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2015

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Articles 31 - 60 of 66

Full-Text Articles in Medical Humanities

Barriers To Prevention And Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Analysis Of Women In East Sikkim, India, Emily Applewhite Apr 2015

Barriers To Prevention And Treatment Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Analysis Of Women In East Sikkim, India, Emily Applewhite

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder that affects more people in India than anywhere else in the world (Ramachandran et. al., 2010). A recent national study concluded that Sikkim, a small northeastern state in the Himalayas, has the highest prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus compared to any other state in India. In order to determine why this is so, this study looks at the barriers women face when attempting to prevent and treat Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in East Sikkim. Fieldwork for this study was facilitated by The Volunteer Health Association of Sikkim, and took place in Gangtok and a …

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Effect Of Technology Use On Behavior, Janae Marion Apr 2015

Effect Of Technology Use On Behavior, Janae Marion

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Technology has evolved over the years, and as time goes by it seems to have enhanced into something beger. Now the problem that is starting to occur is that people are starting to use it excessively. Technology is becoming a distraction and is problematic for young children, teenagers, and also adults. Technology is becoming a bigger issue than people can imagine and not only is it starting to create behavioral problems for people, it’s also controlling their lives.

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Does American Society Blame Fast Food Too Much For Obesity?, Gabriella Barrios Apr 2015

Does American Society Blame Fast Food Too Much For Obesity?, Gabriella Barrios

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Obesity is a growing epidemic that could become the leading cause of death in American society. Society sees it and does nothing about it. I found that American society blames fast food too much for obesity, that we are doing nothing about it, and the restaurants are reacting by making changes.

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Transylvania University And Its Hemp Connection, Charles T. Ambrose Apr 2015

Transylvania University And Its Hemp Connection, Charles T. Ambrose

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Confronting Cultural Challenges For Migrant Healthcare In Switzerland, Rebecca Weiss Apr 2015

Confronting Cultural Challenges For Migrant Healthcare In Switzerland, Rebecca Weiss

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Switzerland is home to many migrants, and migration exacerbates health risks. In addition to physical health problems, migrants are more likely than Swiss nationals to face mental health challenges and cultural barriers, which complicate their experiences seeking healthcare. Similarly, clinicians encounter numerous challenges related to the special circumstances of migrant patients. As a response to the specific health needs of migrants, hospital networks and migrant support organizations promote the migrant health situation. However, these services are not ubiquitous in Switzerland, partly due to the partial freedoms of each canton to create its own health policy. This paper explores the barriers …

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Promoting Faculty Scholarship - An Evaluation Of A Program For Busy Clinician-Educators, S. Reader, A. Fornari, S. Simon, J. Townsend Jan 2015

Promoting Faculty Scholarship - An Evaluation Of A Program For Busy Clinician-Educators, S. Reader, A. Fornari, S. Simon, J. Townsend

Journal Articles

BACKGROUND: Clinician educators face barriers to scholarship including lack of time, insufficient skills, and access to mentoring. An urban department of family medicine implemented a federally funded Scholars Program to increase the participants' perceived confidence, knowledge and skills to conduct educational research. METHOD: A part-time faculty development model provided modest protected time for one year to busy clinician educators. Scholars focused on designing, implementing, and writing about a scholarly project. Scholars participated in skill seminars, cohort and individual meetings, an educational poster fair and an annual writing retreat with consultation from a visiting professor. We assessed the increases in the …

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Generational Conflicts Among Vietnamese Americans In The Health Care Decision Making Process, Georgie D. Nguyen Jan 2015

Generational Conflicts Among Vietnamese Americans In The Health Care Decision Making Process, Georgie D. Nguyen

Journal of Health Ethics

In the U.S. there are approximately 1.3 million Vietnamese Americans. This group faced multiple problems after their immigration to the U.S. after the Fall of Saigon. While some easily acculturated within this group, others such as the older generation suffered difficulty doing so. The purpose of this article is to address concerns regarding the health care decision making process among the Vietnamese community and its importance to helping health care providers understand why there is a high mortality rate within this group.

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From Bibles To Biomarkers: The Future Of The Dsm And Forensic Psychiatric Diagnosis, Teneille R. Brown Jan 2015

From Bibles To Biomarkers: The Future Of The Dsm And Forensic Psychiatric Diagnosis, Teneille R. Brown

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Given its importance to the law, it is regrettable that judges and lawyers do not fully understand how the DSM is constructed, and the bedrock of values on which it rests. As evidence of this, lawyers and judges often refer to the DSM as the “psychiatric bible.” This language is both fascinating and perplexing. This Article will attempt to correct the notion that the DSM is a legal “psychiatric bible” by explaining how it is created and used by the medical field. It will also provide a few reasons why the law may have come to view it as a …

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A Public Duty: Medicine And Commerce In Nineteenth-Century American Literature And Culture, Heather E. Chacon Jan 2015

A Public Duty: Medicine And Commerce In Nineteenth-Century American Literature And Culture, Heather E. Chacon

Theses and Dissertations--English

Using recent criticism on speculation and disability in addition to archival materials, “A Public Duty: Medicine and Commerce in Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture” demonstrates that reform-minded nineteenth-century authors drew upon the representational power of public health to express excitement and anxiety about the United States’ emerging economic and political prominence. Breaking with a critical tradition holding that the professionalization of medicine and authorship served primarily to support and define an ascending middle class, I argue that the authors such as Robert Montgomery Bird, Fanny Fern, George Washington Cable, and Pauline Hopkins fuse the rhetoric of economic policy and public …

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The Effect Of Joining A Health System On Financial Performance, Kenneth Joseph Cochran Jan 2015

The Effect Of Joining A Health System On Financial Performance, Kenneth Joseph Cochran

All ETDs from UAB

The rate of hospitals merging has increased significantly over the last few years. The number of hospital mergers between 2003 and 2009 averaged 55 per year, while mergers for 2010 and 2011 were 72 and 90, respectfully. This research moved beyond anecdotal reports and by using publicly reported data to not only evaluate the financial success of mergers, but also to look at other factors such as size, ownership, geography, environment (urban vs. rural), and market competitiveness to assess impacts on financial outcomes of mergers. This study examined the effect of joining a hospital system based on financial performance. Further, …

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Weed Women, All Night Vigils, And The Secret Life Of Plants: Negotiated Epistemologies Of Ethnogynecological Plant Knowledge In American History, Claudia Jeanne Ford Jan 2015

Weed Women, All Night Vigils, And The Secret Life Of Plants: Negotiated Epistemologies Of Ethnogynecological Plant Knowledge In American History, Claudia Jeanne Ford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation critiques the discourse of traditional ecological knowledge described as embedded in indigenous peoples' longevity in location, for the purpose of understanding the embodiment of ecological knowledge in culture. The aim of this research is to examine the historical and epistemic complexity of traditional ecological knowledge that may be both established from the length of time people reside in a specific ecosystem and constitutive of negotiations between and among different cultures. I choose the specific case of the negotiation of plant knowledge for women's reproductive health among Native, African, and European groups as those negotiations unfolded on the American …

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The Influence Of Positive And Negative Death Attitudes On Medical Students' Empathy And Attitudes Toward End-Of-Life Care, Elizabeth Palumbo Jan 2015

The Influence Of Positive And Negative Death Attitudes On Medical Students' Empathy And Attitudes Toward End-Of-Life Care, Elizabeth Palumbo

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This quantitative study employed a cross-sectional survey research design in order to examine the relationships between medical students’ death attitudes, empathy, and attitudes toward end-of-life care. The participants were 206 medical students currently enrolled in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia campus. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in the level of empathy between medical students who held strong positive death attitudes and medical students with strong negative death attitudes. However, results indicated that significant differences existed in attitudes toward end-of-life care between medical students who held strong positive death …

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The Germ Theory Of Dystopias: Fears Of Human Nature In 1984 And Brave New World, Clea D. Harris Jan 2015

The Germ Theory Of Dystopias: Fears Of Human Nature In 1984 And Brave New World, Clea D. Harris

Scripps Senior Theses

This project is an exploration of 20th century dystopian literature through the lens of germ theory. This scientific principle, which emerged in the late 19th century, asserts that microorganisms pervade the world; these invisible and omnipresent germs cause specific diseases which are often life threatening. Additionally, germ theory states that vaccines and antiseptics can prevent some of these afflictions and that antibiotics can treat others. This concept of a pervasive, invisible, infection-causing other is not just a biological principle, though; in this paper, I argue that one can interpret it as an ideological framework for understanding human existence …

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‘‘We Can Wipe An Entire Culture’’: Fears And Promises Of Dna Biobanking Among Native Americans, Roberto Abadie, Kathleen Heaney Jan 2015

‘‘We Can Wipe An Entire Culture’’: Fears And Promises Of Dna Biobanking Among Native Americans, Roberto Abadie, Kathleen Heaney

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper explores Native American perceptions on DNA biobanking. A qualitative study was conducted among self-declared Native Americans living off reservation in two Midwest cities. Findings demonstrate a paradox: Informants maintain strong hopes for the transformative power of gene-based research while voicing very particular social anxieties. Emerging genomic technologies elicit concerns over the potential for genetic stigmatization or discrimination based on race, preventing access to health insurance or employment. Frequently, social anxieties adopt the narrative form of conspiracy theories which portray powerful agents exploiting or abusing a disenfranchised population. We argue that while Native Americans do not have a monopoly …

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The Interrelationships Among Obesity, Insulin Sensitivity, And Bone Phenotype In Pre-Pubertal Girls, Anna L. Newton Jan 2015

The Interrelationships Among Obesity, Insulin Sensitivity, And Bone Phenotype In Pre-Pubertal Girls, Anna L. Newton

All ETDs from UAB

Impaired insulin sensitivity as a consequence of childhood obesity has been implicated as a contributor to skeletal fragility. There is a need to understand the interrelationships among insulin sensitivity and skeletal parameters (i.e. cortical, trabecular, marrow) in obesity during the pubertal transition. Further, calorie restricted weight loss to stabilize these relationships warrants investigation as well. The goal of this project was to examine the relationships among body composition, skeletal parameters, and insulin sensitivity. The first aim was to evaluate the relationships among total body fat, bone mineral content (BMC) and femoral bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) during childhood and underlying …

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Effectiveness Of Functional Electrical Stimulation Assisted Rowing To Improve Shoulder Pain And Aerobic Fitness In Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury, Susan Wilbanks Jan 2015

Effectiveness Of Functional Electrical Stimulation Assisted Rowing To Improve Shoulder Pain And Aerobic Fitness In Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury, Susan Wilbanks

All ETDs from UAB

Exercise is beneficial to adults with spinal cord injury (SCI) because of its ability to improve function and increase life expectancy. The goal of this dissertation was to determine an effective intervention for increasing aerobic fitness and decreasing shoulder pain in manual wheelchair users with SCI by identifying underlying mechanisms for shoulder pain, optimizing training and utilizing appropriate outcome measures. Three studies were conducted. The first study indicated that exercise interventions for adults with SCI are of low to moderate methodological quality, frequently using outcome measures associated with changes in body structures and functions, and not frequently examining effects on …

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Bioavailability Of Dietary Oxalate, Mary Catherine Robertson Jan 2015

Bioavailability Of Dietary Oxalate, Mary Catherine Robertson

All ETDs from UAB

Urolithiasis, or kidney stone disease, is a costly and painful health problem affecting about 8.8% of Americans with prevalence on the rise. Calcium oxalate stones account for about 80% of all stones. Increased urinary excretion of calcium and oxalate is a risk factor and central feature of such stones; dietary oxalate contributes up to 50% of urinary oxalate. The purpose of our research is to determine if physical manipulation such as chewing or blending prior to ingestion may render some oxalate more accessible for absorption in spinach, a high-oxalate food. In this crossover, controlled trial we enrolled six healthy, non-stone …

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Associations Of Gestational Weight Gain And Breastfeeding With Postpartum Weight Change Among African American Women, Camille Schneider Jan 2015

Associations Of Gestational Weight Gain And Breastfeeding With Postpartum Weight Change Among African American Women, Camille Schneider

All ETDs from UAB

Objective: To examine the associations of gestational weight gain (GWG) and breastfeeding (BF) with postpartum (PP) weight change among African American women. Methods: Healthy, low-income African American women (n=32) were enrolled in a prospective observational cohort study of early life origins of obesity. GWG was calculated using data retrieved from medical records. Women were stratified according to the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) GWG guidelines. Investigators measured maternal body weight at 2-weeks and 3-months PP, with the difference reflecting PP weight change. BF status at 2-weeks PP was self-reported. Analysis of covariance with Bonferroni post hoc testing was used to …

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Intensivists And Organizational Performance, Glenn Barthwick Liddle Jan 2015

Intensivists And Organizational Performance, Glenn Barthwick Liddle

All ETDs from UAB

Because of the high intensity of care and the extremely complex medical conditions being treated, intensive care units (ICUs) represent one of the most significant units within a hospital. Despite the significance of the ICU, the majority of the care provided in the ICU has historically been managed and coordinated by referring or attending physicians, who often do not have the specialized training needed to effectively care for the exceedingly acute patients in the ICU. More recently, however, a growing number of hospitals have begun staffing the ICU with intensivists. Intensivists are uniquely trained physicians that specialize in providing care …

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Disproportion Of Women In General Surgery And Obstetrics-Gynecology Professions, Nidhi H. Patel Jan 2015

Disproportion Of Women In General Surgery And Obstetrics-Gynecology Professions, Nidhi H. Patel

Undergraduate Research Posters

An increasingly number of women have been enrolling in U.S. medical schools recently and the field of obstetrics-gynecology has become predominantly female, but the profession of general surgery still remains largely unequal between the two genders. There is an observable pattern of gender inequality in both of these specialties, which is a result of several different factors which affect all women regardless of their profession. I studied how the stark difference in the percentages of female surgeons versus the percentages of female obstetricians-gynecologists compared to men has been created due to the prescribed gender roles of women in society. I …

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Evaluation Of The Productive Efficiency Of Nurse Practitioners In A Nurse Managed Center In A Highly Restrictive Scope-Of-Practice State, Faraz Ahmed Jan 2015

Evaluation Of The Productive Efficiency Of Nurse Practitioners In A Nurse Managed Center In A Highly Restrictive Scope-Of-Practice State, Faraz Ahmed

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this study is to determine the productive efficiency of Nurse Practitioners (NP) in a Nurse Managed Center (NMC) in a highly restrictive Scope-of-Practice (SOP) state. NPs are skilled, cost effective and quality health care providers and are considered a highly competitive option for increasing access while reducing health care costs. However, it is not clearly known if NPs are the most productively efficient at delivering this reduced cost of health care. The theories of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and Resource Based View (RBV) were used as a framework to develop the hypotheses that examined the productive efficiency …

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Chief Executive Officer Characteristics In Relationship With Patient Experience Scores Of Hospital Value Based Purchasing, Christina Galstian Jan 2015

Chief Executive Officer Characteristics In Relationship With Patient Experience Scores Of Hospital Value Based Purchasing, Christina Galstian

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT Patient experience scores have become important indicators of value in healthcare. This study was the first of its kind to examine CEO gender, tenure, and education in relationship with patient experience scores and all other value based purchasing scores, such as outcome, efficiency, clinical process of care, and total performance scores. This study suggested that hospitals with certain types of CEOs may perform better with respect to patient experiences and other value based purchasing scores. The primary analysis of this study was to examine the impact of hospital CEO characteristics (tenure, education, gender) on patient experience scores. A supplementary …

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Safety Culture And Patient Harm, Alfonso Gatmaitan Jan 2015

Safety Culture And Patient Harm, Alfonso Gatmaitan

All ETDs from UAB

SAFETY CULTURE AND PATIENT HARM EVENTS: A CONTINGENCY THEORY PERSPECTIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS ALFONSO GATMAITAN ADMINISTRATION-HEALTH SERVICES ABSTRACT This study examines the correlation between a Culture of Patient Safety as measured by hospital staff surveys and actual patient harm attributed to hospital performance. It is generally accepted by health care management leaders that the presence of a strong culture of patient safety has become a critical component in reducing patient harm. However, little empirical evidence within multiple hospitals over time exists to support this belief. Healthcare managers can utilize this evidence in formulating patient safety improvement …

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Difference In Recommended-To-Actual Nurse Staffing And Patient Falls, Shawn Ulreich Jan 2015

Difference In Recommended-To-Actual Nurse Staffing And Patient Falls, Shawn Ulreich

All ETDs from UAB

Patient falls are a serious safety concern in hospitals. Injuries from falls can be devastating to patients and are now subject to reimbursement penalties from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Patient falls have been identified by the American Nurses Association as a nursing sensitive indictor suggesting that improvements in the quality or quantity of nurses may impact this outcome. Moreover, the literature suggests that nurse staffing levels have an impact on various patient outcomes such as patient falls. Therefore, identifying appropriate nurse staffing levels to minimize patient falls is critically important to hospitals. A variety of staffing metrics …

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Hospital Community Orientation: Predictors And Performance Outcomes, J'Aime Jennings Jan 2015

Hospital Community Orientation: Predictors And Performance Outcomes, J'Aime Jennings

All ETDs from UAB

The three publishable manuscripts contained within this dissertation examine the predictors and performance outcomes of hospital community orientation. Community orientation is the customization of hospital services to meet identified community health needs. Together, these papers fill gaps in the literature regarding the factors that assist or hinder hospitals from being community-oriented, as well as the effects of community orientation. The first paper uses longitudinal data to examine the organizational and environmental factors that may influence how engaged hospitals are in a community orientation strategy based on the number of activities performed. The remaining papers consider the performance outcomes of community …

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Towards An Understanding Of Patient Satisfaction In The Military Health System, Alan Alexander Jones Jan 2015

Towards An Understanding Of Patient Satisfaction In The Military Health System, Alan Alexander Jones

All ETDs from UAB

The Military Health System (MHS) is the most expansive health care system in the world. The MHS provides health care services to 9.7 million eligible beneficiaries spread across six continents. The MHS budget exceeded $52 billion in 2013 or 10 percent of the total 2013 Defense budget. The cost of health care in the MHS is of great concern to the Department of Defense and the US Congress. The MHS needs a strong framework to measure the value of the health care it provides. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework to better understand Patient Satisfaction in …

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Examining The Interplay Of Diet Composition, Cardiometabolic Diseases, And Economics, Kenneth Patton Kell Jan 2015

Examining The Interplay Of Diet Composition, Cardiometabolic Diseases, And Economics, Kenneth Patton Kell

All ETDs from UAB

Despite the invaluable contributions that both randomized controlled trials and longitudinal studies have made to our understanding of the relationships between diet and cardiovascular disease (CVD), a comprehensive understanding of these relationships does not yet exist from birth to death. Furthermore, the longest running of these longitudinal studies have not included a representative portion of racial minority participants. Lastly, given the financial impacts of CVD, as well as how socioeconomic status (SES) can influence diet, the interplay between these three merits consideration. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation was to evaluate the associations between diet and cardiovascular disease (CVD): 1) …

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The Impact Of Cultural Competency On Patient Experience Of Care, Emily Lane Koudelka Jan 2015

The Impact Of Cultural Competency On Patient Experience Of Care, Emily Lane Koudelka

All ETDs from UAB

The impact of hospitals’ cultural competency on inpatient experience of care will be examined. Enhanced patient experience of care may alter an individual’s willingness to use health services, thereby increasing access and decreasing health disparities. As a result, to the extent that cultural competency influences patient experience of care, the integration of cultural competency into healthcare organizations has emerged as a critical issue for researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers. Findings from this study will inform policies, practices, and processes across the broad spectrum of healthcare industry stakeholders.

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Linking Adiponectin And Autophagy In The Regulation Of Breast Cancer Metastatic Potential, Emily Libby Jan 2015

Linking Adiponectin And Autophagy In The Regulation Of Breast Cancer Metastatic Potential, Emily Libby

All ETDs from UAB

Curative approaches for metastatic breast cancer remain elusive. Adiponectin is the most abundant of the adipocyte-secreted adipokines, and there is recent interest in development of adiponectin-based therapies for this disease. Yet, while multiple epidemiological studies have indicated that low levels of circulating plasma adiponectin portend poorer prognosis, recent work has reported that elevated adiponectin expression in breast tissue correlates with advanced disease. Further, isoform-specific roles of this molecule are not well understood. Thus, the overarching purpose of this work was to elucidate how adiponectin isoforms contribute to the microenvironmental regulation of the early steps of breast cancer metastasis. We show …

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Emergency Department Wait Time Communication Strategies And Patient Throughput Efficiency, Tom R. Mcdougal Jan 2015

Emergency Department Wait Time Communication Strategies And Patient Throughput Efficiency, Tom R. Mcdougal

All ETDs from UAB

This study investigates hospital strategies used to inform patients of anticipated wait times in the Emergency Department (ED) and the association of such strategies with patient throughput efficiency. When hospitals are inefficient in ED patient throughput, conditions of overcrowding often occur. Overcrowding of the ED is a problem for many hospitals. When such conditions exist, there is evidence in the literature that it leads to lower patient satisfaction, care quality, and financial position of the hospital. Therefore, improving patient throughput efficiency is a priority for hospitals. To improve patient throughput efficiency, hospitals use a variety of strategies. This study focuses …

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