Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Cross-Cutting Narratives Of Opioid Use Disorder Among Pregnant Women And Mothers: Implications For Humanistic Care, Alice Fiddian-Green

Doctoral Dissertations

Opioid-related fatalities in the U.S. have increased drastically. Pregnant women and mothers with opioid use disorders (OUD) are a rapidly growing and vulnerable population. Using a critical narrative approach, this dissertation examines how the syndemic of trauma, substance use, and mental health conditions influences opioid use and treatment trajectories among pregnant women and mothers across the lifecourse. The goal of this dissertation was to examine three discursive resources that shape the social construction of perinatal and maternal opioid use across all strata of social life: macro-level (news media), meso-level (scientific), and micro-level (individual) narratives. Informed by 18-months of ethnographic observation, …

Improving Chinese Mothers’ Health Literacy: A Wechat Intervention, Qiong Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

The health literacy and eHealth literacy of women during the reproductive age is crucial, as it can affect their health and the health of their children. Promoting health literacy is essential to achieve mothers’ empowerment by improving access to and capacity of using health information effectively. However, functional, interactive, and critical health literacy and eHealth literacy have never been assessed among Chinese women. The first study during this dissertation assessed functional, interactive, and critical health literacy and eHealth literacy among 421 of Chinese mothers with children under 3 years old. The results revealed overall less than optimal level of health …

Young Adult Early Childhood Home Visitors’ Perceptions Of Fan (Facilitating Attuned Interactions) And Its Potential Protection To Burnout, Lee Mackinnon

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT YOUNG ADULT EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF FAN (FACILITATING ATTUNED INTERACTIONS) AND ITS POTENTIAL PROTECTION TO BURNOUT FEBRUARY 2019 LEE MACKINNON, B.A., WILLIAMS COLLEGE Ed.M., HARVARD UNIVERSITY Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Claire E. Hamilton This qualitative study investigated the experience of young adult early childhood home visitors in the training and implementation of a family engagement tool, Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) (Gilkerson, 2015). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, the case study explored how 5 home visitors, who were under 30 years of age, viewed their training and use of FAN in three components of their …

The Impact Of Ptsd And History Of Involvement In The Criminal Justice System On Medication Treatment Success In Opioid Use Disorder, Kirk Sanger

Doctoral Dissertations

This analysis examined the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), history of trauma, and a history of involvement in the criminal justice system (CJS) on treatment outcomes related to medication treatment for opioid use disorder. This study employed a secondary analysis of data derived from a multi-state, multi-site treatment center focused on substance abuse and more specifically opioid use disorder treatment. The total sample size was 19,970 patients. The majority of the sample received treatment in Massachusetts, was white, and non-Hispanic. Those with PTSD accounted for 9.5% of the sample, while 12% had a history of trauma. Just under 1/4 …

Suicide Education To Support Caregivers In Their Abilities To Care For Suicidal Individuals, Cassandra Lipa

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Purpose: Suicide is a preventable act of lethality yet still remains a public health concern. Suicide can affect individuals from a variety of backgrounds and does not discriminate against age, gender, ethnicity, income, or occupation. Efforts to prevent suicide often focus on supporting the suicidal individual however there is a lack of available resources that focus on supporting those closest such as caregivers. Caregivers can play a pivotal role in their loved one’s trajectory towards recovery. The purpose of this project was to provide caregivers with a suicide toolkit that encompasses basic education, approaches to supporting a loved one who …

Incidence Of Pediatric Cannabis Exposure Among Children And Teenagers Aged 0 To 19 Years Before And After Medical Marijuana Legalization In Massachusetts, Jennifer M. Whitehill, Calla Harrington, Cheryl J. Lang, Michael Chary, Waqaas A. Bhutta, Michael D. Burns

Health Promotion and Policy Faculty Publication Series

Importance Pediatric health care contacts due to cannabis exposure increased in Colorado and Washington State after cannabis (marijuana) policies became more liberal, but evidence from other US states is limited.

Objective To document the incidence of pediatric cannabis exposure cases reported to the Regional Center for Poison Control and Prevention (RPC) before and after medical marijuana legalization (MML) in Massachusetts.

Design, Setting, and Participants Cross-sectional comparison of pediatric cannabis exposure cases 4 years before and after MML in Massachusetts. The exposure cases included those of 218 children and teenagers aged between 0 and 19 years, as reported to the RPC …