Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Lived Experiences Of An Injured Athlete And Members Of A Performance Management Team During Injury Rehabilitation: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Courtney Wynne Hess

Theses and Dissertations

In response to an ever growing understanding of the biopsychosocial nature of health and well-being, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to rehabilitation have grown in acceptance over the past decade. Studies that have explored the effect of these two approaches have found them to be effective in improving rehabilitation outcomes (McAlister et al., 2001; Tur et al., 2003). Although they have been shown to be objectively effective, the impact that these approaches have on the lived experiences of the team employing them, and the athlete or patient they serve, is not well understood. As such, the purpose of the current study …

Comparison Of Conversation And Narrative Language Abilities In Children With Autism: Diagnostic And Therapeutic Considerations, Corissa Kroenke

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with autism experience significant difficulty with comprehension and expression of spoken language. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) require sensitive assessments to describe the unique profiles of individual clients with autism so that appropriate treatments can be prescribed. Language sample analysis is a current best-practice for describing language profiles in children with language difficulties, though there is a limited literature describing clinical best-practices for children with autism. The purpose of this study was to analyze the difference in conversation and narrative language abilities in children with autism. Language ability was also analyzed in comparison to age-matched typically developing peers. This goal …

Relationship-Based Care: A Test Of The Quality Caring Model's Association With Nurses' Perceptions Of Work And Patient Relationships, Kristopher Heindel

Theses and Dissertations

This study assesses whether ambulatory surgery nurses who apply concepts from the Quality Caring Model (QCM) will experience different work perceptions and patient relationships than do nurses who do not directly apply QCM concepts. The QCM contends that if nurses demonstrate caring through their interaction, a patient experiences a greater level of satisfaction with the healthcare encounter. Conceptualized from the framework of a service relationship, this thesis posits that nurses employing the QCM should also perceive more positive relationship qualities with their patients and more positive workplace experiences than other nurses who are not utilizing QCM principles. Data from 27 …

Health Of The Nation: The Impact Of Racial And Income Segregation On Food Insecurity In The United States, Mark Anthony Caldwell

Theses and Dissertations

One in six Americans experience food insecurity as a result of not being able to consistently obtain the food they need. Food insecurity ranges from not being able to afford balanced meals to the skipping meals as a way to stretch food budgets. Food insecurity impacts many people in the United States, but it disproportionately impacts people of color and those living in poverty. Racial and income segregation may act to concentrate food insecurity in a few geographic areas with high concentrations of minority and/or poor residents. This is an issue of major concern because studies have shown that racial …

Hearing The Voices Of Hiv Positive Women In Kenya: Secondary Analysis Of Interview Data Using Dialogic/Performance Analysis, Lenore L. Boris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the use of the dialogic/performance methodology in health research by conducting a secondary analysis of interview data collected from women in Kenya who are HIV positive. Dialogic/performance analysis is a dynamic, interpretive narrative analytical technique. Qualitative research literature inadequately provides specific methodological guidance especially when reusing a data set. Further, the use of the dialogic/ performance method is very limited in health research. These factors point to the significance of this work in explaining dialogic/ performance analysis thereby potentially expanding its use by both novice and experienced qualitative researchers. Guidance for conducting …

Lived Experiences Of Nursing Autonomy: A Phenomenological Exploration, Rebekah Kalen Dubrosky

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

LIVED EXPERIENCES OF NURSING AUTONOMY: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION

by Rebekah Dubrosky

The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, 2015 Under the Supervision of Professor Mary Jo Baisch

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the meaning that acute care, bedside nurses’ assign to their autonomous actions. A feminist critique of the nursing work environment was applied using standpoint theory. This was balanced and supplemented by a post-modern critique using Foucault’s method of assessing power and knowledge in relation to the discipline of a profession. This study was designed to explore how issues of gender, knowledge, and power affected …

Facilitating And Enhancing Biomedical Knowledge Translation: An In Silico Approach To Patient-Centered Pharmacogenomic Outcomes Research, Kourosh Ravvaz

Theses and Dissertations

Current research paradigms such as traditional randomized control trials mostly rely on relatively narrow efficacy data which results in high internal validity and low external validity. Given this fact and the need to address many complex real-world healthcare questions in short periods of time, alternative research designs and approaches should be considered in translational research. In silico modeling studies, along with longitudinal observational studies, are considered as appropriate feasible means to address the slow pace of translational research. Taking into consideration this fact, there is a need for an approach that tests newly discovered genetic tests, via an in silico …

Family Connections: The Impact Of Self-Disclosure, Solidarity, And Stereotyping On Relational Satisfaction In Grandparent-Adult Grandchild Dyads, Deanne Priddis

Theses and Dissertations

As life expectancy increases, the length of time in both the grandparent and adult grandchild role increase. The grandparent-adult grandchild relationship is integral to the health and preservation of the family system. The sample for this quantitative study included 62 grandparent-adult grandchild dyads, 124 individuals. Findings indicate that both the grandparents and the adult grandchildren experienced meaning and burden in the grandparent-adult grandchild relationship. The six different types of solidarity (affectual, consensual, structural, associational, functional, and normative) had varying associations with relational satisfaction for the grandparents and adult grandchildren. Although there are several self-disclosures in a close grandparent-adult grandchild relationship, …

"I Know I Can't Be The Only Lesbian Out There:" An Inductive Thematic Analysis Of A Virtual Community Of Lesbian Breast Cancer Survivors, Rachael Lynn Wandrey

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minority women are at a significantly greater risk for developing breast cancer (BC) than heterosexual women. Little is known about the unique BC experiences of lesbian women. The present thesis describes the findings of an inductive thematic analysis of messages posted to a large lesbian-specific discussion forum found on breastcancer.org. Fifteen themes were identified, including privileging sensation over appearance, experiencing heterosexism in medical contexts, believing others perceive a lack of distress over breast loss because of patient’s lesbian sexual orientation, feeling pressure from surgeons to get reconstructive surgery, and viewing the BC journey as a sexual-identity disclosure crisis. In …

Mentally Disordered Or Culturally Displaced? How The Ptsd Label Transforms Personhood In Us Military Veterans, Katinka Hooyer

Theses and Dissertations

Medical experts claim that Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among United States military service personnel, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan has contributed to an “epidemic of suicide” in the U.S. However, veterans, military commanders, and mental health providers argue that feelings of grief, guilt, mistrust, rage, and alienation are actually normal moral reactions to the abnormal situations that war creates. Furthermore, they argue that these normal reactions are currently transformed into a psychiatric diagnosis that promises clinical solution – a cure. Recent epidemiologic studies suggest that evidence-based clinical treatments are ineffective for a majority of veterans with PTSD and that the …

Predicting Postraumatic Stress Disorder In Single-Incident Trauma Survivors With An Acute Injury, Joshua C. Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to create a brief and easily administered screen that can be used by hospital staff to identify those at risk for the later development of PTSD. Utilizing previous research examining pretrauma, peritrauma, and posttrauma risk factors for the development of PTSD among single-incident trauma survivors with an acute injury, an item pool was created and reviewed by experts in the field. This item pool along with a previously created screen were given to patients admitted to two level 1 trauma centers in the U.S. A follow-up was conducted at one month in which participants …

A Prescription For Better Health: The Role Of On-Line Research In Doctor-Nurse-Patient Communication, Julie Anne Maio

Theses and Dissertations

As more technological media are made available to health consumers, patients take to the Internet to research ailments, side effects, and pressing health matters. Patients widely use this information to feel empowered and in control of their health. Yet, many sources perpetuate false information, or are deemed untrustworthy by healthcare professionals (HCPs). This dissonance can create a lack of collaborative communication between patients and the healthcare team. As such, the present study examined perceived credibility of online sources (.org websites, .com websites, forums, social media, etc.), patient intent to disclose online information, patient empowerment, HCPs communication styles, HCP-patient partnerships and …

Age Related Decline In Memory: Examining The Mediation Effect Of Processing, Executive Functioning And Intelligence In Normal Adults, Jada J. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple mediation analyses that collectively examine the prominent theories of cognitive aging (i.e., Common Cause, Processing, and Executive Decline Hypotheses) along with other cognitive domains that are sensitive to aging are rare. Moreover, having identified that cognition begins to decline as early as 30 years old, few studies have examined the mechanisms that underlie memory change among younger aging individuals. As a result, it is unclear whether relevant mediating variables have been excluded from early research on age-related memory decline, or to what extent rehabilitative strategies are applicable as early interventions for maintaining cognitive functioning into late life.

The present …

Impact Of E-Cigarettes On Physician Recommendations Of Tobacco Use Cessation Pharmacotherapy, Omar El Shahawy

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: E-cigarettes have been marketed as smoking cessation aids and harm reduction strategies. Prior regional surveys found that physicians are recommending them to patients despite the lack of evidence supporting these industry claims. Yet, little is known about physicians’ beliefs regarding e-cigarettes and whether these beliefs are associated with them recommending e-cigarette use in clinical practice. Methods: This three-manuscript dissertation used a mixed-methods approach including both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The aims were to: (1) Uncover the factors associated with primary care physicians’ (PCPs) decisions to recommend e-cigarettes to their patients for tobacco use cessation; (2) Estimate the prevalence …

Effects Of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists In Assays Of Pain-Stimulated And Pain-Depressed Behavior In Rats, Kelen Freitas

Theses and Dissertations

Though a host of analgesics have been developed to alleviate pain, especially acute pain, significant side effects and a lack of long-term efficacy have encouraged research attempts to pursue novel targets that may be associated with fewer side effects or a more sustained efficacy. Among these new targets are members of the nicotinic family of acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The non-selective nAChR agonists nicotine and epibatidine have been shown to function as potent antinociceptive drugs in many acute and chronic preclinical pain models, while nicotine has produced analgesic effects in humans. However, these non-selective nAChRs agonists also produce various side effects, …

Evaluation And Comparison Of Theoretical Models’ Abilities To Explain And Predict Colorectal Cancer Screening Behaviors, Anthony J. Molisani

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common and second most deadly cancer in the United States. However, it is highly preventable and treatable if detected at the precancerous or local stage of development. There exists multiple screening methods each with varying sensitivity, required effort, and recommended frequency of use. Complete adherence to screening guidelines by the recommended, at-risk population would halve the current mortality rate. Unfortunately, screening adherence remains the lowest of all screened cancers with a median state screening adherence rate of about 65%. To understand what individual-level factors influence an individual’s decision to be screened, health …

An Exploration Of Factors Influencing Attrition From A Pediatric Weight Management Intervention, Melissa Ann Kwitowski

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood obesity is a serious health problem in the United States. Numerous weight management programs attempt to address this issue. However, attrition poses significant treatment efficacy challenges. Understanding attendance and attrition from childhood obesity programs is crucial for effective and appropriate resource utilization. NOURISH+ is a community-based treatment program for parents of overweight and obese children (age 5–11 years, BMI ≥ 85th percentile). The current study investigated attrition from NOURISH+ to enhance understanding of pediatric obesity treatment retention factors. NOURISH+ participants (n=70) completed a questionnaire assessing barriers to adherence and general program feedback. Data were analyzed using frequencies, …