Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Closer Look At Development Of Self-Awareness And Compensatory Strategy Use In Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury, Melissa A. Byrne

Masters Theses

My study investigates the development of self-awareness and use of compensatory strategies in eight adults with traumatic brain injuries using the Awareness Questionnaire (AQ) and three additional questions of descriptive nature. This study also examines whether or not the severity of brain injury (mild, moderate, severe) impacts the development of self-awareness. In addition, the spouses' perceptions of client awareness are compared to the relatives' to determine existence of potential variance.

Results indicate that while there is no significant difference in self-awareness_ between the mild and moderate groups, the severe group significantly varies from both the mild and moderate groups. Also, …

The Effectiveness Of Personal Data Assistants In Improving Daily Function Of Adults With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Connie Lee Budiwarman

Masters Theses

This study evaluated the effectiveness of using Personal Data Assistants to help with memory and/or organizational difficulties with adult patients who had survived mild Traumatic Brain Injury. Utilizing an AB single subject design method with a training period, one subject ultimately completed the study. The study demonstrated mixed results. Through the use of daily record sheets, the subject reported improvement in three areas of daily function but reported negative improvement in three areas of daily function. This study suggests, but does not completely support, the potential use of Personal Data Assistants with patients with Traumatic Brain Injury.

Self-Help Group Participation And Empowerment In Hong Kong, Bong-Ho Mok

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper reports on the first comprehensive study of self-help groups in Hong Kong. Initial findings from the quantative and qualitative data suggest that self-help group participation has an impact on intrapersonal, interpersonal and community/political empowerment. Based on existing data, this study has resulted in the development of a hypothetical model encompassing the interrelationships among self-help group participation, social support, social learning, leadership and empowerment, for testing in future research.

Informal Care-Two-Tiered Care? The Work Of Family Members And Friends In Hospitals And Cancer Centres, Christina Sinding

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In a qualitative study conducted in Ontario, Canada, family members and friends of ill people defined a normal territory in which care from health professionals could not be counted on to be timely, effective or empathic. Under these conditions relatives and friends took on considerable responsibility, both for providing care and for securing care from health professionals. Yet considerable variation was apparent in this study in the sense respondents had of their own capacities to provide and secure care. Findings from this study suggest that service tiers exist in the institutional care system, linked to the time, knowledge and resources …

Factors Affecting School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists’ Use Of Language Assessment Practices With Bilingual Children, Lena Gloria Caesar

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the assessment procedures and practices of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in the state of Michigan. A survey method was used to gather information from 409 SLPs regarding the assessment procedures used for assessing both their bilingual students, as well as their monolingual English-speaking students. The survey also gathered information regarding perceptions about language proficiency, professional training, and bilingual assessment products. In order to analyze factors related to their use of recommended practices, the study investigated the relationship between selected demographic, caseload, and work-setting variables, and the type of bilingual assessment methods …

Visual-Motor Integration Skills Impact On Handwriting, Amber M. Kapnick

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a visual-motor integration intervention improved handwriting legibility and visual-motor integration in first grade students as measured by the Minnesota Handwriting Test (MHT) and the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). Intervention was based on sensory-motor learning theories. Sixty-six children from four first grade classrooms in a suburban elementary school were randomly assigned to an intervention or a control condition. The intervention group received eight weeks of visual-motor integration training twice a week for 30 minute sessions. The control group received regular academic instruction. All children were tested on the Minnesota Handwriting …

Examining The Meaning And Experience Of Self-Determination And Its Impact On Quality Of Life For Individuals With Cognitive Disabilities, Carol Marie Sundberg

Dissertations

There is a national agenda for advancing self-determination for persons with disabilities. Broadly defined, self-determination means having control over ones own life. The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of self-determination and its effect on the quality of life of persons with cognitive disabilities. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was selected. Ten individuals from a community mental health system in southwest Michigan participated in the study. Participants had a developmental disability and were dependent on others for their care. The research combined qualitative interviews with behavioral observations and proxy interviewing, and included the audiotaping of those interviews. …

Acoustic, Kinematic, And Auditory Perceptual Characteristics Of Clear Speech, Kristin L. Greilick

Masters Theses

This study characterized the speech motor transformations that underlie speech clarity changes in a group of 49 healthy young speakers. Clarity judgments based on auditory perception of the speech samples were determined by a panel of 30 undergraduate and graduate students. This study specifically aimed to characterize (1) the auditory-perceptual judgments of clarity, (2) the acoustic measures of clear and causal speech, (3) the temporal and spatial features of articulatory movements of clear and casual speech, and (4) test the hypothesis that auditory perceptual scaling of clarity (perceptual salience) would be associated with kinematic indicators of physical effort.

Results suggested …

Review Of The Loss Of A Life Partner: Narratives Of The Bereaved. Carolyn Ambler Walter. Reviewed By Amanda Smith Barusch., Amanda Smith Barusch

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Carolyn Ambler Walter, The Loss of a Life Partner: Narratives of the Bereaved. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. $52.50 hardcover, $26.50 papercover.

Review Of Refusing Care: Forced Treatment And The Rights Of The Mentally Ill. Elyn R. Saks. Reviewed By Kai J. Bentley., Kia J. Bentley

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Elyn R. Saks, Refusing Care: Forced Treatment and the Rights of the Mentally Ill. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. $35.00 hardcover, $24.50 papercover.

The Effects Of Differing Bicycle Frame Geometry On Muscle Recruitment Strategies And Power During A 30-Second Wingate Anaerobic Test, Patrick Hills-Meyer

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to test how changing the bicycle frame geometry; from a shallow frame geometry [seat tube angle (STA) of 72°] to a steep frame geometry (STA of 82°) affected the electromyographic (EMG) signal of the hamstrings [biceps femoris (BF) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles] and the quadriceps [vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL)] and power (max, mean, min, and, % drop) during a Wingate anaerobic test (WAT). To measure the muscle recruitment and power, 12 experienced triathletes were prepped with surface electrodes to measure EMG amplitude and an electrogoniometer to measure knee joint angle while …

The Understanding And Utilization Of Occupational Therapy Services By Medical Doctors In Acute Hospital Settings, Naina Jamani

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine what medical doctors working in the Canadian healthcare system know about occupational therapy, and if this understanding of occupational therapy is deemed valuable by the rate of referrals generated by these practitioners. This study will examine the relationship between physician's knowledge level and referrals to occupational therapy. The study instrument was a survey that consisted of eight questions, seven multiple choice and one open-ended response. The study took approximately five minutes to complete. A total of forty surveys were distributed at three different acute hospital settings. A total of fourteen or thirty-five …

Review Of Handbook Of Drug Abuse Prevention: Theory Science And Practice. Zili Sloboda & William J. Bukowski (Eds). Reviewed By Sean R. Hogan., Sean R. Hogan

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Zili Sloboda and William J. Bukoski (Eds.), Handbook of Drug Abuse Prevention: Theory, Science, and Practice. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. $150.00 hardcover.

Marketable Features Of The Adapted Physical Education Career In Higher Education, Jiabei Zhang

Human Performance and Health Education Faculty Research

The purpose was to investigate marketable features of the adapted physical education (APE) career in higher education. A total of 560 APE job openings (297 APE first priority and 263 APE second priority were identified from the Chronicle of Higher Education between 1975-1976 and 1997-1998. These data were analyzed by regression, chi-square, and descriptive statistics. The results indicate that the APE career is a growing employment market demanding candidates who specialize in APE to prepare in one or more other areas and encouraging candidates who specialize in other areas to minor in APE. The market shows that APE second priority …

Measuring Spelling Growth Over Time In Elementary Writing Samples, Pamela M. Ansell

Masters Theses

Developmental spelling stage theories have been proposed and disputed for 30 years. The current study used Gentry's (1982) model to assign category ratings to narrative writing samples produced by 32 students over two years to observe developmental growth over time. In addition, quantitative measures were obtained from the samples, including an index of control (Laminack & Wood, 1996) and a percentage correct. Analyses were also used to test the effectiveness of using a writing lab approach (Nelson, Bahr & Van Meter, 2004) on spelling development. During the last half of second grade, all 32 students received intervention guided by the …

Dialect Density And Discourse Maturity Of African American Elementary Students, Brandi Lynette Newkirk

Masters Theses

This was a report of an investigation of the effects of dialectal features in African American students' narratives on discourse ratings by trained judges. The question addressed in this research was whether dialectal features influence judges who are evaluating discourse. Graduate students in speech-language pathology (n = 18) learning to analyze discourse samples served as the judges. Two versions of narratives (n = 27) written by third- and fourth-grade African American students (the original version and the edited version) were used to determine if narratives that contain dialectal features would be rated lower. The judges were trained in narrative discourse …

Review Of Family Health Social Work Practice: A Macro Level Approach. John T. Pardeck (Ed.) Reviewed By Marsha Blachman, Marsha Blachman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of John T. Pardeck (Ed.), Family Health Social Work Practice: A Macro Level Approach. Westport, CT: Auburn House, 2002. $ 67.95 hardcover.

Achieving Justice In Child Protection, Rob Neff

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

As formal systems for the protection of children have evolved in this country, certain barriers to achieving justice within the child protection system have emerged concomitantly. Specifically, these barriers involve ambiguous definitions of abuse and the appearance of social inequality and bias within the child protection system. One means of surmounting these barriers to justice is family group conferencing (FGC). Support for this assertion comes from the integration of the restorative justice model and procedural justice theory. When applied to the practice of FGCs in child protection, the integration of these theoretical perspectives provides a strong rationale for the use …

Sharing Power With The People: Family Group Conferencing As A Democratic Experiment, Lisa Merkel-Holguin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Can family group conferencing be leveraged to promote the democratic ideals of voice, freedom, justice, fairness, equality, and respect, and provide the citizenry with the opportunity to build a more just and civil society? This article reviews family group conferencing, and various model adaptations, from a democratic context and through the lens of responsive regulation.

Family Involvement Interventions In Child Protection: Learning From Contextual Integrated Strategies, David Stuart Crampton

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protection is rapidly increasing in the United States and many other countries. There is some concern that the child welfare field will travel down the same road as it did with intensive family preservation services; that is, tremendous enthusiasm later derailed by rigidly designed evaluations that showed unimpressive effects. The work of John Braithwaite suggests an alternative path for finding justifiable excitement about these interventions. Drawing upon Braithwaite's writings and ongoing evaluation research, this article suggests a few steps we can take towards an integrative strategy for …

Review Of Addiction Treatment: A Strengths Perspective. Katherine Van Wormer & Diane Rae Davis. Reviewed By Mike Gorman., Mike Gorman

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Van Wormer, Katherine and Davis, Diane Rae, Addiction Treatment A Strength's Perspective, Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson Brooks Cole, 2003. $ 51.92 papercover.

Ethics And The 21st Century University, Judith Bailey

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University

Cancer Pain: An Allopathic Or Alternative Approach?, Amanda Keating Walker

Honors Theses

The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,334,100 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2003 and that 17 million new cancer cases have been diagnosed since 1990. They have also determined that in the U.S., men have a slightly less than 1 in 2 lifetime risk of developing cancer and women have a 1 in 3 chance of being diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. These statistics show that cancer will touch the life of at least one person you know; unfortunately that person may be someone very close to you. It's extremely difficult to watch someone you love endure …

The Ehealth Behavior Management Model: A Stage-Based Approach To Behavior Change And Management, Robert J. Bensley, Nelda Mercer, John J. Brusk, Ric Underhile, Jason Rivas, Judith Anderson, Deanne Kelleher, Melissa Lupella, André C. De Jager

Human Performance and Health Education Faculty Research

Although the Internet has become an important avenue for disseminating health information, theory-driven strategies for aiding individuals in changing or managing health behaviors are lacking. The eHealth Behavior Management Model combines the Transtheoretical Model, the behavioral intent aspect of the Theory of Planned Behavior, and persuasive communication to assist individuals in negotiating the Web toward stage-specific information. It is here — at the point of stage-specific information — that behavioral intent in moving toward more active stages of change occurs.

The eHealth Behavior Management Model is applied in three demonstration projects that focus on behavior management issues: parent-child nutrition education …