Digital Commons Network^™

Need For Informed Consent In The Age Of Ubiquitous Human Testing, Caitlyn Kuhs

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Practice Improvement Project To Improve Knowledge And Perceptions Of Palliative Care Among Patients With Heart Failure And Cancer In The Acute Setting Using Video Enhanced Education, Crystal F. Spellman

DNP Projects

Background: Clear communication of the purpose and benefits of palliative care can reduce barriers to acceptance of such services for patients and families. The purpose of this practice improvement project was to assess and improve knowledge and perceptions of palliative care among patients with a diagnosis of heart failure and cancer in the acute setting using a video enhanced education intervention. Methods: This practice improvement project took place at a 555 bed teaching hospital. 18 patients referred to an inpatient palliative care consult service in the acute care setting with a diagnosis of either heart failure or cancer participated. …

Physical Challenges In Forensics: An Autoethnography Advocating For Accommodations On Behalf Of Speakers With Physical Challenges In Competitive Speech Environments, Elise Mccauley Row

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The realm of competitive forensics is filled with challenges including written and unwritten rules and norms, multiple categories with different guidelines for each, a distinct culture only people intimately connected with the activity can navigate without conscious effort, and a basic knowledge of the ever-changing world of communication. For competitors who struggle with physical disabilities, the challenges are beyond daunting. Using the method of autoethnography, this paper investigates how students with physical challenges can successfully participate through accommodation and how speech coaches can advocate for their physically-disabled speakers and request and implement the best accommodations.

Engaging Practice In Communication Education: Institutional Politics, Knowledge Economy, And State Power, Wincharles Coker

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A grave concern in communication education scholarship is that research in practice plays second fiddle to theory. Little is known about the phenomenology of practice in communication pedagogy, and how it shapes and is shaped by programmatic assessment in particular. This dissertation attempts to explore the complexity of practice in communication education in a non-Western culture. The project demonstrates that the organizational culture that gives rise to the work of communication program administrators is always filtered and enacted through the interplay of institutional politics, the global knowledge economy, and state power. Using two public universities in Ghana, I argue, based …

Making A Difference: Evidence Based Palliative Care Education For Neonatal Nurses, Sherry Elaine Pye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The death of a neonate is a life-changing and tragic experience for the individuals involved in the final moments of the infant's life. As the frontline provider in this clinical scenario, the bedside nurse supports the patient and family through their individual journey of loss. If the nurse does not possess the palliative care educational background and communication skills to support this unique care delivery process, the journey of death can evolve into a particularly negative experience for the parents and the nurse. This specific delivery of care concern was identified and gleaned from a parental bereavement exit interview after …

Trust, Jealousy And Communication In Long-Term Couples Practicing Consensual Non-Monogamy, Christina Wang

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This cross-sectional exploratory quantitative study examined trust and communication patterns among adults practicing consensual non-monogamy (CNM). Previous relationship research in this area has primarily examined couples in demographically homogenous relationships (heterosexual, white, and married). A review of the literature suggested that adults engaging in consensual non-monogamy are more diverse. Our recruitment strategies and study design was successful in recruiting a more diverse group of participants. Twenty-eight adults in long-term CNM relationships completed a 56-item online questionnaire. Responses were examined to explore the relationship between communication patterns and relationship tenure. The relationship tenure of couples and the gender preference of participants …

Predictive Factors Of Organizational Support Communication In Volunteer Mentor Retention, Jennifer Kristin Stukey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has shown that long-term volunteer retention is critical for sustaining the viability of youth mentoring programs such as Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). Data from recent studies have indicated that volunteers must continue their service for at least 1 year in to have a sustainable effect on the mentee. Results from prior studies have indicated that the support provided by the agency to the volunteer can predict volunteer retention. However, a gap in current literature exists regarding the effect of support communication on volunteer retention. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the relationship between organizational …

Interventions For The Reduction Of Dental Anxiety And Corresponding Behavioral Deficits In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jessica L. Elmore, Ann M. Bruhn, Jonna L. Bobzien

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can greatly inhibit a child's communication and social interaction skills, impacting their comfort during dental hygiene treatment and services. Children with ASD may exhibit sensory sensitivities, fear of the unfamiliar and lack of socio-cognitive understanding, leading to anxiety and corresponding behavioral deficits. Since the prevalence rates for ASD have risen significantly in the past decade, increased emphasis has been placed on educational and behavior guidance techniques, which can be helpful for children with ASD because of their increased capabilities in visual-processing. The purpose of this literature review is to summarize the interventions available to reduce dental …

An Analysis Of Stakeholders Communication In Collaborative Software Development Projects, Wei Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Software development is a multidisciplinary collaboration involving many stakeholders. However, existing software development processes exhibit many issues related to that collaboration. Because prior research on stakeholder analysis and teamwork revealed the importance of communication, this study analyzed stakeholder communication with reference to team activities as a social and cognitive process. The study’s goal was to understand the collaboration process during software development and to delineate factors that influence this process. We focused on communication between the software developers and their clients during the requirements gathering phase, the team process, and the inter-team and interdisciplinary collaboration, in particular between software engineers …

Suicide Prevention: The Professional And Moral Responsibilities Of The Speech-Language Pathologist, Madelyn Anderson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible connection between suicide and stuttering, identify warning signs and risk factors of suicide as they apply to our clients, and examine the moral implications and professional responsibilities of speech-language pathologists as they pertain to suicide prevention. From the research I conducted, I found that, as a whole, the national community of speech-language pathologists does not recognize any correlation between stuttering and suicide. However, as dictated by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s (ASHA) Code of Ethics, we as speech-language pathologists are obligated to make referrals outside of our profession as the need …

Online Personalized Normative Alcohol Feedback For Parents Of First-Year College Students, Joseph W. Labrie, Andrew M. Earle, Lucy E. Napper

Psychological Science Faculty Works

This study examined the efficacy of a personalized normative feedback (PNF) alcohol intervention for parents of students transitioning into college. A sample of 399 parent-student dyads were recruited to take part in the intervention during the summer prior to matriculation. Parents were randomly assigned to receive either normative feedback regarding student drinking and other college parents’ alcohol-related communication or general college health norm information. Students completed measures of alcohol use, alcohol consequences, and parent-child alcohol-specific communication both 1- and 6-months after matriculation. The results indicated that in comparison to the control condition parents who received PNF reported immediate changes in …

Exploring The Information Source Preferences Among Canadian Adult Golf League Members, Melissa J. Davies, Dianna Gray

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

With an aging demographic, and the abundance of physical inactivity in Canada, sport professionals need to understand how best to recruit and retain adults in sport and recreational activities, namely, golf leagues. Canadian golf league participants (N = 419; Mage = 62 years old) completed an online survey detailing their propensity to utilize a variety of information sources prior to making the decision to join a golf league. Results from a principal component analysis of a revised Information Sources Inventory, suggested that golfers in this sample were most likely to utilize Personal and Social sources of information associated with their …

Exploring Strategies To Gain Frontline Employee Buy-In During Change Initiatives In Manufacturing, Charles James Iv

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The high failure rates of change initiatives threaten the sustainability of commercial printing operations. The focus of this qualitative multicase study was to research the strategies commercial printing managers use to succeed in gaining frontline employee buy-in during change initiatives to improve productivity and profitability in a manufacturing environment. The participants included four commercial printing managers from the Midwestern United States. Each manager had implemented successful change initiatives in the past 2 years and maintained profitability of the business for 12 months before the study. McGregor's (1960) Theory Y served as the basis for the conceptual framework. Data collection included …

Distributed Cognition In Cancer Treatment Decision Making: An Application Of The Decide Decision-Making Styles Typology, Janice L. Krieger, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Phokeng M. Dailey, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Nancy Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett, Mark Dignan

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Distributed cognition occurs when cognitive and affective schemas are shared between two or more people during interpersonal discussion. Although extant research focuses on distributed cognition in decision making between health care providers and patients, studies show that caregivers are also highly influential in the treatment decisions of patients. However, there are little empirical data describing how and when families exert influence. The current article addresses this gap by examining decisional support in the context of cancer randomized clinical trial (RCT) decision making. Data are drawn from in-depth interviews with rural, Appalachian cancer patients (N = 46). Analysis of transcript …

Strategies For Employee Engagement In A Small Business Enterprise, Jennifer L. Kizer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2013, 35% of the workforce was not engaged, which results in lack of productivity and loss of profitability for small business enterprises (SBEs). The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore successful strategies that frontline leaders in a 4 generation, family-owned excavating business used to engage their frontline employees. The excavating business was started in 1947 by the father of the current business owners. William Kahn's employee engagement theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through a focus group and direct observations of engagement during meetings and frontline areas from a population of …

Improving Perinatal Team Communication To Decrease Patient Harm With Team Strategies And Tools To Enhance Performance And Patient Safety Training, Raquel Maria Walker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

During childbirth, multiple providers deliver care at the bedside that requires optimal teamwork and communication to prevent patient harm. The complexity of caring for obstetrical patient demands a well-coordinated team to relay information and respond to conditions that can change quickly during childbirth. A patient safety strategy to prevent perinatal harm is Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) training. TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based program based on crew resource management (CRM) principles developed in the aviation and military industries. This process improvement project used the Plan-Do-Study-Act framework and Kotter's change theory to implement TeamSTEPPS training after …

Comm 101: Communication In The 21st Century—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Aaron M. Duncan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio examines the large lecture basic survey course, Communication 101. This course uses a combination of large lecture sections led by one faculty member and small recitation sections led by three graduate assistants. The goal of this project is to enhance learning and create higher levels of student engagement. Student learning was measured through a pretest and posttest, as well as through self-evaluation of their knowledge and skills. Additionally, graduate teaching assistants completed an evaluation of the course by providing an assessment of the course’s learning objectives and of course activities. Results showed that student learning was taking place. …

Are Parental Involvement, Religiosity, And Relationship Quality Associated With Substance Use Messages In South African Families?, Jerry L. Mize Ii, Wendy Kliewer

UROP Posters

Using transcribed interviews from a GEO- and UKZN-funded study with a low-income, multi-ethnic sample in Durban, South Africa (N = 272), messages regarding what caregivers recall saying to their children about drug use were coded into one of eight categories by a trained research team. Categories included: Just the Facts, Real Examples, Resistance Tactics, Drugs are Bad, Negative Consequences, Encouraging Abstinence, Zero Tolerance, and Use Responsibly. The contributions of 1) parent religiosity, 2) parental involvement, and 3) parent-adolescent relationship quality to the message content were examined. Few overall differences in message content were found across the predictors suggesting that alternative …

Crip Pessimism: The Language Of Dis/Ability And The Culture That Isn't, Michael L. Selck

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Messages Supporting Fighting And Aggressive Behavior In Early Adolescence: The Moderating Role Of Positive Parenting Practices, Megan M. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of physical aggression increases during adolescence and is associated with negative health outcomes. It is important to identify risk and protective processes for adolescent aggression in the context of the parent-adolescent relationship. The current study examined the potential moderating role of positive parenting at Wave 1 on relations between perceived parental messages supporting fighting at Wave 1 and adolescent aggression based on parent- and student-report at Wave 2. Participants included a sample of 537 adolescents and their primary caregivers, recruited from four sites in the U.S. No significant moderating effects were found. However, parental messages supporting fighting were …

Arab Management Practices From A Trust Perspective - The Case Of International Companies In Morocco, Imane El Hakimi

Plymouth Business School Theses

This research contributes to our understanding of trust in the international business environment, exploring the development of trust, and the influence of culture, structures and hierarchies, and international business communications. The focus is on the management of employees working in foreign-owned, international businesses operating in Morocco. With few notable and very valuable exceptions, there has been very little research exploring the Arab approach to management and even fewer pieces of research focus on the development of trust in this context. A qualitative research approach was employed, as so little is understood about the context and the phenomenon. A total of …

Improving The Visibility Of Energy Use In Home Heating In England: Thermal Images And The Role Of Visual Tailoring, Christine Boomsma, Julie Goodhew, Steve Goodhew, Sabine Pahl

School of Art, Design and Architecture

This study examined the use of thermal imaging as a communication tool that allows householders to 'see' where a building is losing heat. We tested the effect of tailored and non-tailored thermal images on energy beliefs, behavioural intentions and a simple self-report behaviour question in an English field study. Householders received tailored thermal images of their home, thermal images of other homes with typical problems for the area ('non-tailored'), or information on the same typical problems in text format. A post-intervention survey (N = 233) indicated that showing occupants any thermal image (tailored or non-tailored) led to higher vividness when …

Modulation Of Behavior In Communicating Emotion, Martin Gardiner

Animal Sentience

King discusses many examples where two animals, as they bond, behave in ways we interpret as expressing love for one another. If one of the bonded animals then dies, signs of loving are replaced by signs we interpret as expressing grief by the animal who remains. I propose a pathway for emotional communication between an animal and an observer that can have a central role in these and other observations by King and in our overall ability to interpret observed behavior in relation to emotion. This pathway provides evidence of emotion in an observed animal by communicating evidence of emotion’s …

Communication Efficacy Using Technology Within Virtual Teams, Jeremy Daros Ma

All Student Scholarship

Technology has given businesses the flexibility to allow employees to collaborate beyond the limitations of geography. Today’s businesses are taking advantage of collaborative teams that are separated by distance, but work together as if they are in the same room.

Leveraging On Organizational Culture For Innovative Services: A Case Study Of Prof. Kenneth Dike State Central Elibrary, Awka, Nkem Ekene Osuigwe Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The accepted way duties are performed, processes are patterned and problems are solved make up the organizational culture of a workplace. A healthy organizational culture provides opportunities for realization of full potentials of staff, moves leaders in the workplace to develop strong strength of purpose and direction in performing their duties, also encourages enthusiasm about new ideas and adaptation to change. The 21^st century public library needs to embrace changes in order to remain relevant in its community by leveraging on its organizational culture which could be adapted to promote innovative services. Non-traditional SMS information services to People Living …

Exploring U.S. Business Leaders' Strategies For Enhancing Team Communication, Susan Kuehn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many senior project managers (PMs) and other business leaders lack effective strategies for enhancing communication among their team members, thereby reducing profitability and organizational cohesion. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to explore communication strategies used by 22 PMs who were members of a project manager professional (PMP) association in Colorado, with 5 or more years of relevant experience and who worked at a leading technology company recognized for its effective PM communication strategy for enhancing business-team communication. The conceptual framework for this study was built on interpersonal, mass communication and profound leadership theories. PMs were interviewed, and …

Nigerian Cancer Survivors' Perceptions Of Care Received From Health Care Professionals, Olusegun Akinsuli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cancer patients worldwide receive care from multidisciplinary teams, and patients

sometimes have little or no knowledge about the different treatment options available, making communication with their care providers an important influence in how they perceive their care. Patient satisfaction with care is an important factor in determining survivorship. The increasing prevalence of cancer worldwide has become a huge public health issue. The World Health Organization has warned that the potential gains from combatting infectious diseases in Nigeria might be lost because of the increasing prevalence of cancer. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to obtain the perceptions of …

The Person We Knew: Perceptions Of The Identity Of Loved Ones With Dementia By Family Caregivers, Amber Jannusch, Dena Huisman

Speaker & Gavel

While several studies have looked at the identity of dementia patients, most focus on the point of the view of the patient. However, caretakers’ and family members’ view of the identity of the dementia patient is unstudied. This study attempts to see how family caregivers’ view of their family member’s dementia manifests in communication about the loved one. This study is a preliminary examination of family caregivers’ constructions of the identity of their loved one, revealing that caretakers have one of three views: the patient without an identity, the patient as a different person, or the patient as “not lost” …

The Cowl - V.80 - N.11 - Dec 3, 2015

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Volume 80 - No. 11 - December 3, 2015. 24 pages.

Outcomes Of Prediabetes And Diabetes Education Programs Tailored For Vulnerable Popuations, Diana Al Sayed Hassan

Dissertations

Diabetes is a debilitating disease and if not managed properly it can lead to multiple complications and even premature death. Diabetes continues to disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. The purpose of this three-paper method dissertation was to examine the implementation of a prediabetes and diabetes programs in a community setting to serve vulnerable populations in addition to understanding future diabetes-related educational needs.

The first paper is an evaluation of a shortened five-week diabetes prevention program for older adults with prediabetes or at a high risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Chang in nutrition knowledge, eating and physical activity behaviors, …