Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3
Filtering by
Description
Changing Caregivers Attitudes toward dementia study was conducted to assess changes in attitudes of formal caregivers caring for persons with dementia in a palliative care setting. An eight-minute virtual experience activity was delivered to 40 para-professional caregivers of those diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe dementia. The virtual experience consisting of a set of instructions, headphones and different materials, is a quick, effective and efficient way to mimic having some of the stressors those living with Alzheimer's, or other types of dementia, may experience in their day-to-day lives. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect on caregivers’ emotions and attitudes toward dementia, before and after the virtual experience using a qualitative approach. It is hypothesized that the intervention will educate and instill empathy in the caregivers, overall, improving the delivery of their care in the future. Participants were asked open ended questions before and after the intervention using the virtual experience and four themes emerged: (1) Being more patient, (2) Slowing down, (3) Empathy and (4) Being positive. The findings suggest further education about the disease process is needed to help caregivers understand the actions of dementia related behaviors. Also, education about different strategies to handle some negative behaviors associated with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia can be done to improve the situation. Overall, the findings showed an increase in empathy and positive words or phrases from the participants, suggesting the simulation experience was an applicable and ethical intervention.
ContributorsPfohl, Marin Elizabeth (Co-author) / Latini, Abigail (Co-author) / Hamilton, Gillian (Thesis director) / Gallagher, Maribeth (Committee member) / Uriri-Glover, Johannah (Committee member) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Changing Caregivers Attitudes toward dementia study was conducted to assess changes in attitudes of formal caregivers caring for persons with dementia in a palliative care setting. An eight-minute virtual experience activity was delivered to 40 para-professional caregivers of those diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe dementia. The virtual experience consisting of a set of instructions, headphones and different materials, is a quick, effective and efficient way to mimic having some of the stressors those living with Alzheimer's, or other types of dementia, may experience in their day-to-day lives. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect on caregivers’ emotions and attitudes toward dementia, before and after the virtual experience using a qualitative approach. It is hypothesized that the intervention will educate and instill empathy in the caregivers, overall, improving the delivery of their care in the future. Participants were asked open ended questions before and after the intervention using the virtual experience and four themes emerged: (1) Being more patient, (2) Slowing down, (3) Empathy and (4) Being positive. The findings suggest further education about the disease process is needed to help caregivers understand the actions of dementia related behaviors. Also, education about different strategies to handle some negative behaviors associated with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia can be done to improve the situation. Overall, the findings showed an increase in empathy and positive words or phrases from the participants, suggesting the simulation experience was an applicable and ethical intervention.
ContributorsLatini, Abigail Louise (Co-author) / Pfohl, Marin (Co-author) / Hamilton, Gillian (Thesis director) / Gallagher, Maribeth (Committee member) / Uriri-Glover, Johannah (Committee member) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Informal caregivers to persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) commonly experience high levels of perceived burden, stress, and low quality of life— outcomes that negatively affect the quality of care provided. Yet to be explored are the effects of heart-focused breathing, a self-regulation deep breathing technique, on perceived caregiver burden and heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic nervous system function. Considering the high attrition rates of many previous in-person AD caregiver interventions, it may be necessary to implement an online intervention to address perceived caregiver burden. This study aimed to test the trends in effects of a 2-week online heart-focused breathing intervention using HeartMath’s Heart Lock-In® technique on perceived caregiver burden, perceived stress, quality of life, anxiety, inner haven, self-compassion, and HRV in a population of AD caregivers. Ten informal AD caregivers participated in the study with five participants randomized into the waitlist control group and five into the intervention group. The intervention group practiced a 10-minute heart-focused breathing protocol using their smart device (i.e., phone) every day for a 2-week period. Participants completed pre- and post- self-report questionnaires online via Google Forms and HRV assessments via the Welltory mobile application. The HRV assessments measured rMSSD, high frequency, and low frequency. The intervention group did not experience improvements related to perceived caregiver burden, perceived stress, anxiety, inner haven or high frequency waves. However, the study results suggest positive trends in quality of life, self-compassion, rMSSD, and low frequency waves among the AD caregivers. Additional research within a larger and more diverse population is needed.
Keywords: Informal Alzheimer’s caregivers, perceived caregiver burden, heart-focused breathing, heart rate variability
Keywords: Informal Alzheimer’s caregivers, perceived caregiver burden, heart-focused breathing, heart rate variability
ContributorsJames, Taylor Anne (Author) / Larkey, Linda K. (Thesis director) / James, Darith (Committee member) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05