Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Promoting Mammography Screenings In African American Women: Media, Church, And Health Providers, Lasonya Little, Debra C. Wallace, K.Jay Poole

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Due to the underutilization of screening mammography, African American women (AAW) are more likely to experience negative health outcomes after receiving a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis than White Women (WW). The purpose of this article is to examine the roles of the media, health community and the African American church and pastor and their potential impact in AAW screening decisions. Fifteen AAW, ages 45 and older, were invited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Most women agreed the African American pastor and church as well as the health community, and media are an integral part of their lives. Therefore, specific …

Advancing Health Equity In The Us Military, James D. Mancuso, John Young, Jennifer Rusiecki, Shauna Stahlman, Natasha Schvey, Toya Randolph, Candy Wilson, Catherine Witkop, Patrick Hyde, Althea Green, Patcho Santiago, Donald Shell, Tracy Sbrocco

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity are central to US national health objectives and the Military Health System’s “quadruple aim,” which has readiness as its core aim. Because military service members enjoy universal eligibility for health care, it is sometimes assumed that health disparities do not exist in the Department of Defense (DoD). However, while some studies have shown that disparities have been attenuated or eliminated in the DoD, others suggest that significant disparities remain. Reasons these disparities may remain include that universal eligibility for care does not necessarily result in equal to access to care, and that equal …

An Evaluation Of Care Coordination In Reducing Depression Symptoms And Emergency Room Visits, Stacy Sumpter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Individuals living with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) account for 26% of the population; however, they consume 84% of healthcare resources, are three times more likely to have depression than healthy individuals, and have increase emergency room (ER) visits and healthcare resource use. This population requires coordinated health care to reduce unnecessary spending and the misappropriation of healthcare resources. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the efficacy of care coordination (CC) and the support system it provides in lowering depression symptoms and ER visit frequency as a viable measure to reduce overall healthcare costs.

Methods: The healthcare providers, …

Improving Therapeutic Communication In Mental Health Nursing: A Quality Improvement Project, Patricia A. Nill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over 46 million adults in the United States (U.S.) live with a mental illness. Locally in Nevada, the psychiatrist to patient ratio is approximately 700:1, and patients are seen primarily in the inpatient setting, if seen at all, due to the wait average of 85 hours in the hospital emergency rooms for access into mental health hospitals or specialty units of a general hospital. Moreover, costs for mental health mood disorders alone are estimated at over seven million dollars annually. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) opined the need for change in healthcare to redesign practice and clinical communication with patients …

Rejection Sensitivity And The Intent To Seek Medical Help Among Gender Minority Individuals, Kellyann Garthe

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: As members of a marginalized and socially devalued group, gender minority (GM) individuals regularly experience rejection in healthcare experiences. These rejecting experiences lead to barriers to healthcare access and health disparities. Consequently, GM individuals’ may develop anxious and avoidant attitudes toward their healthcare needs. When considering healthcare, an individual’s inherent attitude informs their intent to seek medical help (ISMH), defined as the attitude that influences one’s decision to seek medical help. When an individual has a hyper-sensitive reaction to perceived rejection, this is termed rejection sensitivity (RS).

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine if the independent …

Understanding Alcoholics’ “Difficulty In Life”: An Empirical Comparison Of Alcoholics And Nonalcoholics, Keiko Ito

Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal

The Japanese success rate for alcoholism treatment is approximately 30%, indicating high relapse rates. Although “difficulty in life” is thought to contribute to alcoholics’ relapse, the characteristics of the phenomenon are unknown. This study examined the factors contributing to alcoholics’ difficulty in life. Alcoholic self-help group members, who indicated the extent of their difficulty in life and described the factors that contributed to this difficulty, completed a self-administered questionnaire. Participants’ hypersensitivity/grandiosity traits were also examined. A control group of nonalcoholic men also completed the questionnaire. Simple tabulation, descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, and multivariate analyses were used to compare data …

Eight Steps To Weight Loss: Development Of An Evidence-Based Collaborative Provider-Patient Workbook For Overweight Or Obese Adults, Katherine Ann Wagner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite decades of effort on the part of health care providers and policy makers to reduce the prevalence of obesity, the prevalence of obesity in the United States remains high (CDC, 2015). In the adult population ages 20 years of age and older, 35.7% are considered obese. The annual medical costs for people who are obese are $1,429 higher than people of a healthy weight (CDC, 2013). Obesity increases the risk for chronic health conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma, arthritis, and cancer (Hammond & Levine, 2010). Over-weight and obesity are the main …

The Interim Window: Women’S Experiences During In Vitro Fertilization Leading To Maternal Embryo Attachment, Tammy Mackinnon Lampley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Infertility affects about 7.3 million women and their partners in the U.S., about 12% of the reproductive-age population. In vitro fertilization (IVF) has been used successfully in the United States since 1981. The number of women seeking artificial reproductive techniques (ART) has increased dramatically and the number of ART cycles performed in the United States has more than doubled, from 64,681 in 1996 to 134,260 in 2005 and 99% of these are IVF. Studies indicated that women rank waiting for the outcome of and IVF treatment and a negative pregnancy result as the most stressful events during their treatment. Although …

2009- 2010 Unlv Mcnair Journal, Kathleen Bell, Danetta Bradley, Vacheral M. Carter, Nydia Diaz, Kathryn E. English, Sarah Harrison, Michelle Israel, Christina Macke, Erica Orozco, Pilar Palos, Sandra Ramos, Soraya A. Silverman, Susan Taylor, Sajar Camara, William Mccurdy, Yvonne C. Morris, Maxym V. Myroshnychenko, Ricardo Rios, Monique Sulls, Bremen Vance, Barbara Wallen

McNair Journal

Journal articles based on research conducted by undergraduate students in the McNair Scholars Program

Table of Contents

Biography of Dr. Ronald E. McNair

Statements:

Dr. Neal J. Smatresk, UNLV President

Dr. Juanita P. Fain, Vice President of Student Affairs

Dr. William W. Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach

Mr. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach

McNair Scholars Institute Staff

Student Stress And Academic Performance: Home Hospital Program, Carolyn B. Yucha, Susan Kowalski, Chad L. Cross

Nursing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether nursing students assigned to a home hospital experience less stress and improved academic performance. Students were assigned to a home hospital clinical placement (n = 78) or a control clinical placement (n = 79). Stress was measured using the Student Nurse Stress Index (SNSI) and Spielberger’s State Anxiety Inventory. Academic performance included score on the RN CAT, a standardized mock NCLEX-RN®-type test; nursing grade point average; and first attempt pass-fail on the NCLEX-RN. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups for age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, or score …

A Program To Change The Approach To Care Of Children With Asthma In The Primary Care Setting Did Not Reduce Rates Of Hospital Admissions: Lessons Learned From A Descriptive Study, Sheniz Moonie, Robert C. Strunk, Mario Castro

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Asthma is a critical global health issue. It affects people of all ages in countries throughout the world. The prevalence of asthma is increasing in most countries among young children who also represent the greatest proportion of health care utilization. Outpatient asthma-treatment programs managed by chest physicians or allergists have reduced hospitalizations, yet programs in pediatric offices have not successfully impacted hospitalizations. The Community Asthma Program (CAP) was designed to support pediatrician use of clinical guidelines in their everyday office practice. The goal was to reduce asthma hospitalizations by 15 percent from selected pediatric practices. A study was done in …