Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Healthcare Access Among Overweight And Obese Individuals In Türkiye Using Latent Variable Modeling, Banu Beyaz Sipahi

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Overweight and obesity are critical determinants of healthcare access, yet evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped these dynamics in Türkiye remains limited. This study investigates whether the early post-pandemic recovery period altered healthcare access patterns for individuals with excess weight.

Methods: Using nationally representative microdata from the 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2022 Turkish Health Surveys, we constructed a latent Healthcare Access Index based on six indicators of unmet care needs. Probit models were estimated to assess associations between BMI categories and healthcare access, controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors. The 2022 wave serves as the early …

Physical Activity Intensity And Memory In Middle-Aged And Older Adults In China, Simi Tang, Yucheng Gao

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Memory decline represents a major challenge in aging populations, and physical activity may help preserve cognitive function. However, evidence on whether different activity intensities are associated with memory remains inconclusive.

Methods: Using five waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011–2020), this study investigated the association between physical activity intensity and memory among middle-aged and older adults in China. Individual fixed-effects models were applied to control for unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity. The outcome was memory score, and the main predictors encompassed high-, moderate-, and low-intensity physical activities.

Results: Based on 52,135 person–wave observations from 21,423 …

Book Review: General Lucian K. Truscott: “Quite A Talent For Fighting”, Brian K. Dean

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Book Review: General Lucian K. Truscott: “Quite a Talent for Fighting”

Author: Glyn Harper

Reviewed by: Colonel Brian K. Dean, special assistant to the chief of staff, US Army National Guard

In General Lucian K. Truscott: “Quite a Talent for Fighting,” Glyn Harper brings to light the remarkable yet underappreciated career of one of America’s most capable World War II commanders. From North Africa to the beaches of Anzio, Truscott’s mastery of mechanized and amphibious warfare earned him a unique record of commanding formations from regiment to army. His compelling biography reveals a plain-speaking, resilient leader whose strategic brilliance shaped …

What I Didn’T Tell You, Grace Larson

The Sucarnochee Review

No abstract provided.

Encounters Xx: A Simple Walk, Susan Johnson

The Sucarnochee Review

No abstract provided.

Staff Education On Frailty And Senior Surgical Safety, Kimberly Buhay Gibu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This staff education doctoral project addressed a practice gap involving limited education on frailty assessment and senior surgical safety within the general surgery department of a large, integrated healthcare system. Frailty is associated with increased postoperative complications, hospitalizations, readmissions, and mortality among older adults, making early recognition essential to improving surgical outcomes. The practice-focused question project was: Does education on frailty screening and senior surgical safety improve the knowledge, confidence, and intent of general surgery staff in a large, integrated health system? The purpose was to develop, implement, and evaluate an evidence-based educational intervention. The project was guided by the …

African American Experiences Accessing Mental Health Services In Rural Communities, Danielle O. Keith-Alexandre

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American communities have exhibited greater vulnerability in psychological functioning and well-being, and usage of mental health services for evaluation and treatment are lower than for other groups, due to a range of barriers, including geographic location and lack of access. There is a lack of research on the difficulties African Americans face in accessing mental health services in U.S. rural communities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore, from a phenomenological approach, the lived experiences of African American adults residing in rural Pennsylvania mid-U.S. Eastern Coastal communities in regard to accessing mental health services. The social-ecological model …

African American Fathers’ Experiences Of Emotional Distress Within The Context Of Black Masculinity After Their Children’S Autism Diagnosis, John Notice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although parental experiences following a child's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis have been examined, mothers’ experiences have garnered the most exploration, with comparatively less attention given to fathers’ experiences. There was a gap in knowledge, in particular, on how African American (AA) fathers experience their children's ASD diagnoses while navigating emotional distress within the context of Black masculinity. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore how AA fathers experienced their children's ASD diagnoses while navigating emotional distress within the context of Black masculinity. Crenshaw's intersectionality theory served as the conceptual framework. Data were collected by conducting semistructured …

Youth With Mental Illness Transitioning Into Adult Judicial Systems, Susan K. Beltran

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite attempts to alleviate the issues of recidivism in juveniles, this issue continues to have a major impact on young adults suffering from mental health challenges. Criminal justice involvement continues to present significant challenges for individuals with behavioral health disorders, underscoring the need to identify factors associated with arrest to inform prevention and intervention efforts. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relationship between recidivism and the age of first arrest, gender, and psychiatric diagnosis for youths in an adult facility. The current study used data from the Northwestern Juvenile Project, with a sample size of N=1829. …

Social Workers’ Perceptions Of Pediatric Hiv Disclosure Process, Colleen Myrie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although the social problem of pediatric HIV disclosure has been studied by researchers internationally, there remains a gap in the experiences of social workers in facilitating this process. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of social workers in the United States regarding the disclosure process for HIV positive children. This study was grounded in Rosenstock’s health belief model, which posits that an individual will take necessary action to prevent or manage a disease based on their perceptions of health. This model was effective in helping to identify what social workers think about …

Two-Thirds Return But Performance Suffers: Acl Reconstruction Outcomes Across Elite European Women's Soccer Leagues, Haneef Khan, Forest Rodriguez, Amina Khan, Ashley Rosenberg, Stephen Marcaccio

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

PURPOSE: To analyse return-to-play (RTP) rates, timing and performance outcomes following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR) in elite European women's soccer players across the top five leagues.

METHODS: We reviewed ACL injuries sustained by female professional soccer players across the Bundesliga, Women's Super League, Primera División Femenina, Serie A Women and Première Ligue between 2007 and 2025. Players were included if they had a confirmed ACL injury requiring ACLR and one season of performance data pre- and post-injury. Players were excluded if the injury occurred during their rookie season or after the 2023 season. Data were collected from Soccerdonna.de …

Closing On The Cardiovascular Disparity Among Black Adults In Boston Through Church-Based Community Health Worker Intervention, Ana Porfirio

Capstones

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease disproportionately affect Black adults age 40 and older in Boston's Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighborhoods, as heart disease mortality is three times higher among blacks than whites across Boston, and premature death rates are over twice as high in Dorchester and Roxbury as in richer neighborhoods. Historic redlining contributes to barriers in food access and is one factor behind Mattapan's highest age-adjusted mortality rate from heart disease in the city. These brief outlines a culturally concordant church-based Community Health Worker (CHW) intervention that includes a trained CHW who assists adults with uncontrolled hypertension in managing their …

Closing Boston's Pediatric Asthma Equity Gap Through Housing-Integrated Care, Valeria Miranda

Capstones

Asthma morbidity is disproportionately high for preschool-age children (2-5 years) in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighborhoods of Boston owing to poor housing conditions and a lack of coordination between housing remediation and healthcare systems. Data at the neighborhood level indicate rates of (0-17) emergency department visits as high as 144.1 per 10,000 in Mattapan, compared to 15.0 per 10,000 in West Roxbury, where Black children have emergency department visit rates that are 6.9 times more than the rates for White Children across the city (Boston Public Health Commission, 2023). Additionally, Community Health Worker (CHW)-led home visiting with environmental trigger remediation, …

Pericardial Cyst, Mohamed Elsisy, Ibrahim K. Zazai, Mohamed H. Alahmadi, Chris Kyriakopoulos

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Pericardial cysts are typically considered a congenital anomaly of the anterior and middle mediastinum, with most patients diagnosed via incidental findings on routine chest imaging. They represent a small proportion of mediastinal masses but a substantial proportion of mediastinal cysts. Most are asymptomatic at presentation, and when symptoms occur, they are usually related to compression of adjacent mediastinal, pulmonary, or cardiac structures rather than intrinsic malignant behavior.

Electromagnetic Signatures Of Massive Binary Black Hole Systems, Kaitlyn Porter

Theses

(EM) radiation, with their observable signatures shaped by the complex interplay between orbital dynamics, gas dynamics, and radiative processes. The evolution of the surrounding accretion flow is governed by general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) within a strongly curved, timedependent spacetime, making the prediction of observable EM signals a challenging computational problem. This dissertation presents the development of a general relativistic ray-tracing framework that post-processes numerical relativity GRMHD simulations of accreting SMBHB systems. The framework enables the calculation of predicted images, spectra, and light curves throughout the inspiral, merger, and early post-merger phases. In parallel, improvements are made to an analytical model …

Editorial: “African Women Are Still Doing Negritude”: Continuous Commitments To Representing African Women’S Epistemology Generating Storytelling, Olaocha Nwabara, Korka Sall

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

No abstract provided.

Motherhood And The Illusion Of Delayed Gratification In Gerotti Kyomuhendo’S Waiting And Secrets No More, Mopelola R. Olayiwola

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The birth of a girl child in most African societies automatically signals the arrival of another procreator. Her role is assigned long before birth: she is to be a woman, a wife, and a mother whose nurturance continues until death. Motherhood demands nurturing children alongside the husband, and most myths tie a woman’s relevance to this single role. To ensure undivided attention to this occupation, societies empower the virtue of patience. As a result, many African narratives corroborate the ideology of delayed gratification, encouraging women to give excessively toward a distant future when children may return the favour. Little attention …

From The Traditional Role Of Motherhood To The Creation Of Ritual Fertility Dolls Among The Ashanti People, Youssoupha Mane

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This article explores the art and traditional sculpture of the Ashanti people of Ghana. The study delves into the symbolic, spiritual, therapeutic, and psychological implications of ritual fertility dolls known as Akua’ba, which serve as a means for infertile women to experience the joy and delight of motherhood. The study will also focus on how accessing motherhood is highly esteemed and regarded as a social obligation in most African cultures. The psychological burden and pressure associated with the social duty of bearing children to avoid ‘‘social death’’ or being ‘‘the dead end of human life’’ is undoubtedly at the root …

Reclaiming The Silenced: West African Women, Anticolonial Activism, And Storytelling As Historical Resistance, Tahsina Nasir

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper examines the systematic erasure of West African women from dominant historical narratives of anticolonial liberation, focusing on decolonization and post-independence nation building in Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, and Nigeria. Although women played central roles in organizing, mobilizing, and educating during nationalist movements, their contributions were increasingly sidelined once state power was achieved. Drawing on feminist historiography, Black feminist thought, and archival and literary sources, this study analyzes how state actors dismantled autonomous women’s organizations, including the Federation of Ghana Women, and confined women to symbolic roles within party-controlled structures. Figures such as Hannah Kudjoe, once central to political mobilization, were …

Winnie's Feminism: A Tribute To Mama Dr. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela As A Radical Feminist From 1986-2018, Anna Lefatshe Moagi

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Growing up in South Africa and having read several “tell-all” biographies by influential women have made this researcher aware of the struggles of women to be recognised and valued within their social environments. The many names that come to mind, when speaking of women’s voices that challenged their position in our society, belong to those of struggle veterans such as Adelaide Tambo, Ruth First, Lilian Ngoyi, Albertina Sisulu, Thandi Modise, Baleka Mbethe, Leymah Gbowee, Ruth Mompati, Charlotte Maxeke, Joice Majuru, Thuli Madontsela and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Their as women leaders roles remain undervalued (Shekhawat 2015). These phenomenal influential women and many …

Encounters Xlv: Solid Ground, Susan Johnson

The Sucarnochee Review

No abstract provided.

Doing Good In A Bad World: A Social Worker’S Memoir, Connie Woodring

The Sucarnochee Review

No abstract provided.

William "Bill" Luttrell Papers, 1989, William "Bill" Luttrell

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Vernon Woodrow Wilson Papers, 1947-1948, Vernon Woodrow Wilson

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Exploring Wearable Technology In Freshmen High School Physical Education: Effects On Engagement And Enjoyment, Danielle Madrid

Doctorate in Kinesiology

Wearable technology offers physical educators a potential tool for providing real-time feedback and supporting student engagement during physical activity. This mixed-methods study examined the influence of Polar A370 wearable fitness trackers on enjoyment and engagement among 99 ninth-grade students enrolled in high school physical education. During a two-week within-subject crossover intervention, students alternated between participating in physical education lessons with and without wearable technology. Physical activity enjoyment was assessed before and after the intervention using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES), while a researcher-developed supplemental survey, open-ended responses, and observational field notes provided additional information regarding students’ motivation, engagement, and …

Investigating The Links Between Iq, Emotion Dysregulation, And Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia In Childhood Antisocial Behavior, Isley Jean-Pierre

Student Theses

This study examined relationships among cognitive ability, emotion dysregulation, physiological regulation, and antisocial behavior. Participants were 340 children ages 7-10. Caregivers reported on emotion regulation, aggression, and delinquency, and children completed cognitive assessments. Intellectual profiles were classified as even or uneven. No significant differences in aggression or delinquency were found between intellectual profiles. Emotion Regulation Checklist scores mediated relationships between VIQ and both aggression and delinquency. Resting RSA mediated the relationship between VIQ and delinquency, although the indirect effect was small, whereas RSA reactivity did not mediate either outcome. Overall, findings suggest that emotion regulation may be a more consistent …

Retaining Teaching Hospital Nonacademic Nurse Educators: Addressing Burnout And Building Workforce Resilience, Walter Guevara

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Burnout and high turnover intentions among nonacademic nurse educators (NANEs) in academic teaching hospitals pose a critical challenge for healthcare administration, threatening workforce stability, nursing education capacity, and healthcare outcomes. The purpose of the integrative review was to examine evidence-based strategies to reduce burnout and enhance resilience among NANEs, thereby improving retention, well-being, and workforce sustainability. An integrative literature review was conducted using the Johns Hopkins Evidence-Based Practice appraisal tools and 49 sources published between 2020 and 2025 were found to match criteria and quality for thematic analysis. Guided by Herzberg’s two-factor theory, a thematic analysis was used to synthesize …

Relationship Between Sociodemographic Factors And Opioid Overdose Mortality In Milwaukee County, 2020-2021, Elizabeth David

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Opioid overdose deaths increased significantly from 2020 to 2021, with Milwaukee County experiencing higher rates than the national and state averages. African American and Hispanic residents faced disproportionately high fatal overdose rates. The purpose of this quantitative retrospective cross-sectional study was to examine the associations among socioeconomic status, race, age, access to treatment (measured by emergency medical services [EMS] naloxone administration), and opioid overdose mortality among underserved minority populations in Milwaukee County. Guided by the social-ecological model, the study analyzed data from the Milwaukee Health Department and the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office across 34 ZIP codes. Inclusion criteria for …

Self-Care Behavior And Diabetes Knowledge In African American Women With Type 2 Diabetes, Rena Renee Barron

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American women experience a disproportionate burden of Type 2 diabetes, and limited evidence exists regarding the relationship between diabetes knowledge and self-care behaviors, particularly among African American female veterans. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between diabetes knowledge and diabetes self-care among African American women with Type 2 diabetes, including a subsample of African American female veterans, and to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic (2017–2019 vs. 2021–2023) moderated this relationship. Additional variables included age, marital status, physical health, and mental health. Guided by the social-ecological model, de-identified data from the Behavioral Risk Factor …

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 …