Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Phantom Fifth Chair Of Patient Experience, Kathy Saldana

Patient Experience Journal

Over the past three years, the author has openly shared her journey as a certified patient experience professional facing triple negative breast cancer. The firsthand gravity of treatment became instantly apparent to her in the chemo chair. Resisting the temptation to crumble under the fear of it, she chose to view treatment as an unwanted yet precious opportunity to study her profession of patient experience from a deeply personal space. Determined not to waste the difficult long-term experience of treatment, she was compelled to write and speak about her convictions regarding the necessity of honoring patients by soliciting, documenting, believing, …

More Than A Buzzword: Why Trauma-Informed Care Needs Widespread Practice, Christine Lee Frost

Patient Experience Journal

This narrative illustrates the personal story about the difficulty of obtaining a diagnosis for endometriosis. As someone who endured a chaotic childhood, I struggled with complex trauma and medical issues for decades without understanding the connection between the two. In this narrative, I make a case for practicing trauma-informed care across the healthcare industry, and detail the statistics that show why it's so vital. While online communities can make ``trauma-informed care'' feel like just another trendy term, it's a concept with an abundance of data to back up the necessity for it. In addition to people living with mental illness, …

Consumer, Customer, Or Patient?... It's All About Context, Sven Gierlinger

Patient Experience Journal

Today's healthcare industry is at a pivotal juncture, navigating the complex intersection of traditional care delivery with rapidly evolving consumer expectations and unprecedented transparency. This personal narrative is intended to provide a nuanced, experience-driven framework for understanding the distinct yet interconnected roles of ``consumer,'' ``customer,'' and ``patient'' - vital for healthcare organizations striving to build trust and loyalty.

Human-Centered Quality: Reframing Quality Around What Matters To People, Vita Steina, Jason Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

Each encounter one has in healthcare is an experience. It is everything someone lives through. It is what they remember and all they perceive. It is their lasting story. When we see the experience one has in healthcare from that lens, then all the components that shape that story are parts of their experience. From this perspective, for as much as the clinical framing of experience as metrics on a survey has seen experience identified as a dimension of quality, we would suggest the opposite. Quality is but one part of the experience someone has in healthcare today. It is …

Affordability: A Critical Issue At The Heart Of Human Experience, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

Affordability is a human experience issue. One that reaches well beyond the edges of healthcare. In our current global economy, rising costs dominate the headlines. They weigh heavily on the pocketbooks of families around the world. Affordability may be no more prevalent than in healthcare. It too is the place where it may have the most significant and lasting impact.If we are willing to think of affordability as an experience issue, we can begin to address the solution in new ways. But it will require untangling years of wiring of how healthcare has operated to rewire what it can be. …

Stress In Educational Context, Sarah Matthews

Spark! Innovations in Early Childhood Education: A Research-to-Practice Journal for Educators

This paper examines stress within educational contexts as a complex, relational, and systemic experience rather than solely a negative condition. Drawing on research related to stress perception, coping, leadership, trauma, and resource access, the paper highlights how stress affects educators, students, and families across early childhood and special education settings. Key themes include the role of perception in shaping stress responses, the impact of resource availability and socioeconomic factors, the transfer of stress within classroom environments, and the influence of leadership and organizational stability on teacher and student well-being. Using an ecological framework, the paper emphasizes that stress operates across …

The Role Of Social Media Influencers In Shaping Food Awareness And Dietary Behavior Among The Emirati Audience: A Field Study On Citizens Of Al Ain City, Laila Alkaabi, Huda Alremeithi, Reem Alnuaimi, Shamsa Almheiri, Amer Khaled Ahmad, Maram Manajrah

This study aims to investigate the role of social media influencers in shaping food awareness and dietary behavior among the Emirati audience, drawing on media dependence theory and employing a public survey methodology through the administration of a questionnaire to a purposive sample of Emirati citizens in Al Ain City who follow influencers to obtain information on healthy nutrition. The findings revealed that more than (79.3%) of the sample members rely on social media influencers to obtain information on healthy nutrition at a moderate-to-high degree, with "the ease of rapid access to food-related information" emerging as the leading reason for …

Beyond The Screen: Dimensions Of Ecophilia In Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) And Children’S Awareness Of Them, Reham Refaat Mohammad Abdelaal Prof

This study aimed to explore the dimensions of Ecophilia in the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and examine the extent to which children perceive these dimensions of love for nature and the environment. The study focused specifically on Biophilia (love of living beings) and Topophilia (love of a particular place or environment) from the perspective of ecocriticism, employing an interdisciplinary approach that integrates ecology, environmental animation, cinema, media studies, and environmental education.

The research was conducted on a sample of 100 boys and girls aged between 6 and 12 years, as children within this age group possess the …

Project Inspire, Daphney R. Portis

Inspire Brochures

Project Inspire is USA Health’s semester-long injury prevention program that offers education, exposure and mentorship to justice-involved youth. Since 2017, this collaboration between USA Health and James T. Strickland Youth Center has engaged justice-involved teens with the five-pillar curriculum, which includes: traumainformed care training and confidence building, educational and professional development, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and intensive mentorship. The goal is to reduce the rates of violence by equipping and empowering youth to overcome obstacles and barriers they may face in order to build a brighter future. There are currently three sites with more opening across several states.

Shrub Density And Associated Microclimatic Impacts On Rates Of Leaf Litter Decomposition, Evan N. Kraus, Natasha Cudjoe, Ava Loth, Darlene Panvini

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Shrub Density and Associated Microclimatic Impacts on Rates of Leaf Litter Decomposition  

Evan Kraus | Ava Loth | Natasha Cudjoe | Darlene Panvini

Leaf litter decomposition is an important ecological process that contributes to nutrient cycling and soil health. Environmental factors, including vegetation density and moisture availability, may influence decomposition rates. This study investigated whether differences in shrub density affect leaf litter decomposition in chives. Two environmental conditions were compared: wet areas with higher shrub density and dry areas with lower shrub density. Each condition included two replicates, with four leaf litter bags attached to each string. A total of …

How Should Sincerity Be Measured? A Rasch-Based Validation Of The Adolescent Sincerity Scale, Cicca Kusumawardani, Wahyu Nanda Eka Saputra, Rohmatus Naini, Agus Ria Kumara, Agus Supriyanto

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

Although various instruments for measuring sincerity have been developed, limitations remain regarding comprehensive construct validity, sample diversity, and the application of Rasch analysis in psychometric evaluation among student populations in Indonesia. Sincerity is a multidimensional spiritual value that contributes to personal integrity, psychological well-being, and positive social relationships. This study aims to develop a sincerity instrument with adequate psychometric characteristics using the Rasch Analysis approach. The study employed an instrument development method involving 759 high school and vocational high school students in Yogyakarta, selected through stratified random sampling. The analysis results showed a person measure of 1.18 logits, indicating that …

A Correlational Study Of Work Stress And Marital Stability Among Married Female Police Personnel In Kwara State, Nigeria, Haruna Ibrahim

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

This study investigated the relationship between job stress and marital stability among married female police personnel in Kwara State, Nigeria. A Descriptive Research Design of correlational type was adopted. The sample size (Target Population) of the study comprised all the 112 married female police personnel in Kwara State, Nigeria. Based on the relatively small sample size, population census (Total enumeration) was adopted for this study, where all the married female police personnel were sampled. The Operational Police Stress Questionnaire and Dyadic Adjustment Scale were used for data collection. Findings revealed a significant correlation between the independent variables and the dependent …

Nov. 2026 The Back Page - Life Membership Status Awarded To 70 Members, Mda Membership Department Staff

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The Back Page celebrates seventy Michigan Dental Association members who achieved Life Membership status in 2026. Organized by local dental districts (including Central, Cloverland, Detroit, Jackson, Kalamazoo Valley, Lakeland Valley, Oakland County, and West Michigan), the feature honors their decades of clinical practice, dedicated service, and sustained support for organized dentistry across Michigan.

A Word From The Writing Team (November 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Childhood Experiential History On Elon Musk’S Personality, Amelia Brower, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a developmental causal analysis of the adult personality of innovative entrepreneur and business leader Elon Musk, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data relating to Musk’s personality were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5-TR.

The findings of the personality assessment were previously reported in a separate paper. Musk’s primary personality patterns were found to be Ambitious/self-serving and Dominant/controlling, …

Beyond The Individual: Rethinking Public Health Approaches To Gambling-Related Harm, Rowland Edet, Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Public health approaches to gambling‐related harm have increasingly shifted from individual pathology to population‐level frameworks. However, these approaches remain under strain, as they continue to individualize harm while attempting to address broader structural conditions. Here, we examine three dominant paradigms to show how they shape the framing of harm and the design of interventions. First, medicalization legitimizes gambling‐related harm within clinical systems but reinforces pathologized identities and professional authority. Second, stigma frameworks highlight processes of exclusion and barriers to help‐seeking but often remain insufficiently attuned to institutional and structural power. Third, structural perspectives situate harm within neoliberal governance, market expansion, …

Analysis Of The Dental Emergency Visits At Fqhcs In Michigan And Recommendations For Change, Xuesi Hua, Martha Mccomas, Elizabeth Hatfield

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This mixed-methods study evaluates emergency dental operations across Michigan's Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Utilizing clinician interviews, surveys, and state usage data, the authors examine care delivery models, identify clinician and patient barriers to access, and analyze reasons why patients utilize hospital emergency departments rather than community health centers. System-level recommendations are proposed to optimize emergency triage, expand capacity, and improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Participatory Research With People With Aphasia: Frameworks, Examples, And Implementation Guidance, Jacqueline J. Hinckley, Katie A. Strong, Brent Archer, Lauren Bislick, Suma R. Devanga, Amy E. R. Engelhoven, Anthony Pak-Hin Kong

The Qualitative Report

Participatory research (PR) improves the meaningfulness and efficiency of research and reduces the research-to-practice gap, because it includes the lived experience of those who are affected by the research in the planning, execution, and dissemination of the research. Communication disabilities, like aphasia due to stroke, or communication differences impact the way in which meaningful research collaborations can take place. The purpose of this paper is to describe the ethics, challenges, and opportunities for involving people with aphasia as collaborators in research. We highlight specific examples of PR projects undertaken by community member teams composed of researchers, clinicians, people with aphasia, …

A Philosophical Introduction To Elements And Relations: Aspects Of A Scientific Metaphysics, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

My book, Elements and Relations*, amplifies Bunge’s characterization of the systems project as the construction an “exact and scientific metaphysics” (ESM) different from and broader than the reductionist and physicalist ontology of conventional science. This paper discusses the scientific theories constituting this project and the central notion of “system” as a structure-function dyad, where “structure” is the system’s internal order and “function” is its participation in the external order of its environment. The paper also discusses the book’s proposal of ontology and ethics as a structure-function dyad for the systems field, an ontology of problems that exemplifies the ESM idea.

A Heuristic Tool To Enable Root Cause Analysis Of Safety Events, William D. Porter, Kianca Joseph, Demitria Stafford, Kurt Larson, John Mier, Michelle Butler-Jackson, Musaddiq Waheed

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Hospitals routinely collect wide-ranging data related to quality, efficiency, and clinical practice. As part of these efforts, patient safety event data are collected, compiled, and analyzed to drive process improvement.

Methods

We present a novel adaptation and application of the Department of Defense Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) as a heuristic tool to improve the conduct of root cause analysis (RCA) sessions that follow serious patient safety events. To assess individual knowledge improvement after reviewing the heuristic tool, a 1-page summary (including a graphical image of the tool) was developed and provided to a convenience sample of …

The Effects Of Pediatric Asthma On Daily Activities And Family Life In Cache Valley, Utah: Exploring Parental Perceptions Of Air Quality, Saeed Ahmad, Mehmet Soyer, Landon Lloyd, Mayu Mecham

Transforming Communities

Asthma is one of the main chronic health conditions affecting children living in Cache Valley, Utah particularly due to poor air quality during the winter season. It is very important to understand how families manage asthma both within and outside the household. Therefore, this research brief highlights how parents are managing pediatric asthma, and how asthma influences daily activities and family life. It is based on a qualitative study that extracted the data from 20 in-depth interviews with parents of asthmatic children. Participants were recruited through purposive snowball sampling. Data were collected through an interview guide that included some basic …

Foundation Models In Healthcare: Pre-Training, Alignment, And Clinical Applications, Arvind Pillai

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Foundation models offer an impactful paradigm for healthcare by learning generalizable representations from vast amounts of unlabeled data that can efficiently adapt to a wide range of clinical tasks. This thesis presents five studies organized around three pillars crucial to advance foundation models in healthcare. Pillar I: Pre-training: Chapter I introduces PaPaGei, an open foundation model designed for photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. PaPaGei is pre-trained on large-scale continuous optical data using a morphology-aware self-supervised objective, outperforming general time-series models across diverse clinical tasks while remaining parameter-efficient and robust across skin tones. Pillar II: Alignment: To bridge continuous sensor data and language …

Building Safer Communities Collaborative: Demographics From A Youth Diversion Pilot Project, Caroline O. Dodson, Antonette Francis-Sheaerer Phd, Amber Singleton, Denise Shaw, Kierra Echols, Jarette Maye, Alexis Tanner, L. Lynette Parker, Ashley Y Williams

Community Health Workers Posters

This community-engaged program in Mobile County, Alabama applies a public health framework using community health workers (CHWs) to deliver wraparound support and address social determinants of health (SDOH) within juvenile diversion. To mitigate youth gun violence through translational implementation, a cross-system referral network was established bridging Strickland Youth Center (the local detention center) and USA Health Systems. Youth placed on informal probation are referred to BSCC and assigned a dedicated CHW for a 6-month intervention comprising 13 structured interactions. From September 2025–September 2026, 49 clients were referred, demonstrating high implementation feasibility with 79.6% program adherence (20.4% attrition). Enrolled youth aged …

Juvenile Delinquency In Alaska, 2019 And 2023, Gabriel Garcia

AJiC Fact Sheets

This fact sheet examines juvenile delinquency in Alaska, documenting changes in substance use and weapon-carrying among high school students and identifying associated risk and protective factors using weighted data from the 2019 and 2023 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

Youth Experience Of Violence In Alaska, 2019 And 2023, Gabriel Garcia

AJiC Fact Sheets

This fact sheet examines youth experiences of dating violence and sexual violence in Alaska, identifying patterns and factors associated with victimization among high school students. Using weighted data from the 2019 and 2023 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), it compares the prevalence of physical dating violence, sexual dating violence, sexual violence by anyone, and forced sexual intercourse.

Best Integrated Writing Fall 2026 - Complete Edition, Wright State University School Of Humanities And Cultural Studies, Kristie Mckiernan

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University.

The Whole Patient: What Fascia Reveals About Pain, Adaptation, And The Case For Treating Together, Kelly Davis Pt, Dpt, Faaompt, Mt

New Orleans Dental Association News

The final piece in this series looks at fascia and the autonomic nervous system — the connective tissue and nerve pathways linking the jaw, neck, and airway into one continuous system — and why both matter to dentistry. Dr. Davis draws on current fascia and pain science research, including work from the 2025 International Fascia Research Congress in New Orleans, to explain how a misaligned bite can travel through this tissue and surface as headaches, how tongue posture and breathwork affect jaw stability, and why complex, chronic cases so often need more than one discipline to make headway. Told partly …

Did Statewide School Smoking Bans Reduce Smoking Rates?, Rachana Bhatt, Peter Hinrichs

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

“It Feels Like Your Life Hinges On Me”: Lived Experience Of Being Next Of Kin To Someone Who Self-Harms, Kenneth Haugjord, John-Kåre Vederhus, Tore Dag Bøe, Kristine Dahl

The Qualitative Report

Through previous research, attention has been drawn to the burden experienced by next of kin to someone struggling with self-harm, yet less attention has been given to how they experience and make sense of the relational and existential complexity of this role in their everyday lives. We asked how next of kin experienced and made sense of caring for a loved one who self-harmed. We conducted in-depth interviews with fourteen next of kin, including parents, partners, and siblings, and analyzed the data through reflexive thematic analysis within an interpretive qualitative framework. Our analysis generated an overarching theme, "It Feels Like …

Interpretative Repertoires Of Resilience Among Beginning Teachers In Chile, Paula Villalobos-Vergara, Diego Palacios, Joel Alvarez Ruf, Rodrigo Vergara Ortuzar

The Qualitative Report

In this study, we analyze how beginning teachers in Chile construct meanings around resilience during their first year of professional induction, within a context of intensified teachers’ work and limited institutional support. Drawing on a socioecological perspective and Critical Discursive Psychology, we developed a qualitative design focused on interpretative repertoires. Ten beginning teachers from various subject areas, educational levels, and regions participated, with each being interviewed at two time points, six months apart. Through an abductive analysis, we identified three affective–discursive repertoires. The first construct enters the profession as a generational tension, in which innovation is associated with youth, while, …