest Arkansas.

Methods: The study was …

Health Educators’ Perceptions Of Factors Related To The Implementation Of School-Based Sexual Education, Kari Ellis

Honors Theses

Mississippi is one of the leading states in both teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infection rates. In an effort to limit these rates, Mississippi passed House Bill 999 in 2011. This bill mandated sexual education in public schools throughout the state. However, since the passage of the bill there have been many factors that impact the way this curriculum is taught. To better understand these factors, how they affect educators, and how schools are addressing them, this study surveyed educators who taught some form of sex-related education curriculum from 2011 to 2016. The findings show that educators believe many factors …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl (Pcb) Pollution Of The Hudson River: Social Policy And Health Considerations, Laura Schad

Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine pollution in the Hudson River and the role General Electric has had in creating this problem. The focus will be on social issues and problems that have emerged as a result of the environmental damage from pollution. Until recently, there was little research done on the health and environmental justice issues that impact the New York communities where GE’s factories were located. This paper examines the material collected and studies that were done which document Hudson River pollution and the contributions as well as cleanup efforts of General Electric. The overall problems …

A Culture Of Vaginas: Representations Of The Vagina In The 21st Century America, Kyra M. Detone

Honors Theses

In 1996, Eve Ensler opened her acclaimed, off-Broadway performance of The Vagina Monologues in New York City with these lines: “I bet you’re worried. I was worried. That’s why I began this piece. I was worried about vaginas.” These lines and Ensler’s monologues as a whole pose a provocative question for the modern woman, one that has been present in feminist dialogue since the late 1960s: Does the vagina have a community in American society? Nearly three decades after the first production of The Vagina Monologues, in what is argued to be a “post-feminist” period, scholars, writers, artists, and …

The Gold Standard: Understanding The Impact Of Perfectionism On Occupation, Mary E. Wagner

Honors Theses

Occupational Science seeks to understand human occupation, often grouping occupations into categories and considering external factors that influence what people do. The current literature in psychology includes several studies on perfectionism, but there are no studies within occupational science literature. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how perfectionism impacts the occupations of college students studying occupational science and provide a measurable and meaningful depiction of the interaction between these variables. Original research was conducted using a mixed methods approach. The Almost Perfect Scale, Revised (APS-R), developed by Slaney, Mobley, Trippi, Ashby, & Johnson (1996) was …

Health Care Agency: Statewide Awareness Of Patient-Centered Care In Maine’S Mental Health Care Facilities, Holly Hogan A

Honors Theses

This research project focuses on patient-centered care (PCC) in the context of inpatient acute psychiatric units. Hospitals have been claiming their renewed outlooks on health-care via PCC. It has become an increasingly popular term to use on hospital websites and in presidential statements. The technologies and practices surrounding psychiatric care have evolved in such a way that patients are more welcomed to have an input in their care. This project discusses the discourse around PCC at Mental Health Care Facilities in Maine. There is no consensus on the definition; the meanings ascribed to it are derived from the individual institutions. …

The American Health Care System, Health Care Reform, And The Effects Of The Affordable Care Act, Adam Becker

Honors Theses

Through the lens of access, quality, and cost I will present and outline the various historical approaches to health care reform, how they have contributed to the formation of our current system, and a preliminary evaluation of the Affordable Care Act. Specifically, I will be analyzing these major reforms in relation to, and their impact, on healthcare payers and providers. By understanding prior health care reform, it will provide the necessary foundation to properly investigate the prospects of success for the ACA. In order to address these questions, I investigated the evolution of the medical professional and modern hospitals, the …