Digital Commons Network^™

Reducing Risk Factors Of Diabetes Mellitus Type Ii Development In Veterans Post Military Discharge Through The Patient Aligned Care Team Model And The Utilization Of Preventive Programs Involving Lifestyle Changes., Jeni Grundy

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Manuscripts

Diabetes Type II (T2DM) prevalence is rising in America, becoming a focus for disease prevention. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) has highlighted the need to tackle the increased T2DM precursor, prediabetes, which ultimately leads to T2DM if risk factors remain unaddressed. One group of the American population with a high rate of prediabetes is the 9/11 Veteran cohort. The Veterans Affairs (VA) system has numerous health promotion missions. This system has highlighted its initiatives to address the development of T2DM. Specific to the 9/11 group, their primary T2DM contributory risk factor is obesity paired with the low utilization of already …

Decreasing Seclusion And Restraint Events Among Clients Within An Inpatient And Crisis Stabilization Behavioral Health Facility, Karen Lee Richards

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Despite global shifts in behavioral health treatment, changes regarding use of seclusion and restraint (S/R) continues to be extremely slow. Local Problem: Increasing S/R events and subsequent staff injuries and financial burden. Methods: A quality improvement project providing education in trauma-informed care (TIC), sensory modulation (SM), and S/R debriefing (S/RD). Interventions: Education and training for S/RD, TIC, and SM using a variety of materials and methods over a 6 to 12-month period was provided to staff within a 16-bed inpatient adult psychiatric health facility (PHF) and a crisis stabilization unit (CSU). Because of positively affecting the use of S/R, …

Interdisciplinary Integrative Oncology, Naomi L. Valles

InterProfessional Education Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Improving Home Health Nurses' Knowledge Of Heart Failure Self-Care Management, Nenette Hoffman

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Abstract

Background: Heart failure results in life-altering and devastating illnesses, predominantly among older adults. Heart failure management is complex, and requires patients and their caregivers to actively monitor symptoms and sufficiently understand care management to maintain health-promoting behaviors. While home health nurses have the primary role as patient educators of their patients with heart failure, evidence from the literature indicates that nurses lack sufficient knowledge to fulfill this role.

Local Problem: Nurses’ inadequate knowledge of heart failure self-care management has been associated with insufficient patient education, the inability of patients to perform heart failure self-care management, worse clinical outcomes, and …

Pueblos Y Ranchos: The Role Of Latino Fathers And Community Leaders In Serving Latino Families In Rural Northwest Iowa And Southern Minnesota, Ruben Viramontez Anguiano, Melissa Martinez, Jorge Chavez, Sarah M. Harrison, Jennifer Jacob Bellowe

Journal of Family Strengths

This ethnography study explored the role of Latino fathers in family life and their children’s education before and during the pandemic. The study also examined the role of Latino leaders and ally leaders in serving Latino fathers and their families in Northwest, Iowa and Southern, Minnesota before and during the pandemic. The sample consisted of 40 Latino fathers from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua and 22 leaders of Latino and European American backgrounds. The study utilized different qualitative inquiries including the larger ethnography, testimonios and observations to collect the data. Key findings included that the Latino fathers were …

December 16, 2022 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Advancing Global Equity In Cardiac Care As Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Reuse Comes Of Age, Daniel Alyesh, Behzad B. Pavri, William Choe, Mam Chandara, Mahmoud U. Sani, Phong Dinh Phan, Aime Bonny, Paul Khairy, Sunil K. Sinha, Uma Srivatsa, Joseph E. Marine, Kim Eagle, Thomas C. Crawford, Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, Sri Sundaram

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

A nation’s health and economic development are inextricably and synergistically connected. Stark differences exist between wealthy and developing nations in the use of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Cardiovascular disease is now the leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with a significant burden from rhythm-related diseases. As science, technology, education, and regulatory frameworks have improved, CIED recycling for exportation and reuse in LMIC has become possible and primed for widespread adoption. In our manuscript, we outline the science and regulatory pathways regarding CIED reuse. We propose a pathway to advance this technology that includes creating a …

The Health And Health Care Needs And Experiences Of Mexican Heritage Individuals In A Nonmetro Location: An Ethnonursing Study, Karla Adu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The population of Mexican heritage individuals has grown significantly in nonmetro, emerging communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the health and health care needs and experiences of this population in the Midwest. Methods: Leininger’s Culture Care Theory and Ethnonursing Research Methods were used as the guiding theory and methodology for the qualitative study. Interviews were conducted with 27 informants. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed according to Leininger’s phases of data analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the data: 1. living a better life in a nonmetro community with and for family, 2. barriers to understanding …

Revelations In The Blood: Determination Of Biomarkers And Analytes, Jeremiah Jamrom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changes in body chemistry have long been utilized as a tool for medical diagnosis. Whether blood panel, toxin level, antigen testing or any of the myriad other tests performed annually, searching for molecules which confer health status is a long-established practice. These tests give physicians more information and allow them to make a more accurate diagnosis, from which appropriate treatment can stem. Awareness of, and the subsequent search for, biomarkers for disease states have grown substantially in the past years as analytical, biochemical, and instrumental techniques have become more precises and powerful. In an era of increasingly personalized medicine, novel …

Speciated Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry In Combination With Thor’S Hammer Metaspike Technology For The Assessment Of Low-Level Biomarkers For Human Health Evaluation, Ashley Ebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our research team has been focused on quantifying important biological analytes in human blood samples to delineate the biochemical processes underlying certain states of dysfunction and evaluate treatment efficacy. These efforts have been guided by laboratory measurements with the input of medical experts. Speciated isotope dilution mass spectrometry (SIDMS) explained in detail in EPA Method 6800 has been successfully applied in the quantification of an important biomarker analyte for immune function and detoxification processes: glutathione. Past research has proven the molecule a biomarker for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the form of the reduced/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) ratio, and literature has …

Empowering Lung Cancer Survivors In Post-Treatment Survivorship Care Using Participatory Action Research, Kelly Filchner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To explore the experiences of lung cancer survivors (LCS) and their informal and professional caregivers with post-treatment care and to empower them to implement action-based study findings.

Participants & Setting: Participants were recruited using purposeful and snowball sampling from an NCI-designated cancer center in Northeastern US.

Methodological Approach: This study used a participatory action research (PAR) four-phase design. Phase one was a focused ethnography; phase two utilized a core group of participants to decide an action to be implemented in phase three; and phase four evaluated the action for the completion of one PAR cycle.

Findings: Twenty-eight categories, eight …

The Ethical Imperative Of Inclusion In Healthcare Innovation: Scaling And Sustaining Digital Health Equity, Lukas E. Chandler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the harm of digital health exclusion. Excluded groups could not benefit from virtual care due to device access gaps, broadband connectivity, and digital and language literacy levels. A lack of engagement with historically excluded populations in digital health innovation is an ethical harm and a maleficent form of social exclusion. Digital tools in healthcare delivery represent more than just a strategy for promoting health equity; they signify an opportunity to address health inequities in the health technology design process.

The historical focus of healthcare ethics on bedside decision-making issues largely explains why the field lacks concerted …

The Relationship Between Urban Green Space Perception And Use Within The Adolescent Population: A Focused Ethnography, Rachel Lyons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Greenspace is beneficial for improving adolescent mental health, yet we still do not understand the connection between the built environment and subjective mental wellbeing. We also lack understanding of how this population uses greenspace and how they feel when in it. Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was threefold: to understand why adolescents use greenspace, to identify how they use greenspace, and to explore how they feel when they are in greenspace. Methods: participated in a focused ethnography that utilized auto photography for photo elicitation. Braun and Clark's (2006), six phases of thematic analysis were used to guide …

A Qualitative Study Into Modern Psychoanalytic Joining And Mirroring Through Psychotherapeutic Exchanges, Tricia Shihui Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation intends to address current deficits in knowledge regarding the modern psychoanalytic interventions of joining and mirroring, including substantial definition issues in the literature and the absence of current writings on the psychotherapeutic interventions of joining and mirroring in practice. The focus of the study was on the ever-dynamic landscape between modern analytically-informed practitioners and their clients in psychotherapeutic exchange(s) that the practitioners believed encompassed joining and/or mirroring interventions. Participants were six experienced practitioners who described their clinical work as being informed by modern psychoanalysis and who have engaged or were currently engaging in individual psychotherapy with a client. …

Quantum Computations And Molecular Dynamics Simulations: From The Fundamentals Of Antimicrobial Resistance To Neurological Diseases, Angel Tamez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biophysical phenomena are modeled using a combination of quantum and classical methods to interpret and supplement three distinct and diverse problems in this dissertation. In the first project, decarboxylation reactions are ubiquitous across chemical and biological disciplines, yet the origin of non-catalytic solvent effects remains elusive. Specific solvent structure and energetics have not been well described for the monoanion of malonate, nor corrected from the gas-phase charge-assisted intramolecular hydrogen bond model known as “pseudochair”. In the aqueous phase, a low-lying energy conformer known as the “orthogonal conformation” is computed to be preferred by a three-water cluster of hydrogen bonding over …

Examining The Effects Of An Early Mand Training Intervention On Mand Acquisition In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Maram Alnahari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often show language delays. Their limited communication skill may lead them to engage in the same disruptive behavior that previously got them what they wanted. Verbal behavior (VB), specifically mand training (MT), is one of the early language intervention strategies used to target language development and facilitate functional communication with young children with autism. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of an early mand training intervention on mand acquisition in children with ASD. This study specifically targeted the application, the implementation, and their effects. A multiple baseline across participants research design was used …

Redefining Safety: A Reproductive Justice Ethics Of Care Approach To Maternal Health, Elizabeth Balskus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will argue for the adoption of a multi-dimensional concept of safety in healthcare to include emotional, psychological and communal health. It will then illustrate how this concept of safety is foundational to a dignity-enhancing ethics of care approach that finds its normative grounding in Reproductive Justice and human capabilities, given that both patient and provider need to feel safe in order to fully engage in a dialogical-interpretive process of care and that caring efforts must strive to be equitable on both interpersonal and structural levels. This framework will then be applied to maternal health, showing how an approach …

Comparing The Effectiveness Of Traditional Taped-Problems Intervention With A Remote Delivery Version For Increasing Math Fact Fluency, Cortney Chelecki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The knowledge of math fact fluency skills is crucial for children to develop both related and subsequent necessary math skills. Students require fluency in basic math facts in order to successfully understand and perform more complicated math problems. Research has shown that students demonstrating math skill deficits are likely to have limited cognitive capacity to devote to higher math tasks, and also suffer from math-related anxiety, a lack of engagement, and limited vocational and career opportunities (Delli Sante et al., 2001; Gersten & Chard, 1999; Parkhurst et al., 2010; Poncy et al., 2007; Riconscente, 2013). During the COVID-19 pandemic, all …

Facial Expression Recognition Deficits In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Zachary Friedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are an umbrella term for lifelong neurobehavioral disorders characterized by a set of social (verbal and nonverbal) communication challenges and behaviors and restricted, repetitive behaviors. Emotions serve many functions, but primarily they help with the appraisal of stimuli and driving of responses. Emotional processing and facial recognition are integral abilities that influence the acquisition of social skills. For individuals with ASD, it is hypothesized that facial recognition deficits contribute to social communication traits. The bulk of previously conducted research has utilized static images of facial expressions. This study utilized videos of spontaneous expressions. Participants were tasked …

Tabletop Role-Playing Games As Autism Psychotherapy: A Video-Cued Multivocal Clinical Ethnography, Adina Rubin-Budick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study is a video-cued multivocal ethnography that analyzed the clinical reasoning and perspectives of psychotherapists using Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TRPG) as a therapeutic treatment for children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum conditions. With a growing number of TRPG therapists nationwide using this modality in their clinical practices, this study aimed to develop a clearer understanding of the ways in which their therapeutic orientation, gaming practices, and knowledge of Autism Spectrum Conditions informs their use of TRPG psychotherapy with Autistic clients.

Research that focuses on clinical decision-making and the knowledge that informs clinical interventions and technique generally refers …

Examining The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Violent Crime In The City Of Pittsburgh, Brittany Urban

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to examine patterns of Part I crimes [including Part I Person/Violent: Homicide, Rape, Aggravated Assault, and Robbery, and Part I Property: Burglary, Larceny-Theft, Motor Vehicle Theft, and Arson, as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Standards] in The City of Pittsburgh, framing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor that Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory suggests may lead to increased opportunity for crime, due to the perceived unjustness of the associated lockdown orders and potential incentive for criminal coping (Agnew 1992). This descriptive analysis is based primarily upon …

Computational Symmetric Grain Boundary Energy Of Thorium Dioxide, Brendan J. Carroll

Honors College Theses

With fossil fuels being depleted at a faster rate than ever, there has been an effort to convert fossil fuel energy to different forms of green energy. One of these forms is nuclear power, and while nuclear power itself is not new, new fuel sources for different types of reactors are being developed. This study aims to do computational experiments on Thorium Dioxide (a potential new nuclear fuel source) to look for the lowest grain boundary energy and what the effect of grain boundary conditions on the energy. Different orientations of the materials grain boundary were modeled and molecular dynamic …

Bilingual Korean-English Civil Code Of The Democratic People's Republic Or Korea, Joseph Cho

Journal of Civil Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Using Wearable Sensors To Measure Goal Achievement In Older Veterans With Dementia, Jennifer Freytag, Ram Kinker Mishra, Richard L Street, Angela Catic, Lilian Dindo, Lea Kiefer, Bijan Najafi, Aanand D Naik

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Aligning treatment with patients’ self-determined goals and health priorities is challenging in dementia care. Wearable-based remote health monitoring may facilitate determining the active participation of individuals with dementia towards achieving the determined goals. The present study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of using wearables to assess healthcare goals set by older adults with cognitive impairment. We present four specific cases that assess (1) the feasibility of using wearables to monitor healthcare goals, (2) differences in function after goal-setting visits, and (3) goal achievement. Older veterans (n = 17) with cognitive impairment completed self-report assessments of mobility, then had an …

Landscape Of Tb Infection And Prevention Among People Living With Hiv, Anca Vasiliu, Rebecca Abelman, Yousra Kherabi, Antonia Morita Iswari Saktiawati, Alexander Kay

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of mortality in people living with HIV (PLHIV) and contributes to up to a third of deaths in this population. The World Health Organization guidelines aim to target early detection and treatment of TB among PLHIV, particularly in high-prevalence and low-resource settings. Prevention plays a key role in the fight against TB among PLHIV. This review explores TB screening tools available for PLHIV, including symptom-based screening, chest radiography, tuberculin skin tests, interferon gamma release assays, and serum biomarkers. We then review TB Preventive Treatment (TPT), shown to reduce the progression to active …

Developing A Healthy Masculinities Program On A University Campus, David A. Scott, Freeman Woolnough, Tony W. Cawthon

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Amid increased concerns about mental health, sexual violence, and substance use among college students, college campuses are looking toward developing targeted programming to help counteract these concerning trends. This practitioner paper highlights the development and impacts of a program at a Canadian institution, which focuses on healthy masculinity and identity development. Although still in the early stages, the feedback and observations are indicative of the powerful potential of this type of programming to improve healthy masculinity on college campuses.

Addressing The Educational And Interventional Needs Of Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome (Was) Patients And Families, Naomi Tesfaiohannes

Master's Projects and Capstones

Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome (WAS) is an immune system (immunodeficiency) and blood disorder that increases the risk of severe infections and bleeding. A patient with WAS has a significant reduction in the size and number of platelets (micro thrombocytopenia), meaning there is a reduced ability to form blood clots and stop bleeding. WAS affects approximately 1 in 250,000 males in the United States. Public information on WAS is predominantly scientifically based, which makes it difficult for families to fully understand the syndrome, the impacts of severe bleedings on patients’ daily activity, and how to improve the patients’ quality of life. This …

My Shoulder Is On Backwards?! Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty Vs Hemi- Arthroplasty In Complex Humeral Fractures Of Elderly, Kyle Wilson

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

No abstract provided.

The Safety And Efficacy Of Pravastatin In The Treatment Of Preeclampsia, Miranda Shelly, Tara Riley

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Objective: Assess the efficacy of pravastatin in the prevention or treatment of preeclampsia in women who are at risk. Design: Systematic literature review. Methods: A search was performed using Pubmed utilizing the terms preeclampsia and pravastatin. The results were limited to studies that were double blind and placebo controlled and that occurred in the last 5 years. Results: None of the studies found statistical significance in the rate of preeclampsia between the experimental and control groups. Only one study found statistically significant differences in fetal birth weight and age at delivery. The other two studies found no differences between groups …

Do Support Groups Mitigate The Effects Of Imposter Syndrome?, Tyler Barnes, Meranda Mayer

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2020-current

Imposter syndrome is defined as the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills. Small support groups utilized in an academic environment could prove to be effective in mitigating the effects of imposter syndrome. A total of 4 articles were individually reviewed and included for meta-analysis. Each study was conducted on students studying medicine and utilized support groups at the core of their intervention for combating imposter syndrome and improving overall psychological wellness. Results were based on surveys and yielded an overall positive response from …