Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Women's Quality Of Life After Leaving An Abusive Relationship: The Effects Of Past And Ongoing Intimate Partner Violence, Mastery And Social Support, Diana Jaradat

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is considered a major stressor that threatens the lives of women globally. Although qualitative research suggests that IPV has substantial negative effects on women’s quality of life, few quantitative studies have examined the quality of life of women who have experienced IPV due, in part, to the lack of an appropriate, brief measure of QOL. Consequently, little is known about the contextual process by which IPV experiences affect women’s quality of life (QOL) after leaving an abusive relationship. Mastery and social support are two important resources that women may use to deal with IPV but whether …

An Investigation Of Health Literacy, Acculturation, Diabetes Knowledge, And Social Supports Among Latinos With Diabetes In Southern Ontario, Ivonne Aguilar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The prevalence of diabetes is high among Latino people. This study investigated the relationships between health literacy, acculturation, social support, and diabetes-related knowledge among Latino adults with Type 2 diabetes and informal caregivers with a family history of Type 2 diabetes. A non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used to examine these relationships among 73 adult Latino participants living in Southern Ontario. Based on Nutbeam’s conceptualization of health literacy, associations existed between health literacy, acculturation and knowledge of diabetes among Latino participants, yet the concept of social support showed no direct relationship to health literacy. This research has explored the factors that …

Food For Health: An Investigation Of Infant Feeding Practices, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Barriers And Facilitators, Jessica W. Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Exclusive breastfeeding is associated with numerous health benefits for both mother and child, and is recommended for the first 6 months of an infant’s life. The purpose of this prospective study was to examine, using a survey-based design, the breastfeeding practices, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers and facilitators of primiparous mothers in London, Ontario. A total of 71 women (M_age = 30.0, SD = 4.3) participated in the study. Women (breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding) were asked to complete online surveys at three time points: < 4 weeks postpartum, 3 months postpartum, and 6 months postpartum. Results indicated that rates of exclusive breastfeeding decreased over time, whereas partial and non-breastfeeding rates increased. Women in the exclusive breastfeeding category reported the greatest levels of breastfeeding self-efficacy at all time points. Lastly, participants identified a number of breastfeeding-related facilitators (e.g., partner support, community services) and barriers (e.g., insufficient milk supply, latching difficulties).

Health Literacy Of Individuals Living With Parkinson's Disease, Nicole D. Leblanc

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the past two decades, there has been an increased interest in the development of self-management programs for people with chronic diseases. Fundamental to chronic disease management is adequate literacy and health literacy skills. Research on the health literacy skills of individuals managing Parkinson’s disease (PD) is seemingly absent from the research literature. The purpose of this study was to assess the health literacy skills of older adults managing PD and to examine the relationships of functional health literacy, self-efficacy, social support, and empowerment in this population. Using a cross-sectional design, this study surveyed 33 older adults living with PD …

Motherhood And Childbirth Experiences Among Newcomer Women In Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study, Fatmeh Ahmad Alzoubi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statement of the Problem: Motherhood and childbirth are very sensitive experiences and have a strong impact on family functioning, social identity, and cohesiveness. Although motherhood and childbirth have been discussed extensively in the scholarly and popular literature, much of this work has been conducted from a North American perspective, with little attention to how motherhood and childbirth are experienced by newcomer women from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A critical ethnographic study using in-depth interviews with 16 newcomer women was utilized to explore newcomer women’s experiences and understandings of motherhood and childbirth in the aftermath of …