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- All Subjects: Sustainability
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Status: Published
The purpose of this study is to examine the social and communicative barriers LGBTQIA+ students face when seeking healthcare at campus health and counseling services at Arizona State University. Social barriers relate to experiences and internalizations of societal stigma experienced by sexual and gender minority individuals as well as the anticipation of such events. Communication between patient and provider was assessed as a potential barrier with respect to perceived provider LGBTQIA+ competency. This study applies the minority stress model, considering experiences of everyday stigma and minority stress as a predictor of healthcare utilization among sexual and gender minority students. The findings suggest a small but substantial correlation between minority stress and healthcare use with 23.7% of respondents delaying or not receiving one or more types of care due to fear of stigma or discrimination. Additionally, communication findings indicate a lack of standardization of LGBTQIA+ competent care with experiences varying greatly between respondents.
Information was examined using thirteen indicators of sustainability. Eight indicators were chosen that represented environmental sustainability, plus five indicators that represent social and economic sustainability. Based on the information analyzed, each company received a score for each indicator according to the level of information disclosed. This created a sustainability scorecard, with Marriott and Hilton scoring the highest, Wyndham and Best Western scoring the lowest, and Choice Hotels falling in the middle .In summary, it was determined that Hilton is reporting at the highest level, based on the measured indicators in addition to receiving external assurance on their disclosed results from implemented practices, The other four companies have further steps they should take to better communicate their sustainable practices and overall commitment to sustainability.
physical activity that the general population faces. Furthermore, it has been shown that
transgender individuals do not participate in physical activity as much as nontransgender
individuals do. This suggests that the transgender population may face additional or unique
barriers to physical activity. The purpose of this study was to further examine and identify these
barriers for adult transgender individuals regardless of whether they decided to, were in the
process of, or completed medical transition. Five categories of physical activity barriers were
analyzed within a survey: time, motivation, accessibility, emotions, and social factors. This
online physical activity questionnaire was distributed to transgender adults 18 years or older over
a course of two months. Twelve responses were received but only nine of those met the inclusion
criteria and were used in the study (n=9). Three questions were asked for each barrier category
and were formatted as a Likert scale. Each question and barrier category was given a score based
on if the responses indicated that particular instance as a barrier to physical activity or not. The
results of the survey responses showed that social factors was the highest reported barrier to
physical activity for transgender adults. Emotions was the second highest reported barrier, while
accessibility was the lowest reported barrier. The responses from this study indicate that
transgender adults do experience different or additional barriers to physical activity when
compared to the general population.
The cosmetic industry has a significant lack of data on sustainability practices. The global market for cosmetics is expected to grow from $288 billion in 2021 to $415 billion in 2028 as more people populate the globe (Cosmetics Market Size, Share, & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, 2022). This research paper analyzes sustainability within the cosmetic industry. Specifically, comparing the practices between The Body Shop and Bath & Body Works. To test the hypothesis that The Body Shop is more sustainable than Bath & Body Works, a case study analysis was conducted to measure the companies’ performance in the environmental, economic, and social sectors. Comparable metrics were selected, and a pairwise comparison was completed to weigh the different metrics. To analyze the results, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to ensure consistency in metric weights, and a Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the sector's final weights. The results verified the hypothesis that The Body Shop was more sustainable than Bath & Body Works. In all, the results support the idea that the cosmetic industry needs stronger regulations and oversight of cosmetic companies’ sustainability impact. One of the most prevalent limitations of this study is the lack of transparency and information from cosmetic companies. Moving forward, it is recommended to use data from multiple years with key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess sustainability performance more accurately.
The policy design process in the United States has been guiding policymakers for decades. In order to keep up with the developing sustainability challenges that the US is facing, a new method of policy design needs to be determined for long-lasting, sustainable change. Human-centered design principles provide a new, unique perspective for analyzing sustainability challenges. Through the integration of human-centered design principles into policy systems, a new framework for policy design can be created. Through this project, a new framework that allows for the adaptation to new technologies, scientific information, and developments in the sustainability crisis to be accounted for and adequately addressed in future policies has been created.