Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Music Therapy In Preterm Infants In The Nicu, Olivia Murdock, Barbara Mcclaskey

Posters

A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) provides life-saving care for premature and sick newborns. However, that environment is very stressful due to the noise of equipment, alarms, and constant activity. It is important to decrease the stress for the infant as well as the parents. The purpose of this literature review was to determine if there is benefit from the use of music in the NICU. The high level of stress and anxiety that parents experience during this time may put the parent/child relationship at risk. Overstimulation and ongoing noise in the NICU may delay improvement in health and increase …

Involuntary Vs. Voluntary Care: The Mental Health Debate, Margaret Deparde

Honors Program Contracts

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Sleep Hygiene In The Hospital, Tina Bhakta, Paxton Arsenault, Maya Ahluwalia, Rachel Coats

Occupational Therapy Student Research Posters

Research poster by UNE Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy students investigating the definition of and recommendations for good sleep hygiene, the limitations of the hospital setting on attainment of sleep hygiene, and the benefits of sleep hygiene for hospital patients.

Healthcare Students’ Abilities To Translate Interprofessional Education To Collaborative Practice, Sally A. Mccormack Tutt

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Interprofessional education is considered the first step to providing students with the knowledge and skill required to participate in interprofessional collaboration. The lingering question in research is if students can take these skills from the classroom to clinical practice. The answer to this question will help guide educators when developing effective IPE training. This quantitative, correlational study aimed to explore if healthcare students that participated in a two-part, case-based interprofessional educational session were able to transfer that skill to their clinical experience. Data was collected from healthcare students in the professions of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing. The participants …

A Collaborative Perspectives Approach For Understanding Effective Care Coordination In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel Severs

Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes significant impairment in social and communication areas. The severity of the disorder can often result in a substantial degree and amount of service access and expenditures relating to a child’s needs. This study examined the experiences of how family caregivers and service providers of children with ASD view service delivery using a basic qualitative research design. For the study, 10 participants (five family caregivers and five service providers) were enrolled and interviewed. Interview data were collected and coded to produce a qualitative analysis of the experiences of these individuals who …

Age Differences In Attentional Capture Effects Of Emotional Faces, Shelby King

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Sustained attention is necessary to accurately complete cognitive tasks. However, sustained attention can often be disrupted by distracting information. When distractors contain emotional content, past research suggests that they might attract attention. The rapid detection of emotional information is important in everyday life because emotion often emerges in social interaction, including unpleasant interactions where others might pose a threat. The attentional capture effects of emotional faces were explored by inserting them into a visual search task that included differing levels of perceptual load. Twenty-five younger adults and twenty older adults identified target letters in standard trials containing distracting elements, but …

Healthy Hedgehogs After School Program, Sophie Johnson

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Value-Based Change: Accountable Care Organizations As A Method Of Healthcare Reform, Haley Lebel-Stephen

Community Engagement Student Work

In the past, there have been several attempts to overhaul the healthcare system. Despite this, the healthcare system in the United States has been relatively the same for over a hundred years. Consumers are at the forefront of a major push for a better healthcare system that meets all of their needs without emptying their bank accounts, restricting access to services and providers, communicating in unclear and insufficient ways, and requiring consumers to jump through hoops of complex processes. This project analyzes value-based reimbursement by way of accountable care organizations and coordinated healthcare as a front-running alternative healthcare model currently …

Saturated Fatty Acid Activates T Cell Inflammation Through A Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase (Nnt)-Dependent Mechanism, Grace Mccambridge, Madhur Agrawal, Alanna Keady, Philip A. Kern, Hatice Hasturk, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, Leena P. Bharath

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Circulating fatty acids (FAs) increase with obesity and can drive mitochondrial damage and inflammation. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is a mitochondrial protein that positively regulates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), a key mediator of energy transduction and redox homeostasis. The role that NNT-regulated bioenergetics play in the inflammatory response of immune cells in obesity is untested. Our objective was to determine how free fatty acids (FFAs) regulate inflammation through impacts on mitochondria and redox homeostasis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs from lean subjects were activated with a T cell-specific stimulus in the presence or absence of generally pro-inflammatory …

Through Children's Eyes: Teaching Inclusivity And Understanding Of Communication Disorders With Children's Books, Rachel Peavler

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

“Through Children’s Eyes” is a series of children’s books that focus on describing different aspects of four different communication disorders. The topics covered in the books include augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), dementia, and dysfluency. The illustrations were drawn and colored by hand, and the text and background were added digitally. The goal of this project was to create materials to effectively inform and instruct children about the nature of various cognitive, speech, and developmental differences to foster greater understanding of and tolerance towards people with communication differences.

Mental Health Stigma In College Students By Academic Major, Kristen Miller

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Stigma is best defined as the disapproval and shame felt by people who display characteristics not widely accepted in society. Although mental illness has become more prevalent in society through advocacy and awareness campaigns, it fails to be accepted and often individuals may feel shame that prevents them from seeking help (Dyrbye, Eacker, Durning, Brazeau, Moutier, Massie, S., et al, 2015; Givens & Tjia, 2002). Physicians in particular have been shown to have decreased help-seeking behaviors for psychological issues due to fear of professional repercussions (Dyrbye et al., 2015). Physicians also show increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and elevated …

Opioid Overdose And Unemployment In The Uk, Hayden Grace

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Opioid overdose in the United Kingdom has risen drastically over the last few years along with the rise in the use of zero-hours contracts. Zero-hours contracts are contracts for employment that guarantee no work but can anchor a person to a job that doesn’t pay above minimum wage when they do not receive work. Since opioid use is often associated with poorer economic conditions in the United States, this paper attempts to measure any correlation between poverty and opioid use in the UK. Using zero-hours contracts as a proxy for underemployment we use several regression models to determine the predictability …

An Experimental Test Of An Online Growth Mindset Intervention: Challenging College Students' Beliefs About Vak Learning Styles, Colten Collings

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

At post-secondary institutions, student attrition and graduation rates are of great concern. One contributing factor could be a student’s belief in inaccurate information about the brain and human cognition (a neuromyth). Previous studies have shown among teachers, college graduates, and pre-service teachers the prevalence of neuromyth beliefs – the most rampant being the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (VAK) learning styles myth. Though studies have hinted at some possible negative effects of holding the VAK learning styles myth, none have systematically investigated the matter. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-methods experimental study was to expose college students’ misconceptions about learning, investigate …

Language Sampling Methods For Early Adolescents With Specific Language Impairment, Anna Mckay

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

One essential component of clinical practice in the field of speech-language pathology is eliciting language to assess an individual’s communication abilities. Language becomes more sophisticated during the adolescent stage of development, particularly in the areas of vocabulary and complexity of sentence structures used. The current protocols used to evaluate adolescents are limited in their ability to elicit and analyze language samples, resulting in decreased effectiveness of identifying adolescents with language disorders. Preliminary data was collected at Western Kentucky University in 2018 regarding a new language sampling technique, the Dixit Method (DM), to elicit more lexically diverse language than standard interview …

Approaches To Parenting And Information Processing, Alyssa Berry

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Corporal punishment can be defined as using physical force with intent to cause pain when punishing a child (Straus, 2000). A substantial amount of research supports that corporal punishment has a negative effect on a child’s social and emotional development, specifically empathy and moral development. Studies also support that those who received corporal punishment as children are more likely to use corporal punishment with their own children (Gagné, Tourigny, & Pouliot-Lapointe, 2007). This current study elaborates on both these aspects of previous research. Three hypotheses frame this study: 1) Receiving corporal punishment as a child predicts lower empathy and moral …

Maternal Health In Eastern Tanzania: Antenatal, Delivery And Postnatal Care, Christina Sego

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this study is to evaluate maternal health conditions in eastern Tanzania and identify areas and conditions for improvement of healthcare. Tanzania is ranked 27th highest country in maternal mortality in the world (The World Factbook: Tanzania, 2018). Maternal health is an ongoing challenge Tanzania is facing as a country. This experiment was designed to identity areas of service in the district hospital setting that could advance quality of care. This study was conducted in Sinza Palestina Hospital, a district hospital on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data was collected in the form of observation, interviews …

Metabolism During Pregnancy And Postpartum: How Does It Change And What Factors Influence It?, Kristin Yoho

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

PURPOSE: Pregnancy is a physically impactful process in a woman’s life. During this time, a woman will gain weight and research has shown that many women will retain some extra weight after delivery. Because of this, recovery in the postpartum period is pivotal to avoiding the implications of weight retention. The postpartum period is vastly understudied in both the research and medical communities and this gap between pregnancy and postpartum research needs to be bridged. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate metabolic changes from pregnancy to postpartum and to study how factors such as sleep and breastfeeding …

The Impact Of A Therapist's Language In Computer-Mediated Communication, Robert E. Twidwell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Background: Nearly 45 million adults in the United States live with a mental health disorder and only 43% of them seek treatment. One of the major barriers to seeking treatment is accessibility and can be addressed through telepsychology, or providing services with technology. With technological improvements in written communication, using computer-mediated communication (CMC; e.g. text messaging) has become more regularly used and examined in healthcare. To date, little research has focused on the use of practitioner language in telepsychology.

Method: Two samples (university sample and national sample) totaling 396 participants were asked to rate a therapist on attractiveness (i.e. likability …

Effects Of Evidence-Based Materials And Access To Local Resources On Physical Activity During Pregnancy, Kolbi Edens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy has been shown to be safe and effective for improving maternal and infant health; however, only 23% of pregnant women exercise in accordance with guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine if the distribution of evidence-based educational resources as well as access to community resources will increase PA levels as well as knowledge/beliefs about PA during pregnancy. METHODS: Participants (8-12 weeks) completed assessments concerning their activity levels, as well as knowledge/beliefs regarding PA, during pregnancy. Next, participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention (IG) or control group (CG). The IG received educational information regarding PA during pregnancy, …

Effects Of Ef-24 And Cisplatin On Cancer, Renal, And Auditory Cells, Denis Hodzic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Cisplatin is a chemotherapy drug effective against several forms of cancer, but can also cause serious side-effects, including nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity. Curcumin, a natural plant compound, can increase cisplatin’s anti-cancer activity and counteract cisplatin’s deleterious effect on the auditory and renal systems. Unfortunately, curcumin exhibits poor bioavailability, which has promoted interest in the development of synthetic curcumin analogs (curcuminoids) that are soluble, target cancer, and do not cause side effects. This study investigated whether the curcuminoid (3E,5E)-3,5-bis[(2-fluorophenyl) methylene]-4-piperidinone (EF-24) increases the anti-cancer effects of cisplatin against a human ovarian cancer cell line (A2780) and its cisplatin-resistant counterpart (A2780cis), while preventing …

Assessment Of Academic Vocabulary In Early Adolescents Using A Novel Sampling Method, Amber Cline

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined a method of language sampling (the Dixit Method- Science, Math, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in early adolescents with typically developing language. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the DM-STEAM in eliciting lexically sophisticated spoken language samples in the early adolescent population. To examine lexical sophistication, traditional measures of analysis such as mean length of utterance (MLU) and average type token ratio (AVG TTR) were applied along with a measure of low frequency vocabulary. To compare performance on the DM-STEAM, school standardized assessments were obtained to measure student skill in academic content …

Parent Perceptions Of A Novel Health Intervention For Neurodiverse Youth, Casey Hewett, Amanda Staiano, James Slavet, Chelsea Hendrick, Phillip Nauta, Adam Lowe, Pedro Calado, Linda Bandini, Aviva Must, Carol Curtin, Adam Barsela, Kaitlin Arsenault, April Bowling

Health Sciences Student Work

Background: Children with all types of disabilities are more likely to be inactive due to a variety of factors. Children with neurodevelopmental challenges such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression face unique barriers to exercise, including increased demands on parenting resources. Thus there is a critical need for interventions understand parental perspectives and address such barriers in neurodiverse youth. The aim of this study was to explore parental perceptions of a novel exergaming and virtual health coaching intervention targeting neurodiverse youth, including barriers and facilitators of their children’s engagement, in order to …

The “Mindful Mcquade Initiative” Barriers To Using The Bikes In Mcquade Library, Robyn Lebowitz

Health Sciences Student Work

INRODUCTION: The mindful McQuade Initiative was created to bring mindful practices to Merrimack students, faculty, and staff One of the many activities the library offers as part of the Mindful McQuade Initiative is use of exercise bikes as study breaks. The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers to using the “Mindful McQuade” bikes in the McQuade library. METHODS: We recruited Merrimack students, faculty and staff to complete the study survey. Study investigators handed out flyers with details about the study and how to access the online survey as well as flyers posted to at a variety of …

Changes In Mitochondrial Protein Expression In Human Cd4 + T Cells During The Initiation And Progression Of Diabetes, Alanna Keady

Health Sciences Student Work

Introduction: Chronic sterile inflammation that underlies obesity can promote unhealthy cellular changes eventually leading to a decline in metabolic health and type-2 diabetes. Dysregulation of cellular processes during the initiation and progression of obesity can impair inflammatory homeostasis leading to a proinflammatory Th17 cytokine profile by CD4 + Tcells. Our ongoing research efforts are to understand the mechanistic link between the changes in a cellular housekeeping process known as autophagy and the regulation of Th17 cytokines in obese non diabetic and diabetic subjects. Methods: We assessed cellular protein expression and colocalization using immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry and ELISA assays. Results: …

Perspectives On Addressing Food Insecurity On College Campuses, Through Administrators Eyes: Best Practices And Challenges, Tashanna Brown

Health Sciences Student Work

Food security is a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (Barrett, 2010). These foods also must meet dietary needs to help promote a healthy life (Barrett, 2010). Institutions such as Bunker Hill community college, California State University Long Beach, and multiple other colleges and Universities have taken steps to address food insecurity (FI) on campus. More information is required to determine how to address FI on campus. The purpose of the …

Assessing Perceptions Of Influenza Vaccination While Pregnant Among Women Who Have Not Yet Conceived: Predictors And Modifiers Of Uptake, Franciela Golden

Health Sciences Student Work

Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to complications and death caused by the Influenza virus. Pregnant women account for only 1% of the population at a time, but 6-10% of the deaths caused by the flu. This study surveyed women over the age of 18 years old, that are students and staff/faculty of Merrimack College, to assess their perceptions of the influenza vaccine during pregnancy. The survey was administered using a Likert-scale to assess knowledge about the flu vaccine. Option four of the scale represented uneducated answers, while option one represented educated answers about the flu vaccine. The t-test used had …

Views On The Apple Health Application From Future Health Science Professionals, Trent Talmadge

Health Sciences Student Work

Introduction: Fitness and wellness applications are now the norm that smartphones come with the applications pre-installed on the device. In 2016 and 2017 wearable fitness technology was rated as the top trend in health and wellness sectors (Bunn et al, 2018). More information is needed to improve the utilization of fitness tracking technology to create a bridge between health professionals having their clients use the applications and the people building the tech. Methods: Healthy students at least 18 years of age at Merrimack College (mostly in the School of Health Sciences) were asked to partake in an online survey. The …

Validity Of Evaluative Factors From Big Five And Hexaco Questionnaires, Michael D. Biderman, Samuel T. Mcabee, Nhung T. Hendy, Zhuo Job Chen

Publications

Highlights

• Applied bifactor models to NEO-FFI-3, HEXACO PI-R, and BFI-2 data estimating domain, evaluation, and acquiescence factors.

• The evaluation factor was a significant, positive predictor of GPA.

• The acquiescence factor was not a strong predictor of GPA.

• Domain factor score validities were more negative than corresponding summated scale validities.

• Results suggest that extraneous factor contamination can be measured and used with the modeling techniques employed here.

Poverty, Neighbourhood Antisocial Behaviour, And Children’S Mental Health Problems: Findings From The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study, Michael H. Boyle, Katholiki Georgiades, Laura Duncan, Laura Duncan, Li Wang, Jinette Comeau, Jinette Comeau, Tracie O. Afifi, William R. Avison, Graham Reid, Kathryn Bennett, Terry Bennett, Khrista Boylan, Michelle Butt, Charles Cunningham, Eric Duku, Jim Dunn, Katholiki Georgiades, Stelios Georgiades, Andrea Gonzalez, Geoffrey Hall, Magdalena Janus, Melissa Kimber, Ellen Lipman, Harriet Macmillan, Peter Rosenbaum, Roberto Sassi, Louis Schmidt, Noam Soreni

Paediatrics Publications

Objectives: To determine if levels of neighbourhood poverty and neighbourhood antisocial behaviour modify associations between household poverty and child and youth mental health problems. Methods: Data come from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study—a provincially representative survey of 6537 families with 10,802 four- to 17-year-olds. Multivariate multilevel modelling was used to test if neighbourhood poverty and antisocial behaviour interact with household poverty to modify associations with children’s externalizing and internalizing problems based on parent assessments of children (4- to 17-year-olds) and self-assessments of youth (12- to 17-year-olds). Results: Based on parent assessments, neighbourhood poverty, and antisocial behaviour modified associations between …

The 2014 Ontario Child Health Study—Methodology, Michael H. Boyle, Katholiki Georgiades, Laura Duncan, Laura Duncan, Jinette Comeau, Jinette Comeau, Li Wang, Tracie O. Afifi, William R. Avison, Graham Reid, Kathryn Bennett, Terry Bennett, Khrista Boylan, Michelle Butt, Charles Cunningham, Eric Duku, Jim Dunn, Katholiki Georgiades, Stelios Georgiades, Andrea Gonzalez, Geoffrey Hall, Magdalena Janus, Melissa Kimber, Ellen Lipman, Harriet Macmillan, Peter Rosenbaum, Roberto Sassi, Louis Schmidt, Noam Soreni

Paediatrics Publications

Objective: To describe the methodology of the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS): a province-wide, cross-sectional, epidemiologic study of child health and mental disorder among 4- to 17-year-olds living in household dwellings. Method: Implemented by Statistics Canada, the 2014 OCHS was led by academic researchers at the Offord Centre for Child Studies (McMaster University). Eligible households included families with children aged 4 to 17 years, who were listed on the 2014 Canadian Child Tax Benefit File. The survey design included area and household stratification by income and 3-stage cluster sampling of areas and households to yield a probability sample of …