Digital Commons Network^™

Resident Reported Changes To Social Engagement And Quality Of Life Due To Increased Physical Activity Within A Senior Living Facility, Sydney Leroy

Capstone Projects

The purpose of this Doctoral Capstone Experience (DCE) was to see if regular participation in an exercise program could promote positive changes in social engagement and overall quality of life for older adults residing in an independent or assisted living facility. A standardized assessment and interview were completed with each participating resident before and after a 6-week exercise program to assess any changes in social engagement and quality of life. As a result, recruitment for this study and overall resident participation increased by advertising new and existing exercise classes throughout the senior living facility. In addition to the already scheduled …

Exploration Of Driving Rehabilitation Best Practices To Sustain An Occupation Focused Driver Rehabilitation Program, Kelsey East

Capstone Projects

In the United States driving dominates as the primary mode of transportation connecting people to resources including work, school, stores, and hospitals. Driving enables individuals to participate in the occupations they need or want to do, which is why it is a critical Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL). Because driving falls within an occupational therapist’s scope of community mobility, many driving rehabilitation specialists have a background in occupational therapy. Driving rehabilitation is an expanding practice area, with emerging evidence supporting the use of an IADL based assessment for determining fitness to drive. Therefore, the main goal of this doctoral …

Emotional, Behavioral, And Physical Health Consequences Of Loneliness In Young Adult Survivors Of Childhood Cancer: Results From The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, Chiara Papini, Ameera A Fayad, Mingjuan Wang, Fiona S M Schulte, I-Chan Huang, Yu-Ping Chang, Rebecca M Howell, Deokumar Srivastava, Wendy M Leisenring, Gregory T Armstrong, Todd M Gibson, Leslie L Robison, Kevin C Oeffinger, Kevin R Krull, Tara M Brinkman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Young adults in the general population are at risk of experiencing loneliness, which has been associated with physical and mental health morbidities. The prevalence and consequences of loneliness in young adult survivors of childhood cancer remain unknown.

Methods: A total of 9664 young adult survivors of childhood cancer (median age at diagnosis 10.5 years [interquartile range (IQR), 5-15], 27.1 years at baseline [IQR, 23-32]) and 2221 siblings enrolled in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study completed a self-reported survey question assessing loneliness on the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 at baseline and follow-up (median follow-up, 6.6 years). Multivariable models evaluated the prevalence …

Disability Advocates Of Kent County (Dakc) Consumer Follow-Up For Aging In Place, Bianca Cordova

Capstone Projects

Disability Advocates of Kent County (DAKC) is a non-profit organization with an occupational therapy (OT) department that aims to keep primarily community-dwelling, low-income, older adults safe and independent in their home. The organization provides home assessments which identifies the barriers and supports for daily activities within the home. After the home assessment evaluation, adaptive equipment and/or home modification recommendations are provided. Literature supports the restorative approach DAKC uses to facilitate aging in place. There was a lack of quantitative and qualitative evidence on how consumers were aging in place post-intervention. This capstone project focused on creating a pilot follow-up program …

Dreams And Dream Work Of Older Adults In Transition: A Review Of The Literature, Tamara J. Hinojosa

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

Older adults face unique life transitions related to retirement from paid work, relocation of residence to higher levels of care, and bereavement/end-of-life. Research exploring dream content and dream work for older adults can facilitate understanding about their unconscious experiences and emotions, can promote greater understanding about their mental health needs, and support dream work methods that enhance well-being for older adults in transition. Although studies in this area are minimal, there is more research about the transitions of bereavement and death for older adults as compared to research in the areas of retirement and relocation of residence for older adults. …

Baseline Characteristics Of The North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy Cohort, Jonathan E Elliott, Jennifer Mcleland, Susan R Criswell, Yo-El S Ju, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is widely considered a prodromal synucleinopathy, as most with RBD develop overt synucleinopathy within ~10 years. Accordingly, RBD offers an opportunity to test potential treatments at the earliest stages of synucleinopathy. The North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy (NAPS) Consortium has created a multisite RBD participant, primarily clinic-based cohort to better understand characteristics at diagnosis, and in future work, identify predictors of phenoconversion, develop synucleinopathy biomarkers, and enable early stage clinical trial enrollment.

METHODS: Participants ≥18 years of age with overnight polysomnogram-confirmed RBD without Parkinson's disease, dementia, multiple system atrophy, or narcolepsy were …

State: The Magazine Of Illinois State University, Spring 2023, Illinois State University, University Marketing And Communications

State: The Magazine of Illinois State University (1999-present)

Illinois State University alumni magazine

A Systematic Literature Review Of Mobile Applications To Assist People With Mild To Moderate Dementia In Their Daily Lives, Zehang Cheng, Kamal Sabran

Malaysian Journal of Computing (MJoC)

The popularity of smartphones has made mobile apps an essential tool for people in managing their daily lives. Helping people with dementia to make good use of mobile apps can reduce the stress on the patient's family and society. Mild and moderate dementia can be eliminated Mild and moderate dementia may be mitigated through simple teaching and human-centered design approaches that accommodate individuals with difficulty using mobile apps. This paper aims to identify the functionality and usability of mobile apps for people with dementia by reviewing mobile apps that assist people with mild to moderate dementia in their daily lives. …

Longitudinal Changes In Alzheimer’S-Related Plasma Biomarkers And Brain Amyloid, Murat Bilgel, Abhay Moghekar, Henrik Zetterberg, Bruno Jedynak, Multiple Additional Authors

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction Understanding longitudinal plasma biomarker trajectories relative to brain amyloid changes can help devise Alzheimer’s progression assessment strategies.

Methods We examined the temporal order of changes in plasma amyloid-β ratio (Aβ42/Aβ40), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and phosphorylated tau ratios (p-tau181/Aβ42, p-tau231/Aβ42) relative to 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) cortical amyloid burden (PiB−/+). Participants (n = 199) were cognitively normal at index visit with a median 6.1-year follow-up.

Results PiB groups exhibited different rates of longitudinal change in Aβ42/Aβ40 (β = 5.41 × 10-4, SE = 1.95 × 10-4, p = 0.0073). …

Interpersonal Connection: Examining Synchrony In Emotions And Physiology In Friends During Interactions, Joia Lynette Wesley

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Interpersonal synchrony is the alignment of emotions, behaviors, and physiology and is associated with prosocial behaviors and subjective connectedness. Few studies have examined synchrony in friend dyads. The present study compared emotional and physiological synchrony during emotional and neutral interactions, explored how social role may influence empathy, and tested if friendship characteristics predicted synchrony. Participants were 56 friend dyads recruited from a predominantly White, Midwestern university. The study included two sessions. In the first session, participants completed prequestionnaires and each participant identified three emotionally salient situations that they had not shared with their friend. The second session was an interaction …

Pilot Clinical Trial Of Macimorelin To Assess Safety And Efficacy In Patients With Cancer Cachexia, Megan Herodes, Lindsey J Anderson, Samuel Shober, Ellen A Schur, Solomon A Graf, Nicola Ammer, Ramiro Salas, Marco Marcelli, Jose M Garcia

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Cancer cachexia is associated with reduced body weight, appetite and quality of life (QOL) with no approved treatments. Growth hormone secretagogues like macimorelin have potential to mitigate these effects.

METHODS: This pilot study assessed the safety and efficacy of macimorelin for 1 week. Efficacy was defined a priori as 1-week change in body weight (≥0.8 kg), plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 (≥50 ng/mL) or QOL (≥15%). Secondary outcomes included food intake, appetite, functional performance, energy expenditure and safety laboratory parameters. Patients with cancer cachexia were randomized to 0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg macimorelin or placebo; outcomes were assessed non-parametrically.

RESULTS: …

Altered Lateralization Of The Cingulum In Deployment-Related Traumatic Brain Injury: An Enigma Military-Relevant Brain Injury Study, Emily L Dennis, Mary R Newsome, Hannah M Lindsey, Maheen Adamson, Tara A Austin, Seth G Disner, Blessen C Eapen, Carrie Esopenko, Carol E Franz, Elbert Geuze, Courtney Haswell, Sidney R Hinds, Cooper B Hodges, Andrei Irimia, Kimbra Kenney, Inga K Koerte, William S Kremen, Harvey S Levin, Rajendra A Morey, John Ollinger, Jared A Rowland, Randall S Scheibel, Martha E Shenton, Danielle R Sullivan, Leah D Talbert, Sophia I Thomopoulos, Maya Troyanskaya, William C Walker, Xin Wang, Ashley L Ware, John Kent Werner, Wright Williams, Paul M Thompson, David F Tate, Elisabeth A Wilde

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in military populations can cause disruptions in brain structure and function, along with cognitive and psychological dysfunction. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) can detect alterations in white matter (WM) microstructure, but few studies have examined brain asymmetry. Examining asymmetry in large samples may increase sensitivity to detect heterogeneous areas of WM alteration in mild TBI. Through the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics Through Meta-Analysis Military-Relevant Brain Injury working group, we conducted a mega-analysis of neuroimaging and clinical data from 16 cohorts of Active Duty Service Members and Veterans (n = 2598). dMRI data were processed together along with …

Penilaian Domain Pengkajian Paripurna Pasien Geriatri (P3g) Sebagai Faktor Yang Berpengaruh Terhadap Kejadian Pneumonia Nosokomial Pada Pasien Usia Lanjut Yang Dirawat Di Rumah Sakit Umum Pusat Nasional Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo, Hildebrand Hanoch Victor, Edy Rizal Wahyudi, C. Martin Rumende, C. H. Soejono, A. G. Rooshoeroe, Hamzah Shatri, Leonard Nainggolan, Cosphiadi Irawan

Jurnal Penyakit Dalam Indonesia

Introduction. Nosocomial pneumonia is a lung infection that occurs after the patient is hospitalized for more than 48 hours, without any signs of pulmonary infection at the time of treatment. When compared with young individuals, elderly individuals are more likely to have community-sourced and nosocomial infections with worse outcomes. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) domains are expected to explain the factors that contribute to nosocomial pneumonia in elderly patients. This study aimed to determine the proportion of elderly treated at Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central General Hospital who experienced nosocomial pneumonia and whether the CGA domains influence the occurrence of nosocomial …

Exploring Happiness : The Life Course Study Of Older Shanghainese Women In Shanghai And Hong Kong, Archibald Malcolm Wang

Lingnan Theses (Doctoral degree)

The main concern of this study is to investigate the effect of life course experience on the level of happiness among older women. To assess various independent variables of happiness. The paper analyzed the heterogeneous effect of older people's happiness through the SIT and SET theories from the Life Course Model. The importance of life course narration also concerns their backgrounds and personal experiences. Regarding the applied method, this research elected comparative studies and narrative analysis for fieldwork. The author collected primary data to assess the effects of happiness by two surveys, including 1000 women, to test the tandem studies …

Cognitive Dysfunction In Older Breast Cancer Survivors, Adele Crouch

Dissertations

Up to 75% of the more than 3.5 million breast cancer survivors (BCS) living in the United States report cognitive dysfunction. However, little is known about cognitive dysfunction among older BCS, who may be at greater risk. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to characterize cognitive dysfunction in older BCS. Specific aims included:

(1) synthesize the literature regarding cognitive dysfunction in older BCS

(2) examine the relationships between a) objective cognitive function (immediate memory, delayed memory, attention, executive function-working memory, verbal fluency) and subjective cognitive function (attention); b) demographic factors, medical factors, treatment factors, and cancer-related symptoms (depressive symptoms, …

Improving Outcomes Through Patient Empowerment At Transition Of Care: A Fall Prevention Program For Stroke Survivors, Tiffany M. Hoke

Dissertations

Stroke survivors fall 7 times more annually than same-aged healthy adults; and most fall within the first 2 to 6 months post stroke after transition of care home from the acute setting. These falls cause hip fractures and other bodily injury, further compounding post-stroke mobility, fear of falling, social isolation, and social dependence while collectively yielding poorer outcomes at greater financial burden.

To date, no fall prevention program has targeted stroke survivors as they prepare for transition of care home from the acute setting.

The purpose of this practice inquiry is to develop an evidence-based fall prevention program aimed at …

Impact Of Virtual Patient Education On Medication Adherence Among Geriatric Patients, Thomas Anmaria, Steby Mol Stephen, Sandy Crasta D, Mohamed Dharvees T, Pereira Prathibha, Madhan Ramesh, Sri Harsha Chalasani, Syed Jehath

International Journal of Health and Allied Sciences

Context: Virtual patient education for medication adherence can improve the health outcomes and reduce the hospital readmission. Aims: The study aim was to at assess the impact of virtual patient education on medication adherence. Settings and Design: A longitudinal interventional study was conducted in tertiary care hospital over a period of 6 months to assess the medication adherence amongst elderly using the medication adherence rating scale questionnaire.

Methods and Material: The impact of pharmacist-assisted patient counseling on medication adherence was assessed by reassessing the medication adherence with medication adherence rating scale questionnaire after educational intervention performed at selected time-intervals. Data …

The Impact Of Digital And Traditional Coloring On Death Anxiety In Older Adults, Heejoo Roh, Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso, Cindy Miller-Perrin

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The purpose of this study was to examine if coloring mandalas digitally or traditionally has a different impact in reducing death anxiety among older adults. Using random assignment, we compared digital (n = 22) and traditional (n = 26) coloring to a non-art distraction activity (completing a word puzzle; n = 21) for levels of death anxiety following a death anxiety induction. We hypothesized that both digital and traditional coloring conditions would result in lower levels of death anxiety compared to the non-art activity, but that traditional coloring would result in the lowest levels of death anxiety. In addition, we …

Sustainable Small House Project, Mollie Jo George

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The Sustainable Small House Project was developed in cooperation with UNO/UNL Engineering, UNO Gerontology, and Metro Community College. This project merges both sustainable living with the small house movement to promote aging-in-place for older adults. This presentation describes the journey of Dr. Bing Chen as he envisioned the Sustainable Small House Project to its development and finally to implementation at its current location--west of Baxter Arena or adjacent to the UNO ballfield.

From a gerontological lens, the project focuses on principles of universal design which allows for aging-in-place, fall-detection and prevention using smart technologies such as Nobi, and voice-activated technologies …

A Cross Sectional Review: Effects Of Dehydration On Subdural Hematoma Risk In Athletes, Lina Nguyen

Yale School of Medicine Physician Associate Program Theses

Subdural hematomas are precedent to nearly all catastrophic head injuries in athletics, and are a leading cause of death and morbidity in sports. While known risk factors exist, cases still occur in young, healthy athletes without clear predisposition– occasionally without a precipitating traumatic event. Athletes are at increased susceptibility for dehydration, and the effects of inadequate fluid status on subdural risk is unknown. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between dehydration during athletic activity and subdural hematoma formation. We propose a cross-sectional study utilizing Yale New Haven Hospital electronic medical records, where we compare hydration status at emergency room …

Assessment Of Kamap Man Tru Men’S Health And Gender Program At Decreasing Partner To Partner Hiv/Aids Transmission In Papua New Guinea Deriving From Men’S Sexual And Reproductive Cultural Behaviors And Perceptions, Eliza Mabey

Health Sciences Student Scholarship

Papua New Guinea has the highest incidence and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in the Pacific. Men are more likely to die of AIDS-related illnesses, less likely to get HIV testing, and less likely to access antiretroviral therapy, than women. Initiatives such as the Kamap Man Tru Men’s Health and Gender Program educate members of PNG communities on sexual health, gender-based violence, and healthy relationships. Preventing HIV before it is transmitted is cost-effective, sustainable, and socio-culturally appropriate. Key determinants of the spread of HIV are clearly associated with gender, violence, and sexuality. As a result of Papua New Guinea’s cultural …

Managing Workforce Diversity In A New Age: The Challenges And Implications Of Ageism, David M. Savino

Journal of the North American Management Society

Managing workforce diversity is one of the major challenges facing human resource professionals today. Key among the many diversity challenges is the reality of dealing with a growing aging workplace population. As a result age discrimination and ageism has been a subtle and covert strategy of many organizations for years. The great recession brought the true realities of ageism to the surface in a distinct way with the number of reduction in force programs that seemed to wrongly target older workers disproportionately as evidenced by the number of age discrimination cases filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) during …

Make No Apologies: Fear Of Negative Evaluation, Depressive Symptoms, And The Mediating Role Of Accounting For Covid-Safe Behavior Amongst People At High-Risk For Severe Illness, John S. Seiter, Timothy Curran, Rebecca E. Elwood

Communication Studies and Philosophy Faculty Publications

With the goal of understanding unique and important threats to the mental health of people who are especially vulnerable to severe illness as a result of COVID-19, this study investigated associations between such individuals' fear of negative evaluation, tendency to "account for" practicing COVID-safe behaviors, and depressive symptoms. Grounded in perspectives on self-presentation, normative influence, and cognitive dissonance, we hypothesized that fear of negative evaluation would relate positively to accounting for COVID-safe behaviors, which, in turn, would associate positively with increased depressive symptoms. The results showed that increased fear of negative evaluation predicted an increased use of apologies and excuses, …

It’S Time For Baby Boomer Small Business Owners To Retire: Or Is It?, Debra Mitchell, Kent Rhodes

Journal of the North American Management Society

This paper describes baby boomer small business owner succession as it relates to retirement from the perspective of the baby boomer business owner and society. Small businesses are key contributors to the U.S. economy and workforce. As society anticipates the retirement of the single largest part of the U.S. population, the “boomers,” many small business owners of that generation have, themselves, anticipated retirement. However, few business owners have prepared for retirement with a succession plan. Even in their 60s, many small business owners are delaying their retirement. This paper challenges conventional retirement norms and addresses the phenomenon of retirement through …

Supply And Demand Considerations For The U.S. Health Care Workforce: What May The Future Hold?, Michaeline Skiba, David P. Paul Iii

Journal of the North American Management Society

Five factors that influence supply and demand within the health care workforce are demographics, education, the healthcare delivery system, the economy, and context. These factors are interdependent and powerfully influence stakeholders involved in health care administration. All of them are in constant flux and heavily rely on the economy and context – two of the five factors that gained prominence since the Great Recession and determine strategy and policy related to future employment in all professional sectors. This paper reviews these factors from the vantage points of selected health care professions, and examines the opportunities and threats that lie ahead.

The Shifting Paradigm Of Baby Boomer Retirement Planning, David M. Savino

Journal of the North American Management Society

The Baby Boomer generation has done it again. As with other phases of their lives where they pioneered new lifestyles and choices, they now have succeeded in redefining retirement. While many workers before have gone the traditional route of retiring at age 62 with Social Security, Baby Boomers are forgoing the typical retirement scenario to stay on the job to satisfy both economic and workplace quality of life issues. While for years the predominant assumption was that there would be a significant labor shortage created as the Baby Boomers hit Social Security age, the opposite seems to be true. Findings …

Identifying Pre-Retirees For Bridge Employment: Factors That Influence Post-Retirement Employment Decisions, Sharon Kendrick, Melody L. Wollan

Journal of the North American Management Society

In a field study of 387 pre-retirees, four factors are demonstrated to be important as tools to aid Human Resource Managers and managers in predicting and influencing employees to consider participation in bridge employment: education levels of pre-retirees, training opportunities offered, role support from others (of particular importance supervisors and coworkers), and work family balance issues. Additionally, our findings draw attention to the importance of employment status (part-time versus full-time) and the number of years to retirement in predicting pre-retirees’ intentions to work in bridge employment.

Supporting Caregivers Of The Aging Adult: A Program Evaluation, Tanya O'Brien

Student Scholarly Projects

There is an ever-increasing burden on caregivers of individuals with cognitive illness as a result of the increasing number of older adults with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Currently, St. John's County Florida offers three programs designed to provide support for caregivers of individuals with cognitive illness. This project evaluated the three programs as part of a program evaluation to determine the efficacy of program selection for sustainability. Utilizing the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Program Evaluation Framework (PEF), a detailed and thorough evaluation review of the Power Tools for Caregivers, Savvy Caregiver, and an original three-model program developed by the …

Understanding Widowhood Cultural Practices Among Nigerian Americans: A Mini Ethnonursing Study, Prisca Anuforo, Rick Zoucha

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Abstract

Title: Understanding Widowhood Cultural Practices Among Nigerian Americans: A Mini Ethnonursing Study

Purpose: The study aims to understand the cultural values, beliefs, and experiences of widowhood cultural practices in Nigerian American women and how it affects health and well-being.

Research Questions: a). What are the values, beliefs, and experiences of widowhood cultural practices of Nigerian American women in the United States? b). How do these experiences affect the health and well-being of the widowed?

Background: There are 461,695 Nigerians residing in the United States, and 3.1 percent of the population is widowed. The morbidity and mortality rates are higher …

Effects Of The Ketogenic Diet On Spatial Memory And Long-Term Potentiation In The Ca1 Region Of The Hippocampus In Young Rodents, Jed Christensen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The ketogenic diet (KD) originated as a treatment for epilepsy nearly a century ago, though its neurological effects are not completely understood. In recent years the diet has resurged as a weight loss aid, reinvigorating research investigating its effects on the nervous system. Notably, the KD alters the concentration of glucose and ketones in the brain, and recent research suggests that the elevated ketone concentration, in the form of beta-hydroxybutyrate, induced by the diet enhances recognition memory and mitochondrial efficiency in the hippocampus. To further explore the effects of the KD, we examined its cognitive effects on spatial memory and …