Alternative and Complementary Medicine Commons^™

Examining State Of Flow And Its Future In Dance/Movement Therapy: A Literature Review, Rachael A. Cohen

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper analyzes State of Flow, the definition codified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and analyzes how Flow as a concept has developed in current psychological and artistic research, alternative therapies, and mainstream medias. This paper also views existing Dance/Movement Therapy frameworks such as Body-Mind Centering and Kestenberg Movement Profile to see how Csikszentmihalyi’s definition could integrate into current Dance/Movement Therapy practice, as well as looks at Laban Movement Analysis and its future in Dance/Movement Therapy. This thesis also examines how gender and neurodivergence may impact how one can experience State of Flow.

Effects And Outcomes Of Different Laboring Positions And The Influence From Societal Norms, Amberlyn Heskett

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

Within labor and delivery, every birth is different. Alarmingly, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate, including death during labor, among developed countries (World Health Organization, 2022). Many maternal deaths may be preventable.

In the U.S., the use of forceps, vacuum-assisted birth, episiotomies, and emergency C-sections are common for women during childbirth. Even though some laboring positions may assist birthing more than others, there often is resistance to allowing various positions due to outside influences, including societal norms, hospital management, and healthcare professional training. Women in labor are vulnerable and look to their nurses for support ...

A Qualitative Study On Nurse Facilitators Of Mind-Body Skills Groups, Paula D. Blake-Beckford

Mindfulness Studies Theses

The Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), founded by Dr. James Gordon, provides communities with evidence-based Mind-Body Skills Groups (MBSGs) that foster self-care, self-awareness, and self-expression. MBSGs range from 8 to 12-week series on various mind-body practices wherein group members meet, practice, and reflect on the impact of mind-body skills in their lives. Research has demonstrated that participants in MBSGs have positive outcomes. Healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially nurses, gain resiliency from MBSGs. As facilitators of MBSGs, nurses develop essential skills transferable to clinical and educational settings. MBSGs are therapeutic for adult participants with chronic stress. Prior to this thesis, only one ...

Healing Our Connection With Nature: An Expressive Arts Community Engagement Project, Meghan Mccrillis

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A community engagement project was created and implemented, comprised of two events for which the author facilitated nature-based expressive arts experiences to explore the integration of nature and expressive arts therapy. The events were offered to two different groups of community members, one for nature-curious adults held outdoors on the trails of a local conservation trust, and another for young children at a local library. The healing impact of nature connection and nature connection experiences are explored through a literature review, event methods, and the author’s personal experiences of the project via artmaking. The results include an emphasis on ...

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they ...

Using Animal As Metaphor In Drama Therapy With Psychiatric Patients In An Intensive Outpatient Program Group Therapy Session: An Intervention, Juliana Fort

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Drama therapy may be uniquely suited to help people with mental illness who have negative beliefs about what it means to be mentally ill. It focuses on helping the individual expand their sense of what a person with mental illness can be, as well as their awareness of the other roles they may play in their lives. In the current study, the author developed a drama therapy intervention for psychiatric patients in an intensive outpatient program (IOP). The intervention uses pre-made cards that depict images of various animals. During the intervention, the participants were asked to discuss how they handle ...

Dance/Movement Therapy As A Transdisciplinary Approach To Treating Trauma, Destany Schadder

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis considers dance/movement therapy as a transdisciplinary approach to treating trauma in the body. It explains what the functions of the brain are, how trauma negatively affects it, and how posttraumatic stress disorder is expressed in both the body and the brain. It discusses multidisplinary approaches, it shows how these approaches leverage the body in treating trauma. Moreover, it demonstrates the benefits and advantages of a dance/movement therapist in supporting individuals who have experienced traumatic events. To achieve these goals, this thesis discusses research by neuroscientists, such as Damassio (1999), who maintain that the body and mind ...

Improving Access To Non-Pharmacologic Integrative Pain Management Modalities In Sickle Cell Disease (Scd) Inpatients, Nicole Lincoln

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Evidence suggests that non-pharmacologic therapies complement and work synergistically alongside traditional pharmacologic therapies for chronic pain and have a beneficial impact on the intensity of pain, improved quality of life and functional status. Sickle Cell Patients have complex pain and often feel stigmatized due to pain seeking behaviors. This project evaluates the effect of a clinical initiative stewarded by nurses and managed in the electronic health record. The project aims to improve access to preferred modalities for integrative pain management among hospitalized Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) inpatients.

Methods: The nurses received e-learning and in-person training on the use of ...

Stressed Out And Stressed In: Regulating The Stress Response At An Endocrine Level Through Dance/Movement Therapy, Alicia Randazzo

Dance/Movement Therapy Theses

This thesis proposes dance/movement therapy as an approach to regulating the stress response from the perspective of the endocrine system. By examining the endocrine system’s role specifically in the human stress response, one can gain clearer understanding of the hormonal components involved in the process of perceiving a stressor, reacting to it, and returning to homeostasis, as well as what happens when that process is interrupted, overworked, or dysfunctional. The impacts of these internal processes can manifest physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and cognitively – making dance/movement therapy well-suited to thoroughly address them. This assertion was made following the ...

Pediatric Seizure Management With Ketogenic Diet, Lydia Beller

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Seizure disorders can be life altering and debilitating, especially for developing children. Children who have seizure disorders often require social, emotional, educational, and behavioral adjustments for children. Most medication regimes do not achieve complete management of seizure frequency and intensity. For children, seizure disorders can lead to unsuccessful education experiences, low self-esteem, severe injury, and difficulties with social skills and engagement. Discovering that a dietary means can reduce their frequency and intensity is groundbreaking. The ketogenic diet is a high protein, high fat, and almost no carbohydrate diet. The ketogenic diet is an effective non-pharmacological method for treating epilepsy (Karimzadeh ...

Exploring The Efficacy Of Herbal & Medicinal Plants Native To China And Thailand As A Complementary & Alternative Treatment In Mitigating Mild-To-Moderate Covid-19 Symptoms, Jiramanee Apiwansri

Nursing | Senior Theses

Background

In December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of an outbreak of an unknown cause of pneumonia-like symptoms in residents concentrated in Wuhan, China; this marked the start of China’s epidemic, which transformed into a pandemic affecting all continents of the world. The cause of the pneumonia-like symptoms was found to be due to the growth and development of the virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which spreads through an infected person’s respiratory droplets through activities such as talking, coughing, and sneezing. With COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers available worldwide, even the economically and technologically ...

Implementation Of A Self-Management Program For Hispanic Patients With Chronic Non-Cancer Pain, Genesis M. Ladinez Velez

DNP Projects

Background: Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is a major public health issue that affects over 100 million Americans. From January 2019 to September 2021, the number patients seen at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) was 41, 974 of these 40.12% were Hispanic. Of the total patient population at this FQHC, 904 patients had preexisting opioids prescriptions for CNCP. The Hispanic population represents 41.15% of the preexisting prescriptions. Nonopioid alternatives to manage CNCP have been shown to decrease pain and improve functioning similarly to opioids.

Purpose: To implement a CNCP SMP at a FQHC in the Northeast. This quality ...

Pain Assessment Policy Update And Nursing Education On Best Practices For Pain Assessment: A Quality Improvement Project, Jennifer Zhang

DNP Projects

Significance and Background: Chronic pain assessment should focus on patients' functional status, quality of life (QOL), and pain control. A tool to assess pain intensity and biopsychosocial impacts of pain for patients with chronic pain was needed in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). The Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) incorporates a numeric rating scale with four functional questions on pain interference on ADLs. DVPRS design stimulates communication between patients and providers about their pain, its impact on function, and state of mind. Treatments are focused on making the pain tolerable and optimizing patient function while avoiding unwanted ...

Associations Of Lifestyle And Sociodemographic Factors With Dietary Supplement Use In College Students, Sydney Chratian

Senior Honors Projects

Background: Dietary supplement use has been shown to be significantly prevalent in the United States, especially among the young adult population. Studies have reported increasing use of dietary supplements among college students in the US. However, little research has investigated the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics associated with dietary supplement use in this population.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of dietary supplement use and sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics associated with dietary supplement use in college students and examine the attitudes and beliefs of college students on dietary supplements.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted ...

Integration Of Medicinal Fungi Into The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden, Anthony Makashov

Senior Honors Projects

The Heber W. Youngken Jr. Medicinal Garden is a one-of-a-kind resource that houses close to 300 medicinal plants and is filled to the brim with educational opportunities. For the College of Pharmacy, this garden has been the centerpiece of many classes taught here at the University of Rhode Island and has roots as a physical teaching space. While the garden contains a plethora of plant species, medicinal fungi have yet to have been included in the garden, despite their relevance as both sources of pharmaceutical drug discovery and as natural products with inherent physiological benefits themselves. The purpose of my ...

Mitragyna Speciosa As A Potential Substitute Therapy In Opioid Dependence: A Case Report, Karniza Khalid, Jason S.K. Wong, Ruzita Jamaluddin

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research

Preclinical data have consistently suggested the pharmaceutical potential of kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), including as a substitute therapy in opioid dependence. In this case report, we present a case of a man with a long history of kratom use to help him cope with his opiate withdrawals while abstaining from illicit drug use. This is the first published detailed case report highlighting the potential use of kratom to aid opioid dependence encountered in the clinical setting. Our article is also supported by literature review with regards to kratom’s safety profile and pharmacological potential.

Crispr/Cas9 Genome Editing: Future Treatment Of Duane Retraction Syndrome, Muhammad Raihan Zulfikar, Editha Renesteen, Bantari W.K. Wardhani

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research

Duane Retraction Syndrome (DRS) is characterized by limited eye movement. One of its causes is a mutation in the CHN1, MAFB, or SALL4 gene. Nowadays, the treatment for DRS is limited to glasses, occlusion, and surgery. However, this treatment has not been able to cure the disease’s hereditary issue. Another strategy to be considered for the treatment is CRISPR/Cas9, a tool for performing gene editing with a wide range of applications, including treating genetic diseases. We made sgRNA as a first step in using CRISPR/Cas9 as a treatment for DRS in silico using the CCTop website. By ...

Cannabis And Opioids In Chronic Pain Management, Estefan Tsegaye, Clara Kathryn Pollard, Emilie Tate, Justin White, Raphaela Woods

Symposium of Student Scholars

Background: Many adults suffer from chronic pain. Opioids are commonly prescribed to treat chronic pain, though they can produce adverse side effects and carry the potential for abuse and addiction. The introduction of cannabis in medicine has provided a possible alternative to opioids in chronic pain management. Objective: This systematic literature review aims to synthesize evidence from published studies to answer the following research question in the PICOT format: In adults over the age of 18 with chronic pain (P), how does prescribed cannabis therapy (I) compare with prescribed opioid therapy (C) in affecting perceived pain levels and quality of ...

The Impact Of Dietary Fiber On Breast Cancer Incidence, Peyton North

Epsilon Sigma at-Large Research Conference

Abstract

Introduction & Background

The role of dietary fiber in breast cancer etiology remains unclear. A negative correlation may be due to fiber’s ability to stave off obesity and aid in the extraction of serum estrogen, two known risk factors for the disease. Effects may differ by source, and type, of fiber. Most of the data available is from research with non-Hispanic white women. However, fiber intake may vary significantly across cultures.

Purpose Statement & Question

The research sought to investigate whether an increased intake of dietary fiber was associated with a corresponding decrease in the incidence of breast cancer. The ...

Music For The Relief Of Preoperative Anxiety, Tyler G. Roberts

MSN Capstone Projects

Anxiety is a phenomenon commonly experienced by patients awaiting surgery (Jlala et al., 2010). Anxiety has been linked to negative impacts “on the induction of anesthesia, wound healing, risk of infection, and postoperative recovery” (Stern, 2013). The alleviation of preoperative anxiety is a positive and desired outcome for perioperative patients. An interview with a patient at University Medical Center yielded some insight into the need for the implementation of additional anxiety alleviating intervention. In the interview, the patient reported feeling distress from being able to hear everything that was happening outside of the patient’s preoperative room and feeling a ...