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Virginia Commonwealth University

2006

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Factors Influencing Health Status In Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Janet Jestina Byam-Williams Jan 2006

Factors Influencing Health Status In Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Janet Jestina Byam-Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive, correlational study was based on Pender's Health Promotion Model (Pender, Murdaugh, & Parsons, 2002). The purpose was to examine factors influencing health status in community-dwelling, older white and black adults. The following research question was addressed by the study: What are the relationships among the individual characteristics (age, gender, race, education, and income); the behavior-specific cognitions and affect (perceived self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and interpersonal influences); and the behavioral outcomes (health-promoting behaviors), and health status in community-dwelling whites and blacks 65 years of age and older? The convenience sample of 113 participants from four congregate meal sites in Central …

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The Life Pattern Of People With Spinal Cord Injury, Ronald R. Alligood Ii Jan 2006

The Life Pattern Of People With Spinal Cord Injury, Ronald R. Alligood Ii

Theses and Dissertations

This aim of this study was to answer the research question: "What is the Life Pattern of the Person with Spinal Cord Injury?" The unitary appreciative inquiry design, which has conceptualized through Rogers' (1986) science of unitary human beings, provided an approach for understanding the phenomenon in the context of human wholeness. The data, obtained through the methodology of unitary appreciative inquiry, led to the development of individual synopses for each of the participants. Once the synopses were completed, a composite pattern profile was constructed by the researcher that was indicative of the life pattern of people with spinal cord …

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Southeast Asian Immigrant Women's Perspectives On Domestic Violence, Pataporn Saengkhiew Jan 2006

Southeast Asian Immigrant Women's Perspectives On Domestic Violence, Pataporn Saengkhiew

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the question, "What is the lived experience of Southeast Asian immigrant women who live in the United States related to domestic violence, including the relationships with their partners, their knowledge of domestic violence, and the existence of domestic violence in the Asian community?" Fourteen Thai women engaged in semistructured interviews during which they were asked to describe their experience. This study chose the phenomenological approach, using content analysis that identified six major themes representing essential aspects of the experience, as described by the participants: (a) Knowledge about Domestic Violence and Sources of Information, (b) The experience of …

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Relationships Among Stress, Blood Pressure, And Heart Rate Variability In Meditators, Sangthong Terathongkum Jan 2006

Relationships Among Stress, Blood Pressure, And Heart Rate Variability In Meditators, Sangthong Terathongkum

Theses and Dissertations

PROBLEM STATEMENT: Growing evidence indicates that psychological stress contributes to cardiovascular diseases through complex neuroendocrine mechanisms. Psychological stress leads to several physiological responses including increased heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) as well as decreased heart rate variability (HRV) through alterations in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), specifically increased sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity and decreased parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity. Meditation is thought to induce an innate relaxation response leading to reduced psychological stress. Findings from past studies have provided inconclusive evidence regarding the direction and strength of relationships among stress, BP, HRV, and meditation practice. PROCEDURES: A …

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A Life Disrupted: Still Lived, Judith M. Jarosinski Jan 2006

A Life Disrupted: Still Lived, Judith M. Jarosinski

Theses and Dissertations

This research illustrates the experience of living with hallucinations from the perspective of being, and sought to answer the questions: what is the meaning of hallucinations and how do hallucinations connect to one's sense of self?A phenomenological Heideggerian hermeneutic approach was used to guide data collection and analysis. In this study, 12 individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders were asked to describe their experience of hallucinations within the context of being. An overarching constitutive pattern emerged with four themes. The constitutive pattern, "A Life disrupted: Still lived," described a pattern of survival and perseverance on one's own terms; a common …

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Health Promoting Lifestyle And Quality Of Life In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Saichol Janwijit Jan 2006

Health Promoting Lifestyle And Quality Of Life In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Saichol Janwijit

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a severe impact on quality of life (QOL). Using the Health Promotion Model as a guide, a cross-sectional, correlational design was used to describe relationships among individual characteristics and experiences (age, gender, race, severity of illness, resilience), behavior-specific cognitions and affect (self-efficacy, barriers, social support), behavioral outcomes (health promoting lifestyle), and QOL in this patient population. One hundred and twenty participants were recruited from three clinics at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. In addition to a demographic survey, participants completed a 151-item questionnaire incorporating measures resilience, severity of illness, self-efficacy, and barriers to a …

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