Community Health Commons^™

Meet Me In The Middle: A Scoping Review On Understanding Adolescent Needs In Climate Communication, Gwendolyn Monica Hoff Anderson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The greatest effects of climate change are likely to be felt by youth. Young people are disproportionately affected by climate change due to their critical developmental stage and lack of power, and they experience both higher severity and prevalence of mental health issues related to climate change. Strong emotions have long been recognized as potential catalysts for action, or they may lead to paralyzing feelings of being overwhelmed. Climate communication is a critical tool to spark climate concern and encourage action. Activism, in turn, may help youth manage their anxiety about climate change. This scoping review examines emerging evidence on …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Physical And Mental Health Of School-Aged Children, Syed Azlan Abbas, Sufia Athar, Nadeem Zafar Jilani

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic caused a deleterious impact on global health. School-aged children were significantly impacted by the pandemic. These impacts may be attributed to the fact that this age group is at a vulnerable developmental stage and is susceptible to profound effects. We conducted a thorough literature review using PubMed, Medline, and Science Direct electronic database searches between 2020-2022. We retrieved 757 studies, 25 of which were included in our review. We considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and mental health of school-aged children (5-18 years), and the results were analyzed and included in our …

Urban American Indian Experiences Living With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Elin E. Kambuga, Yitza A. Arcelay-Rojas

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

This qualitative interpretive study aimed to describe the experiences of 13 American Indians living in urban settings and their use of traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes. Urban American Indian adults living in the United States who used traditional healing and biomedical health services for type 2 diabetes were recruited for the study through purposive sampling, including snowball sampling. Thirteen participants completed semi-structured interviews. Participants reported positive experiences and barriers to traditional healing and Western biomedical services. They also discussed feelings of disorientation when diagnosed at a young age with type 2 diabetes but self-empowerment as …

The Impact Of School-Based Support Services On Mental Health And Academic Performance, Joshua A. Kent

2023 Symposium

Background: There has been a continued presence of mental health issues among high-school aged youth. As a result, many have a diminished ability to be successful in school. It is a societal problem as discussed in the literature. Legislation within the last 23 years has created more access for students but there is still a gap in services. This gap is mostly seen by not having enough personnel to address the amount of students that need assistance. There is also an inconsistent use of school-based health centers and other school-based interventions. Too many schools are using different interventions and …

Reconceptualizing The Interaction Between Adhd Symptoms And Environmental Context, Oliver G. Mcfadden

University Honors Theses

Difficult questions regarding etiology, prevalence, and individual treatment allude to the heterogenous and complex neurocognitive profile ADHD. Current understandings do not point to there being any yet-undiscovered, succinct set of features for the condition that will answer these questions. ADHD in fact has a heterogeneous etiology and neurocognitive profile, suffers from both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis, and a variety of styles of treatment are conceivable to address this. Sociocultural factors have crucially guided the direction of ADHD pathology and medicalization and are woven into institutional environments. These extant problems have eluded ADHD research, and the debate over the construction and validity …

Identity And Body Image: How Bicultural Influences Affect The Development Of Negative Body Image And Disordered Eating In Korean American Adolescents, Abigail G. Brown

Honors Projects

The objective of this research project is to examine the existing literature related to culture, body image, and disordered eating in Korea and the United States as they are related to the identity and body image formation of Korean American adolescents in the United States. Because there is not much existing literature specifically investigating the experience of Korean American adolescents, this paper aims to synthesize the current research regarding Korean and United States culture to create a summary of factors that contribute to the development of negative body image and/or disordered eating in this population. In addition, these factors will …

"I Stayed There The Whole Night": Exploring Caregivers' Experiences With The Healthcare System When Caring For A Parent At The End Of Life, Lillian Mehran

Dissertations and Theses

Background: In the United States, there are nearly 53 million individuals serving as caregivers to a loved one. Half of all caregivers are caring for a parent or parent-in-law, and 79% of caregivers are caring for a person aged 50 or older. In New York State, there are an estimated 4.1 million caregivers who collectively provide over 2.6 billion hours of unpaid care, with those caring for a person at the end of life providing twice as many hours of caregiving per week compared to other caregivers. The number of individuals requiring caregiving is expected to increase as a significant …

Social Identities And Campus Belonging As Predictors Of Flourishing Among College Students, Christine Gilchrist

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Annual data since 2012 shows college students’ flourishing (a measure of psychological well-being) in continuous decline, with 2022 showing the largest decrease. Since the knowledge base of the predictors of flourishing is limited, how college executives can best address this issue is unclear. Variations in flourishing have been observed in studies that examined the relationship between food insecurity (DeBate et al., 2021), race/ethnicity (Lipson et al., 2018, 2022; Nyunt et al., 2022; Parr, 2022), immigration status (Cadenas & Nienhusser, 2021), as well as gender identity and sexual orientation (Parr, 2022). The intersectional impact of demographic and social identities has not …

Burnout: An Examination Of How Human Services’ Cultures Impact Person-Centered Care And Job Satisfaction, Ebony Webb

Master's Projects and Capstones

In a world that demands the constant requirement of adaptability and technology, the need for ‘hands on the ground’ continues to persist, and perhaps even grow. This research project explores burnout in the healthcare and nonprofit settings, as a pre-existing and ongoing issue, that was brought to centre-stage during the Covid-19 pandemic. The researcher explores the intersections of burnout with workplace culture, person-centered care (PCC), sweat equity and duty-of-care, through expert interviews and literature reviews. Data collected provides an immediate understanding of current workplace cultures and environments for human service providers, in both healthcare and nonprofit sectors. While the data …

The Value Of Therapeutic Farming As An Art Therapy Intervention For Emerging Adults: A Literature Review, Neva Callaghan

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review examines the role of place, space, and environment in art therapy and proposes therapeutic farms as alternative mental health care for emerging adults. The writing explores concepts of nature-based art therapy, therapeutic metaphors, and self-determination theory in regard to how these approaches can enhance engagement in the therapeutic process. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on emerging adults’ mental health and feelings of connection to nature. The developmental needs of this population are not met by the current mental health care system, and there is a need to consider alternative forms of treatment. This research …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Food Insecurity Screening In An Urban Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic, Brandon Perumpail

St. Chris Research Day

No abstract provided.

Therapeutic Gardening For Mental Health In Substance Use Recovery, Stephanie E. Schafer

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

As the clinical nurse leader (CNL) in this project, I used the “[CNL]

Essential 1: Background for Practice from Sciences and Humanities” (Competencies and Curricular Expectations for Clinical Nurse Leader Education and Practice, 2013) and its competencies to focus on designing nursing care for a clinical or community-focused population based on biopsychosocial, public health, nursing, and organizational sciences and to synthesize evidence for practice to determine appropriate application of interventions across diverse populations. With the help of the CNL competencies and collaboration with the healthcare team, we created and implemented a therapeutic garden for residents in a substance use …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

Prescribing Music To Forensic Settings: A Literature Review, Sydney A. Bouchard

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Though prison is inherently musical, evidence-based forensic music therapy is rather understudied. This thesis critically reviews musical experiences in forensic environments and synthesizes its intersection with inmates' psychological distress. Additionally, the literature explores how forensic music therapy can act as a health and social resource for the incarcerated and their communities. Engaging in this work is vital because healthier correctional systems mean healthier communities (Hopwood, 2021). This review synthesizes relevant literature to inform better practices in music therapy, counseling, and healthcare and seeks to popularize discussion around an otherwise unpopular population, incarcerated folx. Emerging themes include (1) incarceration breeds negative …

The Breath As A Holistic Regulator: An Expressive Arts Therapy Community Project, Jacobita Munoz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This capstone offers the idea that evolution has challenged appropriate breathing and led humans to breathe incorrectly, thus negatively affecting their physical and mental health. As breath can damage the body, it can also serve as a regulator of the mind and body. This thesis points out the multiple effects when uniting controlled respiration, drumming and nature sounds. Breathing, music and nature have many things in common. These include repetition, pattern, awareness of the present moment and relaxation. They all contain a rhythm, and they offer self-regulatory skills. Music-based expressive arts therapies intervention is postulated to provide breathing techniques, united …

Biopsychosocial Impacts Of Social Distancing Due To Covid-19 In People Over 65: A Literature Review, Nicole Lacap

Stratford Campus Research Day

Background: Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020, elderly populations aged 65+ have been deemed at-risk for severe symptoms and poor prognosis. Because it is important to protect this vulnerable population, policies such as social distancing and shelter-in-place orders have been implemented in the United States in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. However, many older citizens may live alone or may not have access to technology, and therefore may be limited in their ability to maintain important relationships and social interactions throughout shelter-in-place orders and social distancing. Therefore, it is important to understand the cost …

The Correlation Between Traumatic Brain Injury And Incarceration Among Adult Males In The United States, Shadi Shams

Stratford Campus Research Day

The United States has one of the largest growing prison populations in the world. A large amount of social and economic resources go towards the cost and maintenance of correctional facilities each year. Additionally, the current correctional programs are insufficient in assisting inmates with getting back to society; especially those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who often remain undiagnosed and are usually treated unfairly in the prison system instead of receiving the appropriate help. Prior scholarly work has shown that patients in the post-TBI stage are more likely to enter the judicial system. In the recent population-based cohort study, the …

Language Barrier Contributions To Food Insecurity In Spanish-Speaking Populations, Amin Khan, Leeza Kumar, Edanur Kilic, Stephen Acheampong

Stratford Campus Research Day

Food insecurity refers to a household or individual’s inability to access adequate food to obtain a healthy lifestyle. This contributes to health concerns such as birth defects, low nutritional intake, anemia, cognitive problems, mental health disorders, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Low-income rural community members lack access to full grocery stores and often turn to convenience stores with unhealthy, expensive, and fewer food options. The aim of this study was to determine how language barriers affect Spanish-speaking populations with limited English proficiency. The research for this project was obtained from Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Keywords included “health disparities,” “Spanish-speaking,” …

Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Hpv Vaccination Rates, Jennifer Sepede, Kathy Chen

Stratford Campus Research Day

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted infection that potentiates cancer in both males and females. There are over 200 different types of HPV and while some strains, specifically HPV 6 and 11, may result in genital and skin warts, others remain clinically silent. High risk strains, HPV 16 and 18, are most associated with cervical cancer in women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was widespread hesitancy and rejection towards vaccination. Similarly, the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine has also been met with distrust since it’s release. Studies have shown that there is a low vaccination rate due to …