Mental and Social Health Commons^™

"Does Anyone Believe Me"?: The Traumatization Of Domestic Violence Survivors In The Criminal Justice System, Olivia Depalma

Master of Arts in Human Services

Survivors of domestic violence are often subject to chronic trauma as well as a heightened risk of injuries and mental health problems and disorders. The intention of the author is to focus on how trauma impacts a survivor’s ability to maneuver and interact with the criminal justice system (CJS). Prior studies have shown how survivor’s behaviors, usually the result of trauma, can lead to misconceived notions and beliefs in court officials and those involved in the CJS. Survivors will often face judgment, doubt, and criticism in the CJS, and this can impact their willingness to come forward, report the abuse, …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) Interventions For Group Therapy For College Students Experiencing Depression, Ty Ogren

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This group manual was created to support college students struggling with a depressive mood disorder such as Major Depressive Disorder. The instance of mental health concerns, including depression, have increased greatly over the last several years. Depression is the most common mental health concern for college students, and the rate at which they experience depressive symptoms has exceeded that of the general population. Depressive symptoms in college students can lead to many concerns like poor academic achievement, self-isolation, poor diet and nutrition, and suicidal ideation (Liu et al., 2022). This group manual aims to equip college students struggling with depression …

Opportunities To Address Health Disparities In Suicidality For Sexual And Gender Minority Youth In Public Systems, Dana M. Prince, Kathleen Lewis, Peter S. Hovmand

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Six-Month Follow-Up Comparing Ait And Eft In The Reduction Of Negative Emotions Associated With A Past Memory, Gregory Brown, Kavita Batra, Emily Dorin, Andrew Han, Arianna Palermini, Robert Sottile, Sherine Khanbijian

Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Faculty Research

Statistics have shown that about sixty percent of individuals with psychiatric illness do not respond adequately to standard treatments, yet only 1% of research studies are focused on developing new therapeutic strategies for these patients (McIntyre et al., 2023). This study investigated the long-term efficacy of Advanced Integrative Therapy (AIT) as compared to Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), specifically evaluating the durability of the resolution of emotional distress tied to a single memory six months post-treatment. The study began with 72 participants: and 51 completed a follow-up survey, resulting in a response rate of 70.8%. The sample was predominantly female (65%), …

Factors Associated With Cognitive Flexibility In People With Opioid-Use Disorder: A Pilot Study, Paul S. Regier, Thais Costa Macedo De Arruda, Laura Sinko, Anne M. Teitelman, Anna Rose Childress

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

The ability to adapt to changing circumstances has strong survival value. Individuals with substance use disorders tend to get "stuck" over-responding to drug-reward signals and pursuing drugs despite negative consequences. A lack of flexibility may be tied to impairments in neurocognition, including learning, memory, and executive function. However, results are often mixed, potentially due to heterogeneity in factors such as mental health, personality traits, or prior adversity. This study aimed to identify which factors influence neurocognitive variations within the opioid use disorder (OUD) population. Based on prior literature, we hypothesized that individuals with OUD would show deficits (vs. controls) in …

Epilepsy Therapies Symposium | Do We Really "Outgrow" Seizures?, Adam Ostendorf, Genna J Waldman, Lara Jehi, Mohammed Ilyas, Dean Naritoku, Alica M Goldman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Initiation and maintenance of antiseizure therapy can be relatively straightforward in most patients. Depending on epilepsy type, patients may be more or less likely to enter remission or a resolution of their epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy developed clinically guiding definitions in this regard. The mechanisms by which resolution or remission are achieved are poorly understood which complicates clinical decision making and risk estimate for future seizure relapse. The impetus for the maintenance of medical therapy in a seizure-free patient is also age-dependent. In children, one ought to consider the unknown effects of antiseizure medications on the developing …

Return To Driving For Clients With Tbi: A Guide For Caregivers To Navigate Emotional Barriers Experienced By Clients, Brianna Dorsey, Mary Greer

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

The project describes the building of an online resource for caregivers to have easily accessible resources regarding information about brain injuries, emotional barriers, and return to driving programs. Each section provides further resources for caregivers and is intended to help improve their care and medical literacy.

Breast Cancer Survivorship, Jayde Mosley, Rebecca King

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

Activities of daily living become difficult for clients during breast cancer survivorship due to the physical and emotional alterations that take place in the body. A program will provide clients with a guide on what to expect during breast cancer survivorship. This guide will also be distributed to clients who undergo mastectomy procedures and other forms of treatment. It will provide them with information regarding dos and don’ts, symptoms, long-term effects, outreach and support groups, adaptive equipment, and more information on ways to improve their quality of life.

Increasing Leisure Activity Participation And The Quality Of Life Of People With Dementia And Their Caregivers, Karla Vela, Rebecca King, Keegan Mckay

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

The problems associated with the progression of dementia, such as increased stress, and a decrease in engagement in leisure activities and social participation have a negative impact on the patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life. In addition, there is limited research on the long-term impact of occupational therapy leisure activity programs on patients with dementia and their caregivers’ quality of life. A leisure activity program was created for people with dementia and their caregivers to improve their leisure activity engagement and quality of life. Overall, the participant’s and caregivers benefitted from this program and had positive opinions based on the …

Community, State And Professionalism: Negotiating The Experience Of Community Health Workers In The Provision Of Maternal And Child Health Services In Tanzania, Chakupewa Joseph Mpambije

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Research on community health workers (CHWs) has been on the increase in the past decades in Tanzania, focusing on the provision of maternal and child health (MCH) services. While performing their tasks, CHWs work within three constructs: the community, the state, and their professionalism. However, as CHWs work within these constructs, there exists scanty literature which discourses their experiences within the realm of the community, the state and their professionalism. This review aimed to articulate how these constructs facilitate or inhibit CHWs’ performance in improving MCH services. It employed a scoping review method in which peer-reviewed articles and grey literature …

Making An Easy Return To School After An Extended Illness Diagnosis, Ashlyn Eads, Mary Jan Greer, Julie Boykin

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

This poster provides information on the capstone program created at a pediatric site. This program addresses how play-based therapy can help children with an extended illness transition back into the school setting. Both the children and their caregivers need support before, during, and after the return to school. The goals of this program were to educate caregivers on how to advocate for their child for positive outcomes, provide caregivers with resources to promote successful transition to school, provide play-based strategies for children addressing handwriting, social Skills, upper body strength, education, fine Motor Skills, and provide the site and caregivers with …

Occupational Therapy Role In Aiding Health Management For Caregivers Of Children With Neurological Conditions, Peyton Mcgee, Mary Jan Greer, Caitlin Boyd

Fall 2024 OTD Capstone Symposium

Neurological disorders are identified as a dysfunction on any part of the nervous system that cause disability (Kumar et al., 2022). In order to enhance the outcome of children with neurological conditions, there should be an emphasis on the role and well-being of their caregivers. Common symptoms of neurological disorders among children include delayed developmental milestones, seizures and epilepsy, regression of skills, abnormal movements and behaviors, headaches, sensory processing issues, and communication difficulties. Adjusting to a new normal can be overwhelming for caregivers, especially when children transition out of rehab. The aim of the proposed capstone project is to aid …

Centering Autonomy And Choice To Support Oral Prep Utilization Among People Who Inject Drugs: Qualitative Lessons From Hptn 094 Integra, Amaya Perez-Brumer, Rose Schmidt, Rebecca Kennedy, Jordan E Lake, Yolanda R Villarreal, Sydney Bornstein, Irene Kuo, Omar Nieto, Julie Franks, Cecile Denis, Nabila El-Bassel, Steve Shoptaw, Peter Davidson, Laramie R Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Oral Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is effective in preventing HIV transmission. However, despite high rates of HIV risk behaviors among people who inject drugs (PWID), this population remains underserved by current HIV prevention efforts in the United States. To address this challenge, we conducted an in-depth exploration of perspectives on using oral PrEP among PWID engaged in the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 094 INTEGRA Study.

Methods: Guided by the Practical, Robust, Implementation, and Sustainability Model (PRISM), our qualitative study drew on semi-structured interviews conducted as part of the embedded implementation science evaluation of HPTN 094 INTEGRA. Seventy-seven PWID participants …

Macrowire For Intracranial Thrombectomy: An Early Experience Of A New Device And Technique For Anterior Circulation Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke, Kaustubh Limaye, Sami Al Kasab, Jaidevsinh Dolia, Mohamad Ezzeldin, Daniel Vela Duarte, Vinodh Doss, Sourabh Lahoti, David Hasan, Alejandro Spiotta, Khaled Asi, Vasu Saini, Tapan Mehta, Ameer Hassan, Diogo Haussen, Dileep Yavagal, Jesse Jones, Omar Tanweer, Waleed Brinjikji

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has become the standard of care for treatment of acute ischemic stroke secondary to large vessel occlusion up to 24 h from the last known normal time. With ADAPT and SOLUMBRA techniques, classically, a large bore aspiration catheter is delivered over a microcatheter and microwire crossing the clot to perform thrombectomy. Recently, a novel macrowire (Colossus 035 in.) has been introduced as a potential alternative to the use of microwire-microcatheter to allow the delivery of the aspiration catheter (ID = 0.070 in. up to 0.088 in.) over a macrowire alone.

OBJECTIVE: To test the …

Extension Agents’ Perceptions Of Community Readiness For Farm Stress And Suicide Prevention Efforts, Paula Yuma, Melissa Pearman Fenton, Lorann Stallones, Morgan Valley

Transforming Communities

The aim of the present study is to describe how Extension Agents in rural Colorado perceive their communities’ readiness to engage with farm stress and suicide prevention services and resources. Interviews were conducted with Extension Agents from five Colorado counties experiencing high suicide rates. Interview questions were based on a Community Readiness for Community Change framework, and inductive analysis was used to generate themes from the data. Results demonstrate that while prevention efforts are underway, community awareness remains low. In addition to structural barriers associated with rurality (e.g., lack of mental health providers), stigma remains a significant barrier to help-seeking. …

Analysis Of Public Opinion Polls About Covid-19 Vaccines: Theoretical And Policy Implications For Vaccine Communication And Campaigns To Address Vaccine Hesitancy, Muhammad Ittefaq, Hong Tien Vu, Ali Zain, Tayyeb Ramazan, Gary L. Kreps

School of Communication Studies - Faculty Scholarship

This study analyzed 1432 questions asked in 19 surveys (N = 43,014) on COVID-19 vaccines between January 2020 and August 2022 using dimensions including (1) information sources about COVID-19 vaccine, (2) information about the access, effectiveness, and side effects of COVID-19 vaccine, (3) COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (i.e. false perception, skepticism, and vaccine refusal), (4) motivations to get the COVID-19 vaccine (i.e. to perform routine activities, convenience, incentives, influences, and travel requirement), (5) false perceptions caused vaccine refusal, and (6) intentions to get vaccinated. Our results show that vaccine refusal was rampant throughout the pandemic and mostly attributed to the …

Preparing Spiritually Resilient Warriors In The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, Vic Morris

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Morris, Victor E. “Preparing Spiritually Resilient Warriors in the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.” Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2024. 285 pp.

The Canadian Armed Forces has outcomes and expectations for warriors to be spiritually resilient but does not have a training program that has been researched, tested, and validated to achieve this. This study investigates how chaplains can prepare spiritually resilient warriors in CANSOFCOM. A chaplain-led spiritual resilience course was created and delivered to CANSOFCOM members. The course was aligned with the holistic wellness strategy of OPF2, and designed as an inductive, experiential learning experience. An …

Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences And Infant Visual-Limbic White Matter Development, Catherine H. Demers, Benjamin L. Hankin, Mercedes Hoeflich Haase, Erin Todd, M. Camille Hoffman, C. Neill Epperson, Martin A. Styner, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Background

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are robust predictors of mental health for both the exposed individual and the next generation; however, the pathway through which such intergenerational risk is conferred remains unknown. The current study evaluated the association between maternal ACEs and infant brain development, including an a priori focus on circuits implicated in emotional and sensory processing.

Methods

The sample included 101 mother-infant dyads from a longitudinal study. Maternal ACEs were assessed with the Adverse Childhood Questionnaire dichotomized into low (0 or 1) and high (≥2) groups. White matter microstructure, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA), was assessed …

Liv Selection In ‘Tweener’ Patients Treated With Magnetically Controlled Growing Rods Vs. Posterior Spinal Fusion, Brandon Yoshida, Claudia Leonardi, Jacquelyn Valenzuela-Moss, Lindsay M. Andras, Tyler A. Tetreault, John B. Emans, John T. Smith, Joshua M. Pahys, G. Ying Li, Michael J. Heffernan

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the LIV selection in ‘tweener’ patients treated with MCGR or PSF. Methods: A multicenter pediatric spine database was queried for ambulatory patients ages 8–11 years treated by MCGR or PSF with at least 2-year follow-up. The relationship between the LIV and preoperative spinal height, curve magnitude, and implant type were assessed. The relationship between the touched vertebrae (TV), the last substantially touched vertebrae (LSTV), the stable vertebrae (SV), and the LIV were evaluated. Results: One hundred and fifty-nine patients met inclusion criteria. Preoperative curve magnitude was similar between groups (MCGR 68 …

Conceptualization, Measurement, And Contributors To Participation Among People Living With Parkinson’S Disease, Moon Young Kim

WUSM Theses and Dissertations – All Programs

Participation is a key outcome of rehabilitation and key to successful aging. Individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience significant challenges in maintaining participation in meaningful activities and roles. This dissertation examines the influence of living with PD on participation by integrating findings from three studies: a systematic review, a cross-sectional study, and a longitudinal study.

The systematic review synthesized the existing quantitative research on participation in people with PD, revealing inconsistencies in the conceptualization of participation. While the evaluation tools aimed at assessing participation in PD showed acceptable coverage of domains of participation, the assessment of the aspects of …