Public Health Commons^™

Illness And God's Will, John Sherret

Senior Honors Theses

Originally, God never put sickness on people. After the fall, the early history of man as recorded in the Bible further demonstrates Him refraining to use sickness. However, once the law was instituted God began to use sickness as a punishment. In the Old Testament, sickness was always defined as a curse and never a blessing. It was used by God to curse people for disobeying the law. In the New Testament, God was seen healing the multitudes instead of cursing them. Through the atonement of Jesus, believers have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13). Healing …

Effect Of Females In Leadership Roles On Menstrual Sanitation In Rural Jamkhed, India, Kirsten Hughes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction: Menstruation is integral to puberty and maturation of adolescent girls. Education about menstruation and menstrual hygiene effects a woman’s physical and psychosocial health through the majority of her life.

Purpose: This study seeks to answer the following questions: Who is providing information to girls before or after their first menstruation? Is this information timely, appropriate and accurate? Is the information effective enough to see changes in menstrual practices through a family and community? In answering these questions, the study attempts to determine the pathways of communications regarding menstruation and menstrual health in the Jamkhed area of the Ahmednagar district …

Muslim Women And United States Healthcare: Challenges To Access And Navigation, Dayna M. Seeger

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper offers an analysis of the interactions of Muslim women in the US healthcare system in order to unpack challenges and propose potential accommodations. Islam may inform values or considerations in the context of other cultural factors or present Muslim women with specific challenges in seeking healthcare based on Islamic teachings or social constructs. This paper examines these factors by elaborating on an overview of Muslim interpretations of healthcare using religious authorities, text from the Qur’an, and social norms. It then delves into challenges faced by Muslim women in the US healthcare system and the implications of those challenges …

Breastfeeding Initiation And Continuation By Employment Status Among Korean Women, Yeon Bai, Nam Mi Kang, Jung Eun Lee, Theo Van Achterberg, Taisun Hyun

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

The objective of this study was to examine the factors associated with the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding among Korean women in relation to their employment status. Data were collected using a web-based self-administered questionnaire from 1,031 Korean mothers living in Seoul with babies younger than 24 months. Demographic characteristics, education on breastfeeding, rooming in, breastfeeding during a hospital stay, and breastfeeding knowledge were examined. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with initiation and continuation at 1, 6 and 12 months according to mothers' employment status. Breastfeeding initiation rates were similar regardless of mothers' employment status. …

Using Neuroscience To Create A Paradigm Shift In Addiction Treatment And Theory, Tabitha E.H. Moses

Student Works

Drug abuse has long fascinated philosophers and scientists. Many different models have attempted to elucidate the mechanism behind drug addiction and analyze whether an addict has a choice in his behavior. The problem with these models is that they seem to suggest only two ways of viewing addiction. These models suggest either that a person cannot control his addiction and is therefore deserving of treatment, or that suggest a person can control their addictions and is not deserving of treatment, and instead needs threats of punishment to stop their behavior. I believe these approaches are too simplistic and do not …

Babies First: Ensuring Proper Infant Nutrition During Emergencies, Abigail M. Alonso

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Background: Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for an infant, living in all regions and cultures. Recommendations apply across the board, from developed nations to refugee camps, from women with HIV to those with time constraints regarding feeding. There also exists a complex relationship between corporations that provide BMS and the NGOs working to promote breastfeeding in emergency situations amongst vulnerable populations.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to expose breastfeeding promotion, using the Dadaab camps in Northeastern Kenya as a case study of IYCF programs and support of breastfeeding among low-literacy populations with an emphasis on women …

Puppets On A String? How Young Adolescents Explore Gender And Health In Advertising, Deborah L. Begoray, Elizabeth M. Banister, Joan Wharf Higgins, Robin Wilmot

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article presents qualitative research on young adolescents’ abilities in communicating and evaluating health messages in advertising especially how they understand and create gendered identities. A group of grade 6-8 students learned about media techniques and movie making. In groups divided by gender, they created iMovie advertisements for health activities in their school. They represented themselves in these advertisements by creating stick puppets. Observations during lessons, examination of movies and puppets, and interviews with students and their teacher revealed that young adolescents were neither completely manipulated by media nor were they completely in charge of their responses to media’s messages …

Use Of Craigslist.Org To Hook Up: Age Differences In Sex Requests, Hiv Disclosure And Negotiated Safety Among Men-Seeking-Men, Kristen Clements-Nolle, Aliya Buttar, Lindsey Dermid-Gray, Tyler Peterson, Andrea Esp

Nevada Journal of Public Health

Data from 984 “men-seeking-men” Craigslist.org postings in five cities were analyzed to assess differences in sexual requests, HIV status disclosure, and negotiated safety between young (18-24 years) and older (25 years and older) men who have sex with men (MSM). Young MSM were less likely than older MSM to post their HIV status or the preferred status of a partner (p=0.04), disclose and/or request a partner who was disease and drug free (p=.01), and request use of a condom in their posting (p=0.01). Interventions aimed at changing the culture and content of postings on Craigslist.org by encouraging HIV status disclosure …

Ebola Scare And Measles Resurgence: Mandatory Isolation/Quarantine And Vaccination, Mark C. Aita Md, Takeem T. Ragland Ma

Journal of Health Ethics

Public outcry for radical isolation and quarantine policies followed the first Ebola diagnosis in the United States when Eric Duncan, upon his return home Oct 2014 from West Africa, then in the midst of a catastrophic Ebola epidemic, tested positive for Ebola. Likewise, the Dec 2014 Disneyland measles outbreak unleashed an angry backlash against parents who refused to have their children vaccinated; and there was public momentum to repeal all legal exemptions to mandatory vaccination of school children. This paper presents an ethical and legal analysis to adjudicate the issue which is at stake in both controversies; namely the inherent …

Calling Science Pseudoscience: Fleck’S Archaeologies Of Fact And Latour’S ‘Biography Of An Investigation’ In Aids Denialism And Homeopathy, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

Fleck’s Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact foregrounds claims traditionally excluded from reception, often regarded as opposed to fact, scientific claims that are increasingly seldom discussed in connection with philosophy of science save as examples of pseudo-science. I am especially concerned with scientists who question the epidemiological link between HIV and AIDS and who are thereby discounted—no matter their credentials, no matter the cogency of their arguments, no matter the sobriety of their statistics—but also with other classic examples of so-called pseudo-science including homeopathy and other sciences, such as cold fusion. The pseudo-science version of the demarcation problem turns …

Cross-Continental Care: Us And Cuban Medical Internationalism In Bolivia, Madeleine Blain

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

How can something as commonplace as going to the doctor influence international politics? In Bolivia, medicine is bound in politics. The political structure of a country both influences the approach to health care, and determines how that approach is most effectively implemented internationally. Building upon a framework of conceptual difference between capitalist and socialist health systems, this paper examines “effective” models of US and Cuban international health care on both a political and individual level. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in a Bolivian hospital, interviews with doctors working internationally, and current literature, I seek to discern what defines “effective” international health …

Cultural Beliefs And Experiences Of Formal Caregivers Providing Dementia Care To American Indians, Damon Grew Syphers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a significant public health concern for all elders in the United States. It is a particular concern for the American Indian (AI) population, which is one of the fastest-aging populations in the United States and the smallest, most underrecognized, and most culturally-diverse group in the country. A formal caregiver understanding of AD in the AI population is scarce. This phenomenological study was designed to discern what is known about AD in the AI population by exploring the cultural beliefs and experiences of formal caregivers who provide care for AI dementia patients. Specifically, this study sought to …

Health Care Seeking Behavior And Provider Responses For Hcv-Positive African Americans, Kathleen Susanna Bailey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Of the 3.5 million persons infected with chronic HCV in the United States, the African American population is the largest racial group with chronic HCV. Disparities in access to care and treatment involve a complex set of individual, interpersonal, socioeconomic, and environmental factors that influence the course of HCV infection in the African American population, resulting in poorer outcomes and survival. Drawing upon both the theory of reasoned action and the theory of planned behavior, this study was conducted to determine whether the seeking of health care by HCV-positive African Americans and the responses of health care providers to HCV-positive …

How Spiritual Values Correlate With Hospice Use For African Americans, Latrina Dion Frazier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

End of life hospice services have consistently been underused by African Americans. This disproportionate use of hospice has contributed to poor quality of life and a lack of cost-effective care for patients with terminal illness. Driven by the theory of reasoned action, the purpose of this quantitative study was to test associations between African Americans' perceptions of hospice, decisions to use hospice, and religiosity. A convenience sample of 154 African American adults was surveyed online. The survey instrument combined the AARP End of Life survey, Perception of Hospice survey, and the Religiousness Measure survey. The results of a multiple linear …

Trends In Risky Sexual Behavior Among Men Who Have Sex With Men : Analysis Of Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey Data From Ukraine, 2007-2013, Roksolana Kulchynska

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Objective: To examine changes in risky sexual behavior over time, i.e., unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Ukraine.

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 …

Las Adolescentes Indígenas: Una Prioridad De Hoy Para Un Mejor Futuro Nacional En El 2015, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Esta hoja informativa detalla los problemas prioritarios que enfrentan los adolescentes guatemaltecos y presenta las acciones recomendadas para un mejor futuro nacional. Las áreas prioritarias incluyen la educación primaria y secundaria, la salud reproductiva y los medios de vida. La hoja incluye un ejercicio de cobertura—una herramienta simple, rápida y económica que permite entender a quién están llegando los servicios. Permite además identificar problemas comunes entre organizaciones, comprender el acceso diferenciado, identificar vacíos programáticos y modificar el alcance de los programas.

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This fact sheet details the priority problems facing Guatemalan adolescents and presents recommended actions for a better national …

Attitudes And Behaviors Of South African Women And Psychosocial Determinants Of Gonorrhea, Takiyah White Ndwanya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The incidence of gonorrhea had declined since the HIV epidemic in the late 1980s, but is now increasing globally due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant forms of this disease. In South Africa, the incidence of gonorrhea is highest among Black women due to their high co-infection rates with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study examined the psychosocial determinants of gonorrhea among Black women aged 18 - 35 in the Langa township in Cape Town, South Africa. All participants had reported at least one sexual experience and at least one positive test for gonorrhea in the past two …

A Mixed Method Study Of Diagnostic And Adaptive Functioning Challenges In African American Preschool-Aged Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Douglene Jackson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are known to experience performance and participation challenges, with early diagnosis being critical for improved outcomes. Children from ethnic minority backgrounds tend to receive their diagnoses later, even when symptomatology is similar. This mixed methods study explored symptom severity, functional difficulties, and age at diagnosis for ASD and to describe the functional challenges encountered by preschool-aged children with ASD of African American descent. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health along with the Model of Human Occupation were the theories used for this study to conceptualize functional challenges and other potential factors. Research …

A Phenomenological Inquiry Into The Low Rates Of Influenza Vaccination Among Older African Americans, Delia Roxanne Howson-Santana

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Influenza vaccination is recommended for persons with high-risk health conditions such as chronic diseases to prevent flu-related complications and death. African Americans 65 years and older have consistently been reported to have the lowest influenza vaccination rates compared to all other racial groups, despite having higher rates of chronic diseases. A review of the literature indicated that there is a dearth of qualitative studies examining the grounds for these low rates. In this study, 15 African Americans 65 years and older were interviewed to explore the factors that contribute to low rates of flu vaccination among this racial group. Research …

Exploring Social Networking Technologies As Tools For Hiv Prevention For Men Who Have Sex With Men, Jorge Ramallo, Thomas Kidder, Tashuna Albritton, Gary Blick, John Pachankis, Valen Grandeleski, Trace Kershaw

Publications and Research

Social networking technologies are influential among men who have sex with men (MSM) and may be an important strategy for HIV prevention. We conducted focus groups with HIV positive and negative participants. Almost all participants used social networking sites to meet new friends and sexual partners. The main obstacle to effective HIV prevention campaigns in social networking platforms was stigmatization based on homosexuality as well as HIV status. Persistent stigma associated with HIV status and disclosure was cited as a top reason for avoiding HIV-related conversations while meeting new partners using social technologies. Further, social networking sites have different social …

The Association Between Dietary Sodium, Salt, And Elevated Blood Pressure Among Hispanic Adults In El Paso, Texas, Cynthia Chacon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: High blood pressure (hypertension) is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) which represents a worldwide public health concern, and continues to be the number one cause of death among both men and women affecting 1 out of 3 adults in the United States. Furthermore, there is evidence suggesting that high levels of dietary sodium and salt consumption intake can not only increase an individual's blood pressure level, but also their risk for CVD, heart attack, or stroke. Objective: To conduct a secondary data analysis to assess the association between sodium and salt intake and blood pressure among Hispanic …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Migrant Women Farmworkers' A Qualit Ative Analysis Of Migrant Women Farmworkers’ Perceptions Of Maternal Care Management, Stacey A. Pilling

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine migrant women farmworkers' views of perinatal care management while working in the fields. Like men, women migrant farmworkers are exposed to many physical, chemical, and biological hazards that pose human health risks. However, women of childbearing age are at an increased risk of having reproductive health difficulties and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and the infant mortality rate among migrant farmworkers is estimated to be twice the national average. Perinatal care is a critical factor in reducing adverse outcomes for perinatal and newborn mortality. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 migrant women farmworkers …

Racial Differences In The Impact Of A Worksite Wellness Program On Cardiovascular Biomarkers, Ceabert Joseph Griffith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsible for approximately 600,000 deaths in the United States each year, with African Americans (AAs) disproportionately affected. Individual-level approaches to reducing CVD remain ineffective, mobilizing a movement that advocates for population-based solutions. Workplace wellness programs (WWPs) have gained considerable traction as a viable strategy for ameliorating CVD burden among workers in general. However, no studies have looked at the efficacy of WWPs in ameliorating CVD specifically among AA employees--a knowledge gap that this investigation aimed to close. Based on the health belief model and the social cognitive theory, this retrospective cohort study used de-identified secondary data …

Obesity And Workplace Injury In Hazardous Occupations Among The Hispanic/Latino Population, Barbara Klyde

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 20 years, adult obesity has increased in the United States, especially among the Hispanic/Latino population. In 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Environmental and Safety News, reported that younger workers, ages 18 to19 years of age, worked in the most high-risk occupations such as agriculture, construction, fishing, and manufacturing. The reported fatality rates for these occupations were 5.6 times greater for Hispanic workers compared to other race/ethnicity groups reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2013. This study determined whether obesity contributed to workplace injury or mortality in hazardous occupations, using federal, state, and independent …

The Journey Of A Digital Story: A Healing Performance Of Mino-Bimaadiziwin: The Good Life, Carmella M. Rodriguez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Indigenous peoples have always shared collective truths and knowledge through oral storytelling. Just as we were born, stories are born too, through our sacred “living breath.” We live in a time where stories travel far, beyond our imaginable dreams, and can have an influence on anyone who hears them. In the present-day, we have an opportunity to combine personal stories with digital technology in order to share one of our greatest gifts with each other--our experience and wisdom. For eight years, Brenda K. Manuelito and I have been traveling across Indian Country helping our Indigenous relatives create nDigiStories for Native …

Brain Candy: Wayne State University School Of Medicine Journal Of Arts And Culture, 4th Edition, Wayne State University School Of Medicine Writing Workshop, Wayne State University School Of Medicine Gold Humanism Honor Society

Gold Humanism Honor Society

Brain Candy collects poetry, nonfiction essays, short fiction, photographs, and drawings to shed light on the creative process in medicine, the city of Detroit, and the experiences of health care providers. Features submissions from medical students, physicians, and School of Medicine staff.

Creating Space For An Indigenous Approach To Digital Storytelling: "Living Breath" Of Survivance Within An Anishinaabe Community In Northern Michigan, Brenda K. Manuelito

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As Indigenous peoples, we have a responsibility to our global community to share our collective truths and experiences, but we also deserve the respect to not be objectified, essentialized, and reified. Today, we are in a period of continual Native resurgence as many of us (re)member our prayers, songs, languages, histories, teachings, everyday stories and our deepest wisdom and understanding as Indigenous peoples--we are all “living breath” and we are “all related.” For eight years, Carmella Rodriguez and I have been nDigiStorytelling across the United States and have co-created over 1,200 digital stories with over 80 tribes for Native survivance, …

Jessie Huey Laurence Papers - Accession 5, Jessie Huey Laurence

Manuscript Collection

The Jessie Huey Laurence Papers primarily consist of correspondence, but also included are speeches, program notes, minutes, financial records, photographs, clippings, and scrapbooks relating to her role in the South Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs (1928-1937); her promotion of a compulsory school attendance bill for South Carolina (1934-1936); the formation of the South Carolina Council for the Common Good (1935); Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Public Works Administration (PWA) projects in South Carolina; and her interest in the Catawba Indians of York County, as chairman of Indian Affairs Committee for the Catawba Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. …

Los Efectos De La Violencia Familiar Y Las Percepciones De Las Mujeres Afectadas: Un Estudio De Las Mujeres Victimas De La Violencia Familiar A Ahmauta / The Effects Of Family Violence And Perceptions Of Women Affected :A Study Of Women Victims Of Domestic Violence To Ahmauta, Catherine Oidtman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Violence against women is a social problem that demands much attention from society because it is a human rights issue and is damaging to the mental health status of women. The purpose of this investigation is to use an ethnographic approach to analyze the perceptions of women who have suffered from domestic violence to determine how perceptions of domestic violence impact subsequent mental health outcomes. Women (n=6) were recruited from the NGO Amhauta, an educational program that advocates for the rights of women and children in San Jerónimo, a district of Cusco, Peru. This analysis uses an ethnographic approach to …