Women's Health Commons^™

Artistic Expression Of Medical Experiences Of Mothers Of Color: Perspectives Using Art Therapy, Lauren Barrett

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine perspectives of mothers of color living in the US and their experiences in the healthcare system through art therapy. The study aimed to further identify personal narrative experiences of mothers of color navigating the healthcare system, promote individual voices, and acknowledge disparities impacting those within marginalized communities. The participants in this study included a total of eight identified mothers of color (non-White) living in the US. Participants took part in four weeks of consecutive art therapy sessions either in 60-minute group or individual virtual meetings. One art therapy directive was provided …

Exploring The Intersection Of Sexual Identity And Route Of Administration In Relation To Cannabis Use Among Young Adult Females, Sarah J. Ehlke, Samantha A. Fitzer, Jennifer L. Shipley, Abby L. Braitman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background and Objective: Rates of cannabis use continue to increase with sexual minority women (SMW) reporting greater use than heterosexual women. Along with these increasing trends, the routes of administration (ROA) for cannabis are evolving. The current study examined associations between cannabis ROA and frequency of use, as well as differences across sexual identity (heterosexual vs. SMW).

Methods: Participants were 949 young adult (18–25 years old) women (29.8% SMW) who reported past month cannabis use and were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Number of cannabis use days and each ROA used (joint, pipe, blunt, bong, vape, edible, and ointment) in …

“Pro-Woman, Pro-Life”: Framing Of The Anti-Abortion Movement, Olivia Rivet

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This project on the “Pro-Woman, Pro-Life" framing of the Anti-Abortion Movement uses James Paul Gee's theoretical lens on discourse analysis. My research corpus is comprised of historical, legislative, news, editorial, and film data. This project focuses on when the term "Pro-Woman" first appeared in the anti-abortion discourse and how it has been used to reinforce the Pro-Life stance. I argue that the phrase -- "Pro-Woman" -- is a discoursal strategy to appeal to women who are ideologically aligned with the Pro-Choice movement. According to the Pro-Woman, Pro-Life framework, no "feminist" would want to support a practice, such as abortion, that …

Community Health Workers, Stress Reduction, And Racial Equity In Infant Vitality, Justin Rex

ICS Fellow Lectures

How can communities help mothers reduce stress during pregnancy and provide the social supports that contribute to infant vitality? This talk presented findings from an evaluation of the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB program, a nationally recognized best practice program model that pairs at-risk mothers with community health workers (CHWs) who connect mothers to services that reduce pregnancy risks. The talk included stories from mothers and CHWs about the challenges and stresses they face as well as data from interviews and surveys that quantify the impact CHWs have for reducing mothers' stress and providing supports that help mothers and their children …

No Woman Left Behind: Women’S Lived Experiences, Purposes, And Perceptions On Female Genital Mutilation (Fgm) Of Maasai And Datoga Communities In Arusha, Tanzania, Audrey Tirrill

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been practiced for centuries around the world, currently FGM occurs in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Even though many counties like Tanzania has outlawed FGM and stating it is a violation of human rights, many people continue the procedure without adequate education on FGM. While believing the decline in number of FGM incidences and there is still a lack of local women perspectives and their respective lived experiences on the matter. This is particularly true in some Tanzanian rural and male dominated tribes where most women are educated with limited freedom of speech such …

A Pre-Medical Student’S Reconciliation Of Feminist Narratives Regarding Women’S Health: A Consideration Of Perspectives On Childbirth In The U.S., Laura Clayton

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

Many feminists argue that one major negative aspect of reproductive healthcare in the U.S. is the common over-medicalization of women during childbirth, including potentially unnecessary procedures such as cesarean-section and episiotomy. As a solution, they advocate for increased involvement of midwives in childbirth practices, as midwives allow women to give birth at home with minimal medical intervention. This paper analyzes the benefits of midwifery as well as the current increased risk associated with homebirth in the U.S. Additionally, it questions the damaging stigma associated with assumptions of cesarean-section as a suboptimal outcome. A false dichotomy has developed in our culture …

Mental Health Problems Among Elementary School Students Mandated To E-Learning: A Covid-19 Rapid Review Caveat, Renée M. D'Amore, Angelina N. Halpern, Lauren R. Reed, Kevin M. Gorey

International Journal of School Social Work

Extended lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic mandated millions of students worldwide to e-learning and by default made many of their parents proxy homeschool teachers. Preliminary anecdotal, journalistic and qualitative evidence suggested that elementary school children and their parents were probably most vulnerable to this stressor and most likely to experience mental health problems because of it. We responded with a rapid review of 15 online surveys to estimate the magnitude of such risks and their predictors between 2020 and 2021. The pooled relative risk of mental health problems among school children and their parents was substantial (RR = 1.97). Moreover, …

Black Maternal Mortality: A Result Of The Haunting Past, Jaylynn Arnold

Global Honors Theses

Throughout history, Black women have been treated as less than human in a variety of traumatic ways for generations, all of which have negatively affected the physical and emotional well-being of free and enslaved Black women. This consisted of being victims of medical abuse, sexual abuse, degrading stereotypes, and the right to easily access basic human needs such as quality healthcare. Current research has shown that within the United States, Black women have the highest rate of maternal mortality than any other ethnicity of women especially when compared to white women. Being that 84% of these maternal deaths are preventable, …

A New Christmas Eve: Match Day Eve, Gehan A. Pendlebury

be Still

The transition of medical student to resident physician represents the student becoming the teacher -- a teacher that will continue to evolve over time. Residents teach medical students, yet residents are taught by their attending physicians. In many ways, Match Day is a milestone marking the beginning of that incremental learning process. The word "doctor" derives from the Latin word “docere” meaning "to teach" as doctors should be teaching their patients good health in their practice of medicine. Likewise, it is an inherent responsibility of all physicians to pass on their knowledge and skills for the betterment of the next …

Conflicting Socio-Cultural Attitudes And Community Factors Resulting In Backstreet Abortion In Cato Manor, Kwazulu Natal, Chloe Sachs

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Abortion in South Africa is a complex topic, rife with augmenting and limiting political, social, religious, and cultural factors. In South Africa, abortion has been legal since 1996; however, abortions have been performed for centuries in the region. Although abortion is legal, many factors influence a woman’s choice and ability to terminate a pregnancy. Religious and cultural norms within morally conservative societies contribute to negative abortion sentiments and hesitation to seek formal medical abortions. This study explored multiple age groups within Cato Manor and whether the attitudes towards abortion and factors impacting the choice of where and whether to receive …

Reproductive Justice And Feminism: A Comparative Legal Analysis Of The Policies And Healthcare Systems In The United States And Colombia, Samantha Cooke

Modern Languages, Philosophy and Classics Theses

This thesis seeks to offer a comparative legal analysis of the state of the laws regarding abortion and reproductive autonomy in the United States of America and Colombia. This thesis will first address a brief history of feminism and its origins in the United States and Colombia. It will also analyze the policies held by each respective nation; starting with old legislation and moving to current policies regarding abortion. It will also include a comparison between both the U.S. and Colombia; offering suggestions for the future with regards to potential policy changes. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate …

The Role Of Porn Literacy In Comprehensive Sex Education To Reduce Endorsements Of Gendered Sexual Violence And Support Healthy Adolescent Development, Kiana Harnish

Scripps Senior Theses

Due to stigmatization of sex and insufficient sexual education, modern-day adolescents rely on free online pornography as a source of education about sex and relationships. This thesis provides a review of the connections between adolescent porn use and the socialization of sexual violence (SV) and coercion against women, comprehensive sex education (CSE) and healthy adolescent sexual development, and porn literacy (PL) and sexual attitude or behavior changes. Porn literacy aims to equip adolescents with tools to critically analyze sexualied media and messages, to empower them to make informed decisions to engage or disengage with porn and their sexuality in a …

Forgetting Ourselves: Alzheimer's In Women, Jasmine Mortero

Research Briefs

Women are 3x more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their male counterparts. Two thirds of Americans with Alzheimer's are women. Women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's during the rest of their life than they are to develop breast cancer.

No One Should Have To Give Birth Alone: An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Community-Based Doula Programs Serving Ethnic Minorities In San Francisco, Maria Margaret Nelson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Adverse birth outcomes for both the parent and the child disproportionately affect people of color. Evidence demonstrates that one of the ways to mitigate these negative consequences is through the utilization of a doula, a trained birth companion that is not a medical provider but whose role it is to physically and emotionally support the patient through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Community-based doula programs, where the doula is of the same cultural background as the client, are particularly effective in improving birth outcomes in communities of color by providing culturally competent care and helping to navigate a healthcare system that …

“The Worst Part About My Pregnancy Was Stuff That Didn’T Have To Do With My Pregnancy”: Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Pregnancy Intentions & Experiences In South Carolina, Andrew Michael Chen

Senior Theses

Low-income women and women of color experience adverse birth outcomes at disproportionately higher rates in the United States than most people who give birth. This thesis examines individual interviews conducted with 30 low-income women whose most recent birth was covered by Medicaid, the United States’ largest means-tested public health insurance program. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the women in the study thought about pregnancy, and how they described their intentions to become or avoid becoming pregnant at various times in their life. While public health researchers often frame pregnancy as an event that is either intended …

F. Scott Fitzgerald’S Homme Épuisé: Usurping The “Madwoman” In Tender Is The Night (1934) [2022], Emma Hill

Master's Theses

Nineteenth-century women writers commonly use themes of entrapment and madness in what are now classified as gothic novels. In texts such as Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, and The Yellow Wallpaper, confinement and madness are synchronous in developing the figure of “the madwoman.” These texts were written during a time when it was uncommon for female writers to seek publication, and many used pseudonyms to get their works published or to be taken seriously by critics. The “madwoman” emerged as a powerful trope to articulate what writing under a patriarchal system feels like. That is to say, confinement scenarios resulting from female …

The Effects Of Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Perceptions Of Social Stress In Women, Ashton Jones

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hormonal contraceptives are widely used due to their efficiency in preventing pregnancy. Although women are often informed of the physical effects of hormonal contraceptives, there is little emphasis on mental effects, such as increased rates of depression and changes in social perception. The current study examined perceptions of social stress among women before beginning hormonal contraceptives, and two months after using hormonal contraceptives. I hypothesized that women would experience increased social stress after beginning hormonal contraceptives, compared to a control group of women who were also assessed twice. Results did not support this hypothesis; there was no difference in interpersonal …

Exploring Higher Weight Women's Experiences Of Provider Weight Stigma, Meredith W. Moore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the phenomena of weight stigma as experienced by higher weight women in mental health treatment who also engage in restrictive eating behaviors. Women in larger bodies who are emotionally or behaviorally restrictive in their eating behaviors face a unique set of challenges and barriers. These include challenges due the disordered eating behaviors themselves, along with barriers related to weight stigma perpetuated by the mental health providers treating them (Harrop, 2019). Distinct hurdles to proper treatment including delay of diagnosis, longer duration of symptoms, and increased distress related to eating and body …

Self-Portraits For Social Change: Audience Response To A Photovoice Exhibition By Women With Disability, Diane Macdonald, Angela Dew, Karen Fisher Assoc Prof, Katherine Boydell

The Qualitative Report

Negative attitudes about and behaviours towards women with disability are harmful and exclusionary, contributing to poorer health, income, educational, and employment outcomes. Our study focused on what audiences learnt, felt, and did (what changed) after viewing self-portraits and stories by women with disability. We questioned whether a public exhibition of their artworks, created through photovoice methodology, could be an effective platform to provoke social change and increase inclusion for people with disability. We collected audience response to our exhibition to address a research gap and to provide an example for other photovoice researchers. We employed interpretive thematic analysis through a …

Sexual Coercion, Unintended Pregnancy, And Poor Reproductive Health Among Adolescent Girls (Aged 13 - 19) In Mexico, Arun Kumar Acharya, Maria Luisa Martinez

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

In Mexico, nearly 23,000 adolescents between the ages of 12-17 years suffer sexual coercion every year. This group also has a high birth rate of 77/1,000 adolescents, which indicates that one in every five pregnant women is an adolescent. This study describes the sexual coercion of victims and their views regarding the experience based on data collected from 37 Mexican girls between the age of 13 to 19, selected purposively using the snowball method in Monterrey city, Mexico. Results indicate that sexual coercion among adolescents is a serious problem, where 70% of adolescents experienced vaginal sexual coercion, nearly 22% experienced …

Women's Safety In Nevada, Tsion Mekonnen, Aika Dietz

Research Briefs

43.8% of Nevadan women experience domestic violence in their lifetime (2020).

Healing Through Mother Earth, Taylor A. Russell

Dance (MFA) Theses

This thesis deals with mental health, with a focus on Black women. Historically, Black women are often so compromised, being constant caregivers and helping everyone else, that they forget to help themselves, not having the time and financial means to do so. If we go back in the time of slavery, many Black women were taking care of slave owners' children and suckling the white women’s babies instead of their own. By the time they got home and after diligently caring for other people’s children they were focused on their own children, who they had been away from for hours …

Barriers To Medication Abortion Among Massachusetts’ Public University Students: Medication Abortion Barriers, Carrie N. Baker, Julia Mathis

Study of Women and Gender: Faculty Publications

Objective

Proposed legislation in Massachusetts would require public university health centers to provide medication abortion services on campus. This study assesses need for these services by investigating current travel time, costs, wait times and insurance acceptance at off-campus, abortion-providing facilities nearest to public universities in Massachusetts.

Study Design

This investigation projected the total number of medication abortions of students at 13 Massachusetts public universities based on campus enrollment figures and age- and state-adjusted medication abortion rates in the state. Using a cross-sectional study design, the research calculated the distance and public transit time from campuses to the nearest abortion-providing facilities. …

Dear Maliha,, Na-Eela Djemil

Capstones

Dear Maliha is a short documentary film exploring the complexities of spiritual abuse through Maliha Fairooz. Spiritual abuse is a form of abuse that uses spiritual or religious beliefs to control or manipulate others. In some cases, spiritual abuse can be used to describe a religious leader who abuses their platform. But in Maliha’s story, we explore the concept of parental spiritual abuse. However, we learn more about this through Maliha Fairooz and the creative use of her journal.

For Maliha journaling is a form of therapy she uses to process her feelings and days. She also uses it as …

Period Poverty: Achieving Menstrual Equity In Bowling Green, Ohio, Courtney Foerg

Honors Projects

Period poverty is the persistent lack of access to sanitary products, menstrual hygiene education, and sanitary facilities (Alvarez, 2019). Until quite recently, it has received very little attention in the United States. This project proved the prevalence and relevance of period poverty in the United States. As an applied research project this project acted upon this finding and aimed to help combat period poverty in the Bowling Green, OH community. This paper details the process and results of a campus menstrual products drive and social media advocacy campaign to address the stigma of menstruation in the United States. The overall …

Covid-19: Tougher On Women?, Aika Dietz

Research Briefs

Women are receiving the worst effects of the COVID-19 recession.

Black And White Health Disparities: Racial Bias In American Healthcare, Yasmeen Almomani

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

This paper explores the historical implications of race in American society that have led to implicit racism in the healthcare system. Racial bias in healthcare against Black people is a factor in the health disparities between Black and white people in America, such as the gap in life expectancy, infant death, and maternal mortality. Black people are more likely to report racial discrimination from healthcare providers, which is a reason for the decreased quality of care received. The past justifications of slavery, the Tuskegee syphilis study, and the medical experimentations on Black women are horrifying but were considered acceptable in …

Mindfulness-Based Interventions For Prenatal Stress, Anxiety, And Depression, Fiona Kate Rice

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Pregnant people in the United States (US) face myriad barriers to resource accessibility when seeking support, including financial gatekeeping, discrimination, and cis-gendering of the process. Commodification of prenatal support is exhaustive and contributes to a growing exclusivity of traditionally accessible interventions designed to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and to promote positive fetal outcomes and parent-child bond. Mindfulness-based interventions are particularly appropriate for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnancy. Mindfulness-based interventions are intersectional, accessible means of pregnancy and childbirth support with evidence-based outcomes of positive birth experiences and results. Mindfulness is defined as nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. …

Letting It Go: A Transformative Session Of Massage Therapy, Amanda Brauman King

Journal of Transformative Touch

This personal essay the role of skilled touch, in this case massage therapy, in healing from loss.

Women In The Outdoors: Navigating Fear And Creating Space For Spiritual Inspiration 2021, Morgan Costello

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between fear and spiritual inspiration for women in the outdoors. Specifically, this study looked at participants from SUNY Cortland’s Outdoor Education Practicum, a core course in the Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies Department that culminates with a two-week outdoor experience, with the goals of teaching outdoor skills and building community. This was a mixed-method study, with quantitative data collected according to pre(mid)post design and qualitative data coming from journal entries over a 5-day period. Testing was conducted using the Outdoor Situational Fear Inventory to measure fear, and the Nature Relatedness …