Medicine and Health Commons^™

Cultural Definitions Of Health Care: A Case Study Of Burmese Refugees, Marielena Rose White

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

As a result of ongoing civil war and civil unrest in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar, every year the United States accepts increasing numbers of refugees from Burma of which there is a population of significance within the greater Indianapolis area. When considering options for health care, Burmese refugees may opt for self care as opposed to care from a health care professional as a result of clashing cultural factors or fears of the unknown.

This study aims to uncover how members of the Chin ethnic group have been challenged or confronted by the social, cultural, and political institutions …

Larvicidal Effects Of Chinaberry (Melia Azederach) Powder On Anopheles Arabiensis In Ethiopia, Ryan E. Trudel, Arne Bomblies

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Synthetic insecticides are employed in the widely-used currently favored malaria control techniques involving indoor residual spraying and treated bednets. These methods have repeatedly proven to be highly effective at reducing malaria incidence and prevalence. However, rapidly emerging mosquito resistance to the chemicals and logistical problems in transporting supplies to remote locations threaten the long-term sustainability of these techniques. Chinaberry (Melia azederach) extracts have been shown to be effective growth-inhibiting larvicides against several insects. Because several active chemicals in the trees' seeds have insecticidal properties, the emergence of resistance is unlikely. Here, we investigate the feasibility of Chinaberry as a …

Conflict Management Education In Medicine: Considerations For Curriculum Designers, Jeffery Kaufman

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

It is important to address conflict in the medical field for a variety of reasons ranging from reducing turnover to increasing the quality of care received by patients. One way to assist with the management of medical conflict is by teaching resolution techniques to medical personnel. There is an opportunity for conflict management curriculum to address many of the issues facing physicians, administrators, staff and patients, however, it is also necessary for those developing that curriculum to understand the nature of the environment and appropriate conflict management tools to be used in that environment as part of the design process. …

The Experience Of Counseling The Terminally Ill And The Best Counseling Practices, Helen Jackson Bleicher

Student Work

As people approach the end of their lives, many experience anxiety throughout the dying experience. This research investigated the death experience of terminally ill patients and the best counseling practices among licensed mental health practitioners. The questions developed by the researcher served as the measure, which was developed specifically for this research. The questions were given to a small purposive sample of counselors (N=10) who work in hospice settings, private practice, and oncology clinics. This research found that counselors focus on the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of dying, and observe patients having less death anxiety when they are comfortable with …

Examining Activity Levels And Motor Proficiency: A Comparison Of Children Who Are Overweight And At A Healthy Weight To Their Parents And Peers, Aaron Copeland, Maresa Madsen, Riley Phelps, Brandon Richards

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine relationships and differences between motor proficiency, activity level, and parental activity level in children who are at a healthy weight and children who are overweight or obese.

Methods: Forty-four children (26 children at a healthy weight and 18 children who were overweight or obese) between the ages of 8-16 (BMI: 14.3-43.6 kg/m2) and 36 parents (BMI: 18.1-44.7) participated in this study. Children and parents wore StepWatch activity monitors (SAM) to measure activity levels over a 72 hour period. Tests reflecting several determinants of motor performance were also administered to …

Toward A Conceptual Model Linking Community Violence Exposure To Hiv-Related Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents: Directions For Research, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: To present a conceptual framework which accounts for the relationship between community violence exposures (CVEs) and youth HIV risk behaviors. Methods: This article provides an overview of existing research on the links between CVE and HIV risk for youth and offers a conceptual framework for clarifying how CVE might contribute to HIV sexual risk behaviors. Results: Increasing empirical findings substantiate that the links between CVE and HIV risk behaviors among youth are mediated by psychological problem behaviors, low school success rates, and negative peer influences. Conclusions: Researchers have identified the behaviors that place teens at risk for becoming infected …

Infertility Help Seeking And Social Support: Do Conventional Theories Explain Internet Behaviors And Outcomes, Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation uses data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB), a nationally representative sample, to assess factors associated with face-to-face and internet help seeking (study 1) and perceived social support (study 2). In study one, I examine whether the General Help Seeking Model, a theory that has been used to explain in-person help seeking, generalizes to internet help seeking. I assess four types of help seeking: (1) no help seeking, (2) only internet help seeking, (3)only medical help seeking, and (4) both online and medical help seeking. Results suggest that online help seeking is differentiated from in person …

Type, Content, And Source Of Social Support Perceived By Women During Pregnancy: Evidence From Matlab, Bangladesh, Joyce K. Edmonds, Moni Paul, Lynn M. Sibley

Joyce K. Edmonds

Specific and contextualized data on social support during distinct health events are needed to improve social support interventions. This study identified the type, content, and source of social support perceived by women during pregnancy. In-depth interviews with 25 women, aged 18-49 years, living in Matlab, Bangladesh, were conducted. The findings demonstrated that women perceived, the receipt of eight distinct types of support. The four most frequently-mentioned types included: practical help with routine activities, information/advice, emotional support and assurance, as well as the provision of resources and material goods. Sources varied by type of support and most frequently included--mothers, mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, …

La Operación Y Estructura De Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural En El Caso De Achocalla, Dominic Strada

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Esta investigación se centra en la nueva política sanitaria del programa Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural, su nueva administración y su aplicación en Bolivia. La Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural es una política de salud social que décadas después del proceso de descentralización del poder ha puesto la responsabilidad sanitaria en manos de las comunidades. Este estudio se centra en las estructuras de Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural desde el nivel municipal, hasta un total de ocho estructuras, en el municipio de Achocalla. Achocalla es un caso interesante ya que es a la vez una localidad urbana, por formar parte de los suburbios …

The Fast Food And Obesity Link: An Investigation Of Consumption Patterns And Severity Of Obesity In Pre-Bariatric Surgery Patients, Ginny Garcia-Alexander, Thankam S. Sunil, Pedro Hinojosa

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examined selected behavioral factors associated with severity of obesity among pre-operative bariatric surgery patients in the San Antonio area; focusing specifically on the effects of fast food consumption. We used ordered logistic regression to model the effects of behavioral and attitudinal variables on obesity outcomes. Our results indicated that among the behavioral factors, fast food consumption exerted the largest influence on higher levels of obesity. After controlling for several social and demographic characteristics, the effects of fast food consumption remained significant in the model. In fact, for each increase in fast food consumption there was a 26% increase in …

Understanding How Race/Ethnicity And Gender Define Age-Trajectories Of Disability: An Intersectionality Approach, David F. Warner, Tyson H. Brown

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

A number of studies have demonstrated wide disparities in health among racial/ethnic groups and by gender, yet few have examined how race/ethnicity and gender intersect or combine to affect the health of older adults. The tendency of prior research to treat race/ethnicity and gender separately has potentially obscured important differences in how health is produced and maintained, undermining efforts to eliminate health disparities. The current study extends previous research by taking an intersectionality approach (Mullings & Schulz, 2006), grounded in life course theory, conceptualizing and modeling trajectories of functional limitations as dynamic life course processes that are jointly and simultaneously …

Vulnerability, Risk Perception, And Health Profile Of Marginalized People Exposed To Multiple Built-Environment Stressors In Worcester, Massachusetts: A Pilot Project, Timothy Downs, Laurie Ross, Robert Goble, Rajendra Subedi, Sara Greenberg, Octavia Taylor

Sustainability and Social Justice

Millions of low-income people of diverse ethnicities inhabit stressful old urban industrial neighborhoods. Yet we know little about the health impacts of built-environment stressors and risk perceptions in such settings; we lack even basic health profiles. Difficult access is one reason (it took us 30 months to survey 80 households); the lack of multifaceted survey tools is another. We designed and implemented a pilot vulnerability assessment tool in Worcester, Massachusetts. We answer: (1) How can we assess vulnerability to multiple stressors? (2) What is the nature of complex vulnerability-including risk perceptions and health profiles? (3) How can findings be used …

A Case Study Of Health Interventions And The Caste System: Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health Through Development At Crhp Jamkhed, Laura Kroart

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the Southeast Asian country of India, the ancient but in some cases still rigidly intact caste system plays a role in determining health status and outcomes for much of its population of over 1.2 billion people.[1] The Comprehensive Rural Health Project, located in Jamkhed in the state of Maharashtra, India, approaches health interventions from a development standpoint, addressing biomedical needs, structural and environmental concerns, and the social and economic determinants of health that impact the lives of over a million villagers in the surrounding area.[2] This independent study project was designed to analyze how the Comprehensive Rural …

Improving Function In Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Design And Methods Of A Randomized Clinical Trial., Barry W Rovner, Robin J Casten, Mark T Hegel, Robert W Massof, Benjamin E Leiby, William S Tasman

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe vision loss in older adults and impairs the ability to read, drive, and live independently and increases the risk for depression, falls, and earlier mortality. Although new medical treatments have improved AMD's prognosis, vision-related disability remains a major public health problem. Improving Function in AMD (IF-AMD) is a two-group randomized, parallel design, controlled clinical trial that compares the efficacy of Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) with Supportive Therapy (ST) (an attention control treatment) to improve vision function in 240 patients with AMD. PST and ST therapists deliver 6 one-hour respective treatment sessions …

Open To The Public: Meeting The Nursing Challenge Of A Diverse America, Bonnie Wasilowsky Rn, Bspa-Hca, Cnrn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Self-Esteem And Mastery Trajectories In High School By Social Class And Gender, Christina D. Falci

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Using longitudinal data from 769 white adolescents in the Midwest, this research applies a social structure and personality perspective to examine variation in self-esteem and mastery trajectories by gender and SES across the high school years. Analyses reveal that high SES adolescents experience significantly steeper gains in self-esteem and mastery compared to low SES adolescents, resulting in the reversal of SES differences in self-esteem and the emergence of significant SES differences in mastery. Pre-existing gender differences in self-esteem narrow between the 9^th and 12^th grade because self-esteem increases at a faster rate among girls than boys during high …

The Long-Term Impact Of War On Health And Well-Being In Northern Vietnam: Some Glimpses From A Recent Survey, Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

War is considered one of the most intransigent obstacles to development; yet, the long-run effects of war on individual health have rarely been examined in the context of developing countries. Based on unique data recently collected as a pilot follow-up to the Vietnam Longitudinal Survey, this study examines health status of northern Vietnamese war cohorts (those who entered adulthood during the Vietnam War and now represent Vietnam’s older-adult population). To ascertain whether and how war impacts old-age physical and mental health, we compare multi-dimensional measures of health among war survivors, including civilians, combatants, noncombatants, and nonveterans involved in militia ctivities. …

Socio-Environmental Factors Associated With Pubertal Development In Female Adolescents: The Role Of Prepubertal Tobacco And Alcohol Use, Peck, B Mitchell Peck, Valerie J. Skaggs, Miyuki Fukushima, Howard B. Kaplan

Sociology & Criminology Faculty Publications

This cross-sectional study of 3,106 female adolescents, aged 11–21 years, evaluated the association between prepubertal alcohol and tobacco use and the onset of puberty. Ages at initial breast development, body hair growth, and menarche were self-reported. Prepubertal alcohol and tobacco use were defined as the age at first use before the age of pubertal development and accompanied by regular use. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Cox proportional hazard models. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between substance use and delayed puberty, defined as lack of breast development by the age of 13 …

The Influence Of College Student Identity And Beliefs About Alcohol And The College Experience On Students’ Drinking Behavior, Katherine Novak

Katherine B. Novak

Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society, St. Louis, MO, March 24-27, 2011.

A State-In-Society Approach To The Nonprofit Sector: Welfare Services In Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

This article uses the case of Japan to advocate for a new theoretical approach to the study of the nonprofit sector. In particular, it examines how theoretical models based on the European and North American experiences have difficulty explaining the relationship between the nonprofit sector and the state in Japan, and argues that a state-in-society approach is better suited to explaining complex state–society relations in diverse cultural contexts. It does this by examining the evolution of social welfare service provision in Japan. This article is motivated to explain an apparent paradox: Japan’s recent efforts toward greater government decentralization and privatization …

Integrity House: The Addict As A Total Institution, Kenneth D. Colburn

Kenneth D. Colburn

The Integrity House approach to rehabilitation is an apolitical, myth-oriented method reinforcing the pseudo psychological notion that addiction is exclusively the problem of the addict. Blame is placed solely on the addict; neither social ills nor any other factors share the responsibility for drug abuse.

Universal Or Indicated Screening In Primary Care?, Matthew Wintersteen, Md

Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Faculty Papers

To the Editor: In the November 2010 issue, Schmitt and colleagues (1) reported that the duration of visits increased when depression screening was conducted in primary care. This report is timely given recent recommendations for both adult and pediatric screening for depression in primary care. Schmitt and colleagues examined data representative of more than 641 million primary care visits in2005–2007 and found that when depression screening was documented in patients’ records, physicians’ time with patients increased significantly.

Epistemic Fault Lines In Biomedical And Social Approaches To Hiv Prevention, Barry D. Adam

Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology Publications

This paper raises the question of how knowledge creation is organized in the area of HIV prevention and how this concatenation of expertise, resources, at-risk people and viruses shapes the knowledge used to impede the epidemic. It also seeks to trouble the discourses of biomedical pre-eminence in the field of HIV prevention by examining the claim for treatment as prevention, looking at evidence constructed through the biomedical frame and through the lens of the sociology of science. These questions lie within a larger socio-historical context of lagging worldwide attention and funding to prevention in the HIV area and, in particular, …

Prevalence Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Men Who Have Sex With Men And Injecting Drug Users And Validation Of Audio Computer-Assisted Self Interview (Acasi) Technique In Abuja, Lagos, And Ibadan, Nigeria: Report Fact Sheet, Enhancing Nigeria's Hiv/Aids Response (Enr) Programme

HIV and AIDS

Most-at-risk populations (MARPS), including men who have sex with men (MSM) and injecting drug users (IDUs), represent only 1 percent of Nigeria’s population yet account for 38 percent of new HIV infections. Despite their elevated risk, MSM and IDUs are less likely than the general population to access HIV prevention and sexual health services because of stigmatization. There is a dearth of data on prevalence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among MSM and IDUs because their behaviors make them difficult to be reached programmatically and engaged in research. While the need for HIV and STI prevalence data is …

Scaling Up The Integration Of Tuberculosis Screening Into Reproductive Health Services, Aphia Ii Or Project In Kenya

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s APHIA II Operations Research and Kenya’s Ministry of Health implemented a pilot project in five facilities across Nairobi Province in 2010 with the aim of improving access to care and treatment for tuberculosis (TB) for women during postnatal care (PNC) services. As tuberculosis persists in Kenya, integration of screening and referrals within postnatal care services will increase case detection and treatment for those infected. Integration of TB screening is likely to be scaled up throughout PNC and maternal and child health services in Kenya. Strong linkages between health services, training, and supervision, and simple provider tools will …

Stigmatization As A Social Control Mechanism For Persons Living With Hiv And Aids, Judy E. Mill, Nancy Edwards, Randy C. Jackson, Lynne Maclean, Jean Chaw-Kant

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Stigmatization contributes to inequity by marginalizing persons living with HIV and AIDS (PHAs). In this study we examined the stigmatizing practices in health care settings from the perspectives of PHAs and health care providers (HCPs). A qualitative design, using a participatory action research approach, was used. Interviews and focus groups were completed with 16 aboriginal and 17 nonaboriginal individuals living with HIV (APHAs and PHAs) and 27 HCPs in Ottawa and Edmonton, Canada. We present findings to support the premise that stigmatization can be used as a social control mechanism with PHAs. Participants described both active and passive social control …

Breast Cancer Trends Among Kentucky Women, 2004-2007, Kara Ann Hagan

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

The purpose of this study is to investigate the discrepancies of female breast cancer mortality between the Appalachian and Non-Appalachian regions of Kentucky using data from the Kentucky Cancer Registry. This study identified subtype, reproductive, and regional differences in women with breast cancer in Kentucky. Among women with breast cancer living in Kentucky from 2004 to 2007, one and three live births significantly increased a woman’s risk of breast cancer mortality by 91% and 58% respectively, compared to a woman with zero live births. Progesterone receptornegative tumor status significantly increased a woman’s risk of breast cancer mortality by 64% compared …

Community Health Workers Can Effectively Provide Information And Referrals To People Living With Hiv In Their Communities, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A number of studies reported high levels of sexually transmitted infections among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Unfortunately, prevention interventions targeting PLHIV in the community are not common in Kenya, and most PLHIV who are not on ART have limited access to prevention information and risk-reduction counseling. The Population Council’s APHIA II Operations Research Project conducted a research project to address these gaps. This study was conducted in 2010 in collaboration with the International Center for Reproductive Health and the National AIDS and STI Control Programme. The findings show that the intervention had a number of positive outcomes and concludes …

Linking Hiv-Positive Family Planning Clients To Treatment And Care Services In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Ruth Wayua Muia, Joyce Wanderi Maina, Mary N. Maina, Christine Awuor, Ibrahim Mohammed

Reproductive Health

A project from the Population Council’s USAID-funded FRONTIERS program found that integrating HIV counseling and testing into family planning (FP) services was feasible and acceptable to clients and providers, and led to significant improvement in the quality of care provided. However, a major limitation was that FP clients who tested HIV-positive were not actively linked to care and treatment services, including antiretroviral treatment, and screening and management of sexually transmitted infections. A new initiative aimed to design and test a referral framework for linking HIV-positive FP clients to treatment and care in selected health facilities; assess the acceptability of the …

Strengthening Union Level Facility For Providing Normal Delivery And Newborn Care Services: Facility Assessment Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Amar Krishna Baidya, M. Mostafizur Rahman Khan, Nargis Sultana

Reproductive Health

In Bangladesh, first-level fixed-facility services—provided at the union level through Health and Family Welfare Centers (HFWCs)—are designed to improve maternal and child health by making services available in rural areas. However, most HFWCs do not have the capacity to provide normal delivery services. HFWCs could help women receive free normal delivery services within a convenient distance from their home, if they were strengthened with necessary human resources, infrastructure, and equipment. The Population Council, with financial assistance from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), carried out a policy and research systems study to strengthen union HFWC’s provision of normal delivery …