Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Veteran’S Care Outcomes With The Implementation Of Care Coordination, Katrina Ann Canady

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAstute care coordination is essential to eliminating fragmented care, duplication of services, medication errors, and unnecessary emergency rooms visits. This Doctor of Nursing practice project was a quality improvement (QI) initiative that addressed the gap in practice regarding RN care managers who were not consistently performing care coordination as outlined by the office of community care at the project site. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness that an educational intervention had on the RN care managers’ abilities to perform care coordination. The care coordination model (CCM) served as the project framework because it provides a systematic …

Social Workers’ Philosophical Attitudes Towards Harm Reduction Services In Housing First Organizations, John Gay Woolley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOver the past three decades, harm reduction has gradually become more prevalent among social workers and is now viewed as an instrumental approach in treating people with drug and alcohol problems. Although there have been several studies that described how harm reduction approaches were applied in Housing First (HF) settings, there are few studies that have described social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes regarding harm reduction in HF settings. The purpose of this study was to understand social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes toward harm reduction services and how those attitudes were apparent in their interactions with substance-using …

The Effect Of Federal And State-Level Policy On Undocumented Childhood Arrivals, Kim Kaczmarowski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) provides a 2-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit for eligible undocumented childhood arrivals. It does not provide a pathway to citizenship or confer rights or protections enjoyed by those with permanent legal status leaving recipients in a constant state of legal limbo. State-level policy can mitigate or exacerbate obstacles faced by this population. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how federal and state-level policy in a conservative location shaped experiences of membership or exclusion. Responses were examined using segmented assimilation theory to identify layered contexts of reception. The …

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Telehealth Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Virginia, Johnetta Hill Guishard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The onset of COVID-19 introduced unprecedented changes to how U.S. public health services were delivered. Many public and private agencies faced mandatory closures, social distancing mandates, and rapid transitions to telehealth interventions and treatment. Mental health clinicians witnessed disruptions in continuity of care and an increase in mental health risks overall. Although some studies have been conducted to survey clinicians’ perceptions of the usefulness and ease of use of technology-based interventions, knowledge about mental health clinicians’ experiences and perceptions in Virginia was sparse. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how mental health clinicians in Virginia described …

Identifying Supervision And Training Needs Within A Native American Reservation Co-Occurring Treatment Program, Jennifer Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Native American rural communities are not without substance abuse treatment needs; however, highly skilled mental health providers are often limited on a reservation, which leaves this population with clinicians with less experience and education. This project is a case study of a substance abuse treatment program within a Native American tribe in the western portion of the United States. The practice-focused research questions directly related to the training, certification, and education of staff in the addiction field, and to the ways in which the program evaluated the efficiency and effectiveness of the staff members. The purpose of this study was …

Discipline Without Punishment For African American Male Juveniles: From The Eyes Of A Mental Health Professional, Mia Nichole Lee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration among African Americans are not equal and up to the standards and recommendations of society. This study focused on identifying the differences between the juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration punishment among African American offenders, with the goal of helping improve the way that the society looks at African Americans. The paper followed qualitative research methodology, which provided social evidence and helped in breaking down information. Data were collected from focus groups, observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The research highlights issues regarding juvenile rehabilitation and incarceration of African Americans, which can encourage change.

An Examination Of The Impact Of Police Chaplain Programs And Spirituality On Police Officers’ Mental Health, Samuel Protel Maxwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Spirituality has been a fundamental aspect of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many officers. PTSD affects a high percentage of officers and many of whom live a highly stressful and traumatic life even outside of work. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact of police chaplain programs and spirituality on police officers' mental health. The research question asked how a police chaplain program and spirituality impacted police officers. This study's theoretical framework was Pargament's theory. Qualitative research with a narrative analysis design was chosen to collect data from semi-structured interviews. The 10 participants, including six …

The Effects Of Gender, Age, And Year Of Study On Occupational Therapy Students’ Social Media Competency, Vikram Pagpatan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Occupational therapy students (OTSs) who misuse social media within academic and clinical learning environments may increase the instances of ethical health care violations and breaches of professional codes of conduct. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to assess the social media competency (SMC) scores of OTSs based on year of study, age, and gender. As a result, the research questions were developed to compare the SMC of OTSs based on year of study, age, and gender. The study was grounded by Bandura’s social learning theory and a rationale for allowing social media use in the curriculum. An archived …

Implementation Of Night Shift Rounding To Improve Nursing Communication And Reduce Days Of Intubation In The Intensive Care Setting, Lisa Wilkinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multidisciplinary rounds are the gathering of various health care providers who have a shared interest in a patient’s well-being to discuss the plan of care and the patient’s progress through their hospital stay. This multidisciplinary group of staff can be the providers, the nurse, charge nurse, social worker, pharmacist, dietician, respiratory, chaplaincy, and occupational and physical therapists. On night shift at the project site, this rounding process did not occur, leaving the staff feeling they were not involved in the plan of care. The purpose of this quality improvement evidenced-based project was to create a process change, introduced to the …

Intimate Partner Violence: The Silent Enemy Among African Immigrant Women, Omoniyi Anne Bello

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence among immigrant and minority groups remains a social and health problem that has garnered little attention. African immigrant women particularly face intersectional challenges (e.g., language barriers, unemployment, and lack of access to health care, resources, and services) that heighten their vulnerability to partner violence. Yet, knowledge about their experiences remains elusive in empirical research. Examining the nature and extent of their experience can provide valuable insights that could enhance research and practice on partner violence. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African immigrant women survivors of partner violence in Edmonton, …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Puerto Rican Retired Teachers’ Perceptions About Their Financial Sufficiency, Rossana López León

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Puerto Rico, the Teachers’ Retirement System, which has a membership of around 36,000 retired public-school teachers, is currently facing major restructuring and budget cuts, as part of a larger restructuring of all government agencies to meet the economic emergency they were facing. The recent retirement system reforms were focused mainly on cutting benefits, such as medications, Christmas and summer bonuses, and the cost-of-living adjustment. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of retired teachers regarding their financial sufficiency, and to identify their attitudes, beliefs, and opinions/feelings in light of their socioeconomic profile. The research question focused …

Continuous Vascular Access Education For Health Care Staff, Denise R. Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEnd-stage renal disease is a growing public health problem associated with high healthcare costs and high morbidity and mortality rates. Dialysis patients’ vascular access is a critical component to their survival, and knowledge in managing patients’ vascular access can reduce access complications and improve vascular access outcomes including in community settings. This DNP project is an education program developed for healthcare staff who attend church services to provide ongoing vascular access education to address vascular access outcomes in dialysis patients. The education project was developed using the ADDIE model. The site of the project was a rural city in the …

The Experiences Of Successful Formerly Incarcerated African American Males, Bernice Gordon-Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men are incarcerated at alarming rates and often recidivate at high rates within 3 years. Researchers have demonstrated that recidivism rates last through years 4 and beyond. There is limited qualitative data to provide strategies from formerly incarcerated African American males who have been successful at not recidivating for 10 or more years after their release. The purpose of this Afrocentric-hermeneutic phenomenological study was to bridge the gap in the literature and explore the lived experiences of African American males who were formerly incarcerated and have positively changed their lives to avoid further criminality. A purposeful and snowball …

Social Workers’ Philosophical Attitudes Towards Harm Reduction Services In Housing First Organizations, John Gay Woolley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractOver the past three decades, harm reduction has gradually become more prevalent among social workers and is now viewed as an instrumental approach in treating people with drug and alcohol problems. Although there have been several studies that described how harm reduction approaches were applied in Housing First (HF) settings, there are few studies that have described social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes regarding harm reduction in HF settings. The purpose of this study was to understand social workers’ perspectives of their philosophical attitudes toward harm reduction services and how those attitudes were apparent in their interactions with substance-using …

Intimate Partner Violence: The Silent Enemy Among African Immigrant Women, Omoniyi Anne Bello

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence among immigrant and minority groups remains a social and health problem that has garnered little attention. African immigrant women particularly face intersectional challenges (e.g., language barriers, unemployment, and lack of access to health care, resources, and services) that heighten their vulnerability to partner violence. Yet, knowledge about their experiences remains elusive in empirical research. Examining the nature and extent of their experience can provide valuable insights that could enhance research and practice on partner violence. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African immigrant women survivors of partner violence in Edmonton, …

An Evaluation Of A School-Based School Connectedness Program, John G. Emmerich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, approximately 45% of high school students are either not engaged (28%) or actively disengaged (17%) in the academic process. Increasing a school's average student engagement yields an increase in reading and math achievement. This study evaluates a school connectedness program, Promoting Positive School Engagement (PPSE) program using a convergent mixed methods model to determine the degree of effectiveness measured by the Hemingway measure of adolescent connectedness instrument in an Urban, Midwest public middle school. Quantitative data were collected from 20 students who participated in the program and 20 students who did not (control group). Analyzed using …

Probationer Officer Experiences: Dual Role Decision-Making For Probationers With Mental Illness, Myra A. Fields

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Probation officers play a major role in maintaining public safety by balancing their dual roles of care and control. The number of individuals within the United States community corrections system is significantly growing. This has increased the need for probation officers to make decisions for probationers with mental illness. However, there is a gap in understanding how active-duty probation officers make decisions for probationers. This study examined how probation officers balance their dual roles while decision-making for probationers with mental illness. An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who met inclusion criteria to …

The Experiences Of Successful Formerly Incarcerated African American Males, Bernice Gordon-Young

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American men are incarcerated at alarming rates and often recidivate at high rates within 3 years. Researchers have demonstrated that recidivism rates last through years 4 and beyond. There is limited qualitative data to provide strategies from formerly incarcerated African American males who have been successful at not recidivating for 10 or more years after their release. The purpose of this Afrocentric-hermeneutic phenomenological study was to bridge the gap in the literature and explore the lived experiences of African American males who were formerly incarcerated and have positively changed their lives to avoid further criminality. A purposeful and snowball …

Help-Seeking Behaviors And Employment Hope Among Depressed Black Male Foster Care Alumni, Vanessa Jennings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traumatic depression is a system of experiences where the mind, heart, and gut track happenings lingering among systemic models of prevention and intervention and personal stories. This nonexperimental correlational study aimed to provide insights into mental help-seeking and employment hope among depressed Black/African American foster care male alums. The central research question was to what degree, if any, a positive relationship exists between employment hope and seeking access to mental health-related services among male foster care alums who identify with depression. It was hypothesized that a statistically significant relationship exists. The social cognitive career theory and theory of planned behavior …

Strategies To Reduce The Impact Of Disruptions In Manufacturing Transportation Supply Chains, John Enyabe Ndone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Supply chain managers in the manufacturing transportation industry grapple with reducing the impact of disruptions in transportation supply chains since 50% of U.S. companies have experienced between six to 20 disruptions per year. Ineffective transportation disruption strategies negatively impact the performance and profitability of manufacturing organizations resulting in losses and business failure. Grounded in Goldratt’s philosophy and thinking process of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore successful strategies supply chain managers in the manufacturing transportation industry used to reduce the impact of disruptions in transportation supply chains. The participants …

Theoretical Orientation Beliefs Among Adventure Therapy Professionals, Edward Spaulding

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adventure therapy as a therapeutic model for the treatment of mental health has been a growing area of psychology for more than 50 years. This quantitative study was conducted to explore the theoretical orientation beliefs to clarify the theoretical framework of this therapeutic approach using Coleman’s theoretical evaluation self-test (TEST) to gather data on self-identified adventure therapy practitioners’ theoretical beliefs. Data were collected from 150 participants recruited through their membership or affiliation with adventure therapy professional organizations or social media groups. Data were analyzed using a paired t-test to determine if adventure therapy professionals have higher scores on the cognitive, …

Occupational Stress Of Adult Protective Service Workers, Tiffany Taylor

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has revealed that adult protective service workers experience high levels of occupational stress that often result in health complications such as burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue. Although several qualitative studies have been conducted over the past decade, there was limited information on the phenomenon of how stress is experienced by adult protective service workers investigating cases of alleged elder abuse. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of a sample of adult protective service caseworkers from the southwestern United States that have experienced occupational stress while investigating cases of elder abuse. This study …

Experiences Of Older Adults With Hiv/Aids Enrolled In Case Management Programs In Northwest Indiana, Antoinette Cardenas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn 2016, more than half of those infected with HIV/AIDS were age 50 years or older. Since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, the survival rate of HIV patients has been on the rise with a predicted increase by 2030, but this has also contributed to early onset of comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and kidney failure. The purpose of this generic qualitative study, driven by ecological systems theory, was to explore the experiences of older adults (age 50 and older) with HIV/AIDS who were enrolled in case management programs in Northwest Indiana. Data were collected from semi structured interviews …

Student Perspective Of Alternative Education Characteristics Implemented By Public School Social Workers, Jennifer M. Fields

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public schools are facing increased challenges to address the needs of students with significant behavioral issues. In response, Alternative education (AE) programs are used to reengage students in learning and enhance personal development, through a combination of academic and therapeutic strategies. AE placement is intended to be short-term, with the goal of returning students to public school. However, the differences between these two settings make it difficult for students to sustain achievements made in AE upon reentry. The purpose of this qualitative research was to use the student perspective to identify the social-emotional characteristics of AE that have influenced change, …

Prevention Of Eviction And Severe Housing Crisis, Kayla Hunter

Selected Social Change Portfolios in Prevention, Intervention, and Consultation

Texas has the fifth highest rate of people experiencing homelessness in the United States. Many individuals are facing homelessness, faced eviction first causing them to be homeless. I want to prevent homelessness and eviction with my social change portfolio. Individuals facing homelessness may be unable to afford healthcare/ mental health care, and untreated diagnoses can cause lasting effects. Being unable to afford primary care can also make it a more significant challenge for someone to get back on their feet. Different risk factors, such as a history of homelessness, substance use, or a criminal background, can cause an individual to …

Improving Veteran’S Care Outcomes With The Implementation Of Care Coordination, Katrina Ann Canady

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractAstute care coordination is essential to eliminating fragmented care, duplication of services, medication errors, and unnecessary emergency rooms visits. This Doctor of Nursing practice project was a quality improvement (QI) initiative that addressed the gap in practice regarding RN care managers who were not consistently performing care coordination as outlined by the office of community care at the project site. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness that an educational intervention had on the RN care managers’ abilities to perform care coordination. The care coordination model (CCM) served as the project framework because it provides a systematic …

Experience Of Established Mental Health Counselors Working With Adults Who Have Intellectual Disabilities, Margarete Denk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals with disabilities make up the largest minority population in the United States. Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) make up a significant portion of this population, yet there are limited studies addressing counseling with the I/DD population. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs has addressed the need for disability competence in their upcoming 2024 standards. The purpose of the phenomenological study was to describe lived experiences of established counselors working with adult clients diagnosed with an I/DD. A descriptive phenomenological approach was used along with the social model of disability. The study involved six …

Gendered Racial Microaggressions’ Cumulative Effects On Black Women’S Psychological Well-Being, Melva Dorsey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black women living in North America experience gendered racial microaggressions injurious confrontations in every social setting due to simultaneous discrimination involving race and gender. This basic qualitative research study aimed to explore the perceptions of Black women in this society with gendered racial microaggressions to discover how they perceive the cumulative effects of this phenomenon on their psychological well-being by utilizing intersectionality as the study's conceptual framework. Data collection occurred via interviews with a sample size of five Black women ages 51 and older who were born and raised in North America that self-reported experiencing gendered racial microaggressions. Participants were …

The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Hope, And Well-Being Among Rural Latine Adolescents, Danielle Moss Gettings

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Considerable research has demonstrated that minority at-risk youth in rural environments experience more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and are more likely to suffer from poor academic performance and severe mental health issues. Results of recent studies of resilience and social support as potential mitigators of ACEs suggest that hope could also mediate these adverse effects. Hope is a component of motivation critical to goal attainment and coping with loss. This study was conducted to examine the role of hope as a mediator of the relationship between ACEs and well-being among rural Latine adolescents. Using Washington State Department of Health Healthy …