Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Simulation In Interprofessional Education In U.S. Physical Therapist Programs: A Multiple Case Study, Sarah Ross

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Interprofessional education (IPE) is a cornerstone of healthcare professional education, facilitating professions learning about and with each other. Simulation-based learning (SBL) is teaching and learning modality that is frequently used to incorporate IPE into curricula. Current research shows that physical therapist (PT) education programs are increasingly using SBL for IPE purposes. However, there is little research outlining how programs are using simulation.

Method: The data in this study were pulled from a larger qualitative study looking at how US PT programs use simulation because of the heavy emphasis on IPE. Three programs were selected from a pool of volunteers …

Improving Advanced Care Planning Conversations And Documentation Through App Education And Standardized Epic Workflow: A Quality Improvement Initiative, Michelle N. Rutter, Emily Goldstein

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Student Projects

Background & Significance: Advance care planning (ACP) is essential for ensuring (GOC), particularly in acute care settings, defined in this paper as inpatient hospital environments, including critical and intensive care units (ICU), where a patient’s decision-making capacity could become impaired. ICU patients are often critically ill and may lose the ability to make health care decisions. Family uncertainty regarding patient preferences frequently exacerbates psychological distress regarding GOC. Restricted access to ACP may result in non-concordant medical care, as well as elevated healthcare expenditures driven by the underutilization or inappropriate allocation of critical resources. Despite the recognized importance of ACP and …

The Legacy, Importance, & Impact Of Lend: Evidence And Personal Stories, Emily Zalimeni, Emma Stone, Alexa Fortier, Leia Getchell, Nataliya Kloyzner, Asha Abdullahi, Elizabeth Barkoudah, Meghan Chapman, Meredith Close, Heather Engholm, Melissa Levin, Aanchal Sharma, Sarah Sparks, Patricia Rissmiller, Amy Szarkowski, Jason M. Fogler

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) programs offer an interdisciplinary/interprofessional training opportunity for medical and allied health professionals, and individuals impacted by disability, including family members and self-advocates. Toward the aim of advocating for the enduring need of LEND and similar training programs, this article centers the voices of a subset of our alumni who have advanced the rights and improved the lives of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. These stories are intended to illustrate the key lessons and principles of LEND training, including attending to disability issues in education, growing skills within and between individuals working …

The State Of The Child In Tennessee 2023, Tennessee. Commission On Children And Youth.

The State of the Child in Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Exploring Primary Care Providers’ Compassionate Care And Their Evidence-Based Practice With Death, Grief, And Loss: Patient Experience And Perspective, Kathryn Krzykala

Dissertations

Research on primary care providers’ (PCPs) education regarding Death, Grief, and Loss (DGL) remains limited. Specifically, data is lacking regarding patients' perceptions and opinions on what they need and expect from their PCPs regarding grief and loss. This exploratory mixed-method study comprised 146 participants who had experienced death and non-death loss. It examined participants' perceptions of 1) PCP compassion, 2) PCP utilization of evidence-based grief and loss practices, 3) their own level of comfort discussing DGL with their PCPs during medical visits, and 4) their personal grief and loss experiences. The findings revealed that PCPs' grief-informed evidence-based treatment, as reflected …

Degrees And Certificates Awarded To Native American Students In Nevada, 2010-2022, Devin Streuter, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on certificates and degrees awarded to Native Americans from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) teaching institutions —College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin College (GBC), Nevada State University (NSU), Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Western Nevada College (WNC)— from 2010 to 2022. Additionally, the fact sheet reports data on degree type, gender, and the most common majors pursued by Native American certificate and degree earners in Nevada. The data are derived from the Nevada P-20 Workforce Research (NPWR) Data System.

Integrating Structural Analysis In The Pre-Appe Curriculum: Experiences From Three Institutions, Jennifer Ko, Sharon E. Connor, Emily K. Frederick, Katherine Foley, Emiline Snook, Ava Romah, Katie F. Leslie

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Educational activity

Evaluation findings

Support Designer’S Wellbeing: Understanding Resilience In Design Education As A Wicked Challenge, Yilin Quan, Matthew Isherwood, Ji Han

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design students are expected to engage with wicked problems as part of their learning. Since these problems have no definitive solutions, the learning process can be challenging and may negatively affect students’ wellbeing. Cultivating resilience becomes critical. Although the conceptualisation of designer resilience has gained attention, it remains underexplored. This paper proposes a new conceptual model of resilience in design education, suggesting two capacity clusters: one emphasising short-term recovery and balance restoration, and the other focusing on long-term sustained engagement. It further frames resilience cultivation in design education as a wicked problem in itself, characterised by the inherent complexity within …

Supporting Parents Of Pre-Adolescents: Equipping Parents Through Focused Instruction On Biblical Parenting Practices, Lillian Michelle Mitchell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This action research project addresses the problem that parents and grandparents of pre-adolescent children at Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church do not receive sufficient intentional spiritual support, biblical guidance, and instruction to teach them how to raise their children using parenting skills grounded in a biblical worldview. The purpose of this research was to equip parents and grandparents of pre-adolescent children with biblically based parenting skills using an eight-week group study. The project examined the results of the Bible study group, which focused on Genesis 1:26, Deuteronomy 6:5-9, Proverbs 22:6, Luke 2:46, Ephesians 6:1-4, and Titus 2:1-8. The study implemented …

Determinants Of Successful Completion In The Rowan-Virtua Dual Cprs/Chw Program: Literature Review & A Work In Progress, Timothy Breiner, Donato F. Tassoni, Richard Jermyn, Venkat Venkataraman, Alexander Abbott, Kenneth Stagliano

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) expand access to behavioral health and social care through training, credentialing, and community-based support. Although these programs improve knowledge, skills, and workforce readiness, retention and completion remain important barriers to program scale-up. Evidence on predictors of successful completion in dual-role CPRS/CHW pathways is limited.

Objective: To identify participant, programmatic, and contextual factors associated with successful completion of the Rowan-Virtua Dual CPRS/CHW Program.

Methods: This work-in-progress combines a focused literature review with ongoing program analysis. The review examined English-language studies from 2010 onward related to CPRS and CHW training, program …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Second-Career Educators, Kyle Avink

Dissertations

School districts across the United States face a persistent teacher shortage driven by high attrition rates, declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs, and increasing demands on educators (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). Teacher attrition is especially high within the first three to five years, with nearly 40-50% of new teachers exiting within their first five years (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Cells et al., 2023; Gray et al., 2015; Ingersoll et al., 2025). In response, many states have expanded alternative certification pathways that allow professionals from other fields to enter teaching, making second-career educators a potential solution to workforce challenges (Afacan, 2022; …

Reducing Vulnerability To Burnout Among Family Caregivers, Stephen J. Alvarado

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Family caregivers experience high levels of burnout and stress, which can negatively affect their well-being and the quality of care they provide. This capstone project was implemented at Health Projects Center in Salinas within the Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center program. Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center serves a diverse community of family caregivers, predominantly Caucasian, Hispanic, and Latino individuals caring for loved ones with a neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s or memory impairment. The purpose of this project was to improve caregivers’ knowledge, confidence, awareness, and intention regarding self-care strategies to reduce their vulnerability to burnout related to caregiving. The project …

Effectiveness Of Independent Living Programs On Preparing Transition-Age Foster Youth For Higher Education And Employment., Naomi Cailipan, Jasmine Nevarez, Emily Matias

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Transition-age foster youth face significant barriers to higher education and stable employment, increasing their risk of housing instability, unemployment, and long-term economic hardship. Independent living programs (ILPs) aim to support the youth develop life skills and connect them to resources that prepare them for a successful transition into adulthood, however, there is limited research that explores the youth’s perspective on the effectiveness of ILPs. This study seeks to provide insight by interviewing current and former foster youth who participated in an ILP by conducting combined research, integrating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data will be collected through a Likert-scale …

Foster Youth Perspectives On The Effectiveness Of School-Based Academic Support, Stephanie Monroy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This research aims to explore how foster youth perceive the effectiveness of various evidence-based interventions that have previously been used to support their education. Due to the various barriers that foster youth face, they often experience significantly lower academic performance than their non-foster youth peers. Consequently, high school graduation rates among foster youth remain significantly lower than those of their non-foster youth peers. Much of the existing literature is outdated and does not adequately reflect current educational realities for foster youth. Additionally, existing literature primarily focuses on measurable outcomes and program evaluations, with less emphasis on ensuring the lived experiences …

Clawing Our Way To Inclusion: Identifying Minority Students’ Barriers To Entering The Veterinary Medicine Profession, Danielle Reeves

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Veterinary services are being utilized more each year as pet owners are increasingly viewing and treating their pets like family members. Due to this changing perspective, the veterinary profession has grown significantly. Yet, despite this change, there is a lack of ethnic/racial diversity within the veterinary field. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors and/or barriers associated with minority students' desire or lack of desire to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. This study used an online survey tool to collect qualitative and quantitative data from 423 undergraduate students at the University of Arkansas during the spring …

Evaluating An Lgbtq+ Adolescent Sexual Health Toolkit: Boosting Confidence And Provider Knowledge, Joslyn Lypka

Doctoral Dissertations & Projects

When leveraged correctly, sexual health education empowers youth to build resilience, deepen self-understanding, and confidently navigate gender and sexual identities. However, many school-based programs emphasize cisgender and heterosexual norms, leaving LGBTQ+ adolescents with limited access to inclusive and affirming sexual health information. This project aimed to develop and evaluate an online sexual health education toolkit designed to increase knowledge and support self-advocacy among LGBTQ+ adolescents, parents/caregivers, and healthcare providers. In collaboration with a Midwest nonprofit organization serving sexual and gender-diverse individuals, an online toolkit was developed and evaluated using two sequential Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) cycles. During the first cycle, subject matter …

Exploring The Role Of Cine-Virtual Reality In Empathy And Awareness Of Social Determinants Of Health Among Occupational Therapy Students, Leah M. Stade, Madison Mckeever, Emma Gardner, Jana L. Wardian Phd

Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal

Understanding social determinants of health (SDOH) is crucial for Occupational Therapy students to develop empathy and deliver optimal healthcare. This study explores using web-based 360° cinematic virtual reality (cine-VR) simulations in Level I fieldwork to address SDOH education and occupational engagement before community-based exposure.

This mixed methods study involved surveys and thematic analysis of written reflections from fifty students in a distance-based program at a Midwest university. Students viewed 12 web-based immersive cine-VR modules about a client experiencing multiple SDOH impacts. Surveys were conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and 6-weeks post-intervention, measuring empathy using the Jefferson Empathy Scale and attitudes toward …

Faith-Based Coping In Crisis: How Religious Beliefs Shape Trauma, Resilience, And Recovery Across Contexts, Kailyn M. Howard

Honors Theses

This study examines the relationship between religious belief and responses to trauma, with a focus on how faith-based coping mechanisms influence resilience in crisis situations. Drawing on interdisciplinary research in psychology, theology, and education, the paper analyzes how individuals interpret and respond to trauma through religious frameworks. The biblical book of Job is examined alongside contemporary psychological theories of trauma and recovery to identify areas of alignment and tension. Using a comparative approach, the study explores common themes across religious traditions, including meaning-making, suffering, community support, and hope, and evaluates how these factors contribute to or hinder emotional healing. The …

A Market Of Care Skills: Profiting From Professional Education And Practice, Yasmin Y. Ortiga

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Who profits from the commodification of care and how does such accumulation occur? Focusing on the case of the nursing care market, this paper shows how professional schools and local hospitals within source nations like the Philippines profit from nurses seeking the credentials to qualify for jobs overseas. While existing studies show how nursing skills are exploited and undervalued, this paper argues that it is the process of skilling itself that allows for the accumulation of profit, regardless of whether nurses leave their origin countries to work abroad. This study reveals how global care economies are tightly linked to local …

Coordinated School Health 2024-25 Annual Report, Tennessee. Department Of Education.

Coordinated School Health

No abstract provided.

Tennessee Higher Education Fact Book 2025, Tennessee. Higher Education Commission.

Higher Education Fact Book

No abstract provided.

I Wasn’T Prepared For That”: Uk Social Worker Experiences Of Training In And Knowledge Of Acquired Brain Injury, Alyson Norman, Mark Holloway

School of Psychology

Summary: Acquired brain injury is a major cause of death and disability. Due to the impact of acquired brain injury on an individual's and a family's functioning, social workers are likely to encounter individuals and families affected by the condition. This study aimed to (1) identify the existing level of knowledge and skills of social workers in working with individuals with acquired brain injury and their families and (2) examine the training needs of social workers to improve their knowledge and skills in working with those with acquired brain injury. A series of semi-structured interviews with newly qualified social workers …

Threads Of Empathy: An Integrative Model Of Empathy In The Schools, Arthur J. Clark, Tara M. Simpson

Journal of Human Services Scholarship and Interprofessional Collaboration

Empathy has a distinctive and evolving history in education for cultivating human relationships and engendering mutual understanding. Within a school setting, empathic engagement is essential for the social and emotional development of children and adolescents. From an educational perspective, literature from multiple disciplines and specialties illustrate innovative practices to harness empathy in the classroom and beyond. The representative initiatives hold promise for developing an integrative model of empathy within a school or a school district through a program involving interprofessional collaboration.

High School Dropout Rates Among Latin Students In The United States, Taryn T. Marriott

Student Works

An ongoing concern of educators and community members is the disproportionately high amounts of Latinx students dropping out of high school in the United States. Although there has been notable research done and action taken, the problem still remains. Lack of familial support, discrimination, and residence in low-income areas all contribute to the low retention rates of Latinx youth on track to graduate high school. As a result, youth who do not complete their education and set their sights on career goals have a harder time with employment, communicating in their society, and tend to show higher levels of engagement …

Evaluating The Impact Of Tennessee House Bill 2327 & Senate Bill 2055, Kya Cousino, Emily Redford, Leah M. Vetters

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental delays often require consistent therapeutic interventions such as speech therapy, occupational therapy (OT), or applied behavior analysis (ABA) in order to meaningfully access their education (Treatment and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2024). However, service shortages, scheduling barriers, and restrictions on outside providers during the school day frequently create gaps in care. As a result, families may be forced to choose between their child’s educational attendance and the continuity of medically or developmentally necessary services.

House Bill 2327 and corresponding Senate Bill 2055 seek to address this barrier by requiring Local Education …

Long-Term Effect Of Aces On Children’S Mental Health, Substance Abuse, And Education, Annalisa M. Lobello, Kayla A. Kemer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This honors project will aim to discover how adverse childhood experiences (ACES) affect a child’s mental health, substance use, and education. ACES are potentially traumatic events that occur between ages zero to seventeen (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention, 2024). Some examples could include experiencing violence, abuse, neglect, having a family member attempt or die by suicide, growing up around substance use, mental health problems, parental separation, and household members being incarcerated. ACES are widely recognized as powerful predictors on long-term outcomes of children. This proposal will highlight the importance of recognizing ACES within children, trauma-informed care, and appropriate interventions …

Navigating Mental Wellness: A Peer-Led Journey Into Adult Services, Kristin G. Haberek

DSW Capstone Projects

Students with severe emotional disturbances (SED) occupy one of the most underserved intersections in American education and mental health care. As they age out of children’s services, they face abrupt service discontinuation, disrupted therapeutic relationships, and adult systems ill-equipped to meet their needs. These vulnerabilities, including heightened risks of crisis, hospitalization, homelessness, and justice involvement, constitute a central practice problem. This capstone addresses these transitions across three scholarly products: a systematic literature review, a theoretical concept paper, and a practical application paper, tracing a unified arc from diagnosing structural failures to proposing an evidence-informed, equity-oriented clinical response. Synthesizing key findings …

Exploring Resiliency, Identity, And Access: Educational Narratives Of Adults Who Experienced Youth Homelessness, Taylor Mestres

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the educational experiences of adults who experienced homelessness during their youth, focusing on how instability, stigma, and resilience shaped their K-12 schooling. Guided by Maslow's hierarchy of needs and resiliency theory, the research employed a narrative inquiry approach with seven adult collaborators who reflected on their schooling while experiencing housing instability. Seven themes emerged: living between places, school as sanctuary, concealment and stigma, resilience and survival, the role of educators and support systems, thriving despite adversity, and retrospective recognition. Findings reveal that while housing instability and shame created significant barriers to learning and belonging, schools also functioned …

Modeling Accreditation Standards And Evaluation Methods To Inform Strategic Planning In Public Health Education, Debra Rich

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Public health has long benefited from the relationship between postsecondary education, accreditation, and government employment. Assessment and accreditation are important tools in postsecondary education to ensure fiscal responsibility, professional competencies, and quality assurance. The competency standards implemented in post-secondary education are not under the direct control of the federal government; however, policy amendments aimed at specific accreditation criteria could result in changes to public health curriculum and create eligibility barriers for students who rely on federal financial support. The Central Washington University Public Health program has provided educational support in professional public health for decades, and there is an increased …

International Education And Spiritual Emptiness A Reflection From Europe, Nitya N. Timsina

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

This essay is a revolt against a biased understanding called “internationalization” in education which grounds all historical, geographical, philosophical, ecological, and cultural distinctions in the world into a Platonic absolute. The key to this problem, this essay argues, lies in the drive to ontological, conceptual, or theoretical understanding in our approach to knowledge with its primacy in the Western thought. This essay calls into question this absolute sphere of influence, power and mastery enjoyed by the Western sciences, and a sense of space and authority it enjoys to make others impossible in the world. It does so by bringing different …