Digital Commons Network^™

Defining The Hospital Social Worker’S Role And Geriatric Depression, Cara M. Galob

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hospital readmissions, compliance issues, increased long-term nursing home placements, and social determinants of health are significant concerns that burden the hospital inpatient industry. A notable factor that may impact these outcomes is the surprisingly high rates of depression in older adults. In various settings, social workers have historically provided clinical assessments and interventions for people suffering from depression. This study examines how clinical social workers can be utilized in a hospital inpatient setting to identify and treat older adults suffering from major depression. Social work interventions can positively impact many hospitals' long-term goals, such as improving the patient experience, achieving …

Mortality Disparities Amongst African American Infants In Wisconsin, Enica C. Saffold

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American mothers have the highest infant mortality rate of any other racial group, in the United States. In Milwaukee, the rates for non-Hispanic African Americans were two to three times higher than those for non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanics between 2016 and 2018. According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services in 2022, the infant mortality rate in 2021 was 12.9 for every 1,000 live births. This cross-sectional quantitative epidemiological study explores risk factors correlated with high infant mortality rates among Wisconsin African American mothers who gave birth to live infants between 2011 and 2021. To determine whether there is …

Successful Human Resource Leader Strategies Used To Reduce Employee Turnover, Gilda Beatrice Lomas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some Human Resource Managers (HRMs) and team leaders in customer service settings struggle to effectively implement conflict resolution strategies. HRMs are particularly concerned about the impact of unresolved conflicts, as they can lead to higher employee turnover. Grounded in emotional intelligence (EI), the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry study was to explore strategies that six HRMs in the United States use to retain customer service employees. Data were collected using semistructured interviews, public documents, websites, and professional artifacts that included direct involvement in managing teams within customer service settings. Through thematic analysis, four key themes were identified: conflict management …

Staff Education Presentation: Addressing Polypharmacy As A Risk Factor For Falls Among Older Adults With Psychiatric Disorders, Yetunde E. Adegoroye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this doctoral project was to address the practice problem of polypharmacy and its association with falls among older adults with psychiatric conditions. The existing evidence shows that polypharmacy, which is defined as the concurrent use of five or more medications, increases the risk of falls, which leads to hospitalization, higher healthcare costs, and reduced quality of life (Varghese et al., 2024). Within the practice setting, it is Crucial to manage polypharmacy to enhance patient safety. The purpose of this project was to enhance medical staff knowledge regarding effective evidence-based strategies for reducing polypharmacy, through an educational presentation. …

Staff Education Presentation: Addressing Polypharmacy As A Risk Factor For Falls Among Older Adults With Psychiatric Disorders, Yetunde E. Adegoroye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this doctoral project was to address the practice problem of polypharmacy and its association with falls among older adults with psychiatric conditions. The existing evidence shows that polypharmacy, which is defined as the concurrent use of five or more medications, increases the risk of falls, which leads to hospitalization, higher healthcare costs, and reduced quality of life (Varghese et al., 2024). Within the practice setting, it is Crucial to manage polypharmacy to enhance patient safety. The purpose of this project was to enhance medical staff knowledge regarding effective evidence-based strategies for reducing polypharmacy, through an educational presentation. …

Psychoeducation On Addiction For Healthcare Providers, Lovester Duncan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Summary Walden University College of Nursing This is to certify that the doctoral study by Lovester Duncan has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Kristina Bohm, Committee Chairperson, Nursing Faculty Dr. Mary Martin, Committee Member, Nursing Faculty Chief Academic Officer and Provost Sue Subocz, Ph.D. Walden University 2024 The DNP project aimed to increase healthcare providers’ knowledge, awareness, and comfort with prescribing medication-Assisted Treatments (MATs). Inadequate treatment and higher overdose and death risks result from providers lacking experience with …

Renewable Assignments: Comparing Faculty And Student Perceptions, Julie Lazzara, Matthew Bloom, Virginia Clinton-Lisell

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

This study examined faculty and student perceptions of renewable assignments within an OER-enabled pedagogy framework. Building on Wiley and Hilton’s (2018) framework, this study focused on the subset of practices that result in renewable assignments. Renewable assignments leverage OER permissions (reuse, redistribute, retain, remix, revise) to produce student work with value beyond the classroom. The study compared college students’ (N = 24) perceptions of value, interest, motivation, and reward for renewable assignments versus those of the instructor (N = 1) in one online class. Students reported that the value, interest, motivation, and reward of the renewable assignment were somewhat better …

The Role Of Open Education And Faculty Gender In Shaping Student Perceptions, Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Alison E. Kelly

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Student perceptions of open education, both open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy, are typically reported as positive in research studies. However, there is a need for controlled research to better understand the specific effects of open education. Furthermore, it is not understood how faculty gender, often noted to be influential in student perceptions of courses, interacts with open education. The current study addressed these issues in a controlled experiment in which college students (N = 413) were randomly assigned to read vignettes of course descriptions that varied based on textbook type (OER or commercial), pedagogy (open or closed), and …

The What’S What And The Who’S Who Of Psychobiography, Ronald Chenail

The Qualitative Report

Joseph G. Ponterotto’s 2025 book, The Psychobiographer's Handbook: A Practical Guide to Research and Ethics, not only serves as an excellent introduction and practical methodological guide to psychobiography, but it also introduces readers to the leading psychobiographers from around the world via the 22 captivating profiles distributed throughout the book. Starting with his self-reflective introduction Ponterotto brings us inside the psychobiography craft by combining technical design and data management skills along with a relational awareness of the researcher to the historic subject. Lastly, the structure of this book can also serve as a template for anyone wanting to create …

Harmony In Progress: Exploring Motivation’S Role In My Piano Learning And Practice Journey, Junyu Tao, Jane Southcott, Renee Crawford

The Qualitative Report

This autoethnography explores the role of motivation in the piano learning and practice journey of the first author. The study is underpinned by understandings of how motivation evolves from extrinsic influences, such as parental support, teachers’ guidance, and peer influence, to intrinsic motivation that drives personal growth. Using a reflective and collaborative approach incorporating narratives, we examine key moments and emotional landscapes as the first author reveals the transformative power of motivation in shaping her piano learning experience. Our findings highlight the critical role of self-determination in fostering sustained engagement and success on the path of piano learning and practice. …

Early Detection Of Risk Factor For Suicidal Ideation Among Senior High School Students In Jakarta: Updated Measurement, Nova R. Yusuf, Sabarinah Prasetyo, Byron J. Good

Kesmas

The key strategy to address suicide in adolescents is school-based suicidal prevention by adapting a screening instrument to the local culture and policymakers’ perception of suicide. This study aimed to develop an instrument for the early detection of risk for suicidal ideation and identify influential risk factors for suicidal ideation among high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia. This study was conducted in 2018 with a mixed-method design (quantitative and qualitative approaches). It was found that 5% of students had suicidal ideation in July–November 2018, and 13.8% had a high-risk factor for suicidal ideation. The instrument developed in this study consisted …

Assessment Of Free Drinking Water Facilities And Its Potential Health Risks: A Study In The University X, Indah Actry Zane Lumbantobing, Bambang Wispriyono, Fitri Kurniasari, Sifa Fauzia, Muhammad Nur Ihsan Ayyasy, Alissa Siti Haura, Ghina Labibah, Muhammad Abiyyu Akmal, Kirana Mahadewi Heryadi, Firda Alfianti, Nuranida Fauziyah

Kesmas

University X offers free drinking water facilities. However, it has a significant problem in accessing safe drinking water. This study aimed to examine the microbial and chemical parameters of the free drinking water facilities at University X. The microbial quality was assessed by evaluating the total coliform bacteria, and the chemical parameter assessment, substances such as nitrate, iron, manganese, hexavalent chromium, and fluoride were analyzed across 12 water samples from various locations within the university. Among these, only total coliform and fluoride levels exceeded the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Indonesian Ministry of Health. An Environmental …

Economic Growth, Poverty Gap, And Health Inequality: Implications Based On Panel Analysis Of Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development Data, Sangik Han

Kesmas

This study investigated the impact of economic growth and income distribution on health inequality using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Employing a panel analysis, this study amalgamated 21 years of data (spanning from 2000 to 2020) from 37 OECD countries. The dependent variables (life expectancy and avoidable mortality) were scrutinized against independent variables (gross domestic product and poverty gap). Control variables encompassed body mass index, consumption patterns, smoking rates, health workers availability, number of beds in health facilities, national medical expenses, and unemployment rates. This study revealed significant associations between economic growth, poverty gap, and …

Heart Failure Beyond The Diagnosis: A Narrative Review Of Patients' Perspectives On Daily Life And Challenges, Michelle Shigi Yang, Mohamed Bilal Abdallah, Zubair Bashir, Wissam Khalife

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Heart failure (HF) is a complex syndrome that significantly affects patients' physical, psychological, and socioeconomic well-being. Despite advances in guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), such as ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and SGLT2 inhibitors, HF continues to have a high global burden, with over 64 million affected worldwide and a five-year mortality rate of 50%. HF disrupts various life aspects, especially for younger patients (aged 35-55), who often face career interruptions due to severe symptoms like fatigue and frequent hospitalizations. These patients may struggle to maintain employment, resulting in financial instability compounded by high healthcare costs. Moreover, reduced exercise capacity and sexual dysfunction …

Digging For Literature On Tailoring Cultural Offers With And For Older People From Ethnic Minority Groups: A Scoping Review, Stephanie Tierney, Jordan Gorenberg, Marta Santillo, Debra Westlake, Geoffrey Wong, Kerryn Husk, Sofia Vougioukalou, Ruthanne Baxter, Shoba Dawson, Nia Roberts, Caroline Potter, Harriet Warburton, Beth Mcdougall, Johannah Latchem, Kamal R Mahtani

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTION: Social prescribing addresses non-medical issues (e.g., loneliness, financial worries, housing problems) affecting physical and/or mental health. It involves connecting people to external support or services, including 'cultural offers'-events, groups and activities run within or by cultural organisations. Such offers need to be acceptable and accessible to diverse populations if forming part of a social prescription.

METHODS: A scoping review was conducted to identify what existing literature, conducted in the United Kingdom, tells us about tailoring cultural offers for older people (aged 60+ years) from ethnic minority groups. Relevant literature was searched for on electronic databases, through Google, via a …

Strategies For Information Technology Managers To Mitigate Data Manipulation Challenges Within Healthcare Cloud, Oluwtosin Joseph Adeola

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare information technology (IT) managers often lack effective protection strategies against cloud-based data manipulation, leaving their organizations vulnerable to significant financial, health, and privacy risks. Grounded in the technology threat avoidance theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies healthcare IT managers have to mitigate data manipulation that threatens data integrity related to the healthcare cloud. The participants were four IT managers of healthcare organizations in the Central Texas region of the United States who had strategies to mitigate data manipulation in the healthcare cloud. The data were collected using semistructured interviews and reviewing journals available …

Accumbal Plasticity And Associated Behavioral Adaptations In The Spared Nerve Injury Model Of Chronic Neuropathic Pain, Yu-Hsuan Chang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Chronic pain is a debilitating neurological disorder that affects hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. It is associated with cognitive symptoms such as cognitive inflexibility, which is defined as the inability to adaptively update behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. To date, there are no effective treatments for these symptoms, even though they substantially contribute to the decreased quality of life of chronic pain patients and are associated with reduced efficacy of pain management strategies. Therefore, understanding the neural circuit adaptations that drive cognitive symptoms of chronic pain, like cognitive inflexibility, is essential for improving existing treatments for this …

“It’S Not Because They’Re Gypsy”: Practitioners Perspectives Of Gypsies, Travellers And Crime And Justice, Raegan Booth, Kirsty Koral, Kitty Lymperopoulou

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

In dominant public, political and media narratives of Gypsy and Traveller communities, they have often been associated with criminality, deviance, violence, idleness and reluctance to assimilate into settled society. A discourse of othering predicated on negative stereotypes further affect their marginalisation and social exclusion. This empirical article critically examines reflections on, and responses to, these dominant narratives among practitioners who have engaged with Gypsy and Travellers operationally and strategically, in relation to crime and criminal justice. We find evidence of compliance with dominant narratives which include perceptions that deny and minimise experiences of victimisation and racism, while also suggesting a …

An Evaluation Of A Multidisciplinary Care Planning Tool For People With Intellectual Disabilities And Behaviours Of Concern, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Beyond Automation: How Ai Service Integration Is Shaping The Future Of Brand Management, Nusaiba Begum

Management Dynamics

Background: The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the service sector, catalyzed by Industry 4.0, has dramatically transformed customer-brand interactions. AI-powered tools enable personalized engagement, providing brands with a competitive edge.

Objective: This study investigates the impact of AI-powered service integration on brand management, addressing gaps in current literature and exploring how AI influences customer-brand relationships.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using keywords related to AI, brands, and brand management. The search focused on recent peer-reviewed publications examining AI in the context of the service sector. These studies were critically analyzed to assess AI’s effects on brand management …

Using Morning Meetings To Build Classroom Community, Erica Ekholm

Education Masters

Morning meetings are commonly used within elementary classrooms as a means to build and strengthen classroom communities. Grounded in constructivist theory, this study aims to determine if morning meetings impact elementary students’ feelings about their classroom community. To do this, surveys were administered to 19 third-grade students before and after they participated in morning meetings for a week. Responses from the surveys were coded and a t-test was conducted to determine if differences between the pre-survey and post-survey responses were statistically significant. Results from the analysis of the data indicate that morning meetings do impact a students’ sense of safety …

Recognition Or Refusal? Marginalized Identity Development In Passing And The Color Purple, Lee M. Kassay

Theses & Honors Papers

The novels Passing by Nella Larsen and The Color Purple by Alice Walker both involve identity development in their black queer female protagonists, but previous scholarship has rarely discussed the works in tandem. Thus, I merge the discussion around these two works by analyzing them through the concept of G.W.F. Hegel's master-slave dialectic. Assessing how both protagonists participate in their relationships with their female love interests versus their male husbands shows the importance of mutual recognition in the development of identity.

Telerehabilitation For Aphasia (Terra) Phase Ii Trial Design, Christy Cassarly, Alexandra Basilakos, Lisa Johnson, Janina Wilmskoetter, Jordan Elm, Argye E. Hillis, Leonardo Bonilha, Chris Rorden, Gregory Hickok, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Julius Fridriksson

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

Background and purpose

Methods

Capturing Creativity: An Exploration Of The Positive Impact Of Art Integration In Elementary Education, Christina Zander

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis focuses on the necessity of including art in education and the positive impact integrating art has on students mentally and academically. Over the past 2 years, I have seen the major impact integrating art has on students and how essential it is to keep creativity in the classroom. My research explains how incorporating art helps increase both student engagement and retention of concepts. I have also studied how integrating art with mindfulness can help students develop essential SEL skills including emotion management. My research expands on how utilizing art allows individuals and students to better cope with challenges …

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy Presentation, Giovanna Tomassoni, Meredith Mackenzie

Master's Projects

Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a serious form of child abuse in which the perpetrator is typically the victim’s maternal caregiver. Assessing for MSBP can be very challenging for medical providers due to symptom mimicry and a dearth of information about the disorder. This Integrative Review seeks to shine a light on common symptomatology of MSBP and to make sure that providers leave it on the differential diagnosis until alternative diagnoses can effectively exclude it. A total of 240 records from online databases were reviewing for content, currency, and rigor. This search was narrowed to 10 records for in-depth …

Recognition Or Refusal? Marginalized Identity Development In Passing And The Color Purple, Lee Kassay

Longwood Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Context, Mechanisms And Community Engagement In Implementation Strategies: A Systematic Review Protocol Of Implementation Strategies Designed Using Implementation Mapping, Eunyoung Kang, Gill Ten Hoor, Derek W Craig, Serena Rodriguez, Jennifer Stockton, Maria E Fernandez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Implementation Mapping (IM) has increasingly been used for the design and/or selection and tailoring implementation strategies to promote the effective translation of evidence-based interventions into practice. IM is a tool for guiding the systematic, iterative, step-by-step design process that helps guide the co-creation of theory-based, evidence-informed implementation strategies. This protocol aims to describe the methods of the planned systematic review that will (1) examine the overall landscape of IM in developing implementation strategies, (2) explore the mechanisms of implementation strategies developed using IM and (3) investigate the use of IM and community engagement in the development of implementation strategies. …

Severity Of Symptoms As An Independent Predictor Of Poor Outcomes In Patients With Advanced Cancer Presenting To The Emergency Department: Secondary Analysis Of A Prospective Randomized Study, Aiham Qdaisat, Elizabeth Stroh, Cielito Reyes-Gibby, Monica K Wattana, Jayne Viets-Upchurch, Ziyi Li, Valda D Page, Huda Fatima, Patrick Chaftari, Ahmed Elsayem

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/Objectives: Patients with advanced cancer often present to the emergency department (ED) with pain and distressing symptoms that are not systematically evaluated. The current study investigated the association of symptom severity with the diagnosis of delirium and short-term survival.

Methods: In this secondary analysis of a prospective randomized study of delirium among advanced cancer patients in the ED, in which symptoms were assessed by the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), we analyzed the distribution of MDASI item scores by 90-day mortality (Kolmogorov-Smirnov), the association of MDASI item scores with short-term mortality (logistic regression models), and the symptoms in …

An Exploration Of Texas Latinos’ Perceptions Of Law Enforcement And Undocumented Immigration In The United States, Marika Dawkins-Cavazos, Camille Gibson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Given increased trepidation about undocumented immigration in the United States, this study offers an examination of the extent to which Latinos who represent different generations of immigrants perceive United States law enforcement and the current state of undocumented immigration. It gives voice to Latinos, the most significant demographic crossing the border. The topic is relevant given policymakers’ interest in addressing the moral panic over increasing immigration to the country and an interest in law enforcement legitimacy as an essential ingredient in their effectiveness in combating crimes. This qualitative study using semi-structured interviews describes the perceptions of 40 Texas Latinos regarding …

Breast Cancer Screening In Transgender Women With High-Risk Family History, John F. Lloyd

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical decision report using:

de Blok CJM, Wiepjes CM, Nota NM, et al. Breast cancer risk in transgender people receiving hormone treatment: nationwide cohort study in the Netherlands. BMJ. 2019;365:l1652. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l1652

for a transgender woman with family history of breast cancer.