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Implementing Raised Bed Gardens as a Form of a Health Intervention, Specifically in Habitat for Humanity Homes

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The rise of the average life span in developed countries in the past couple of centuries can be traced back to implementation of relatively simple health interventions. Also, accompanying the rise in the average life span is the rise in chronic disease. Current treatments for chronic disease is often very…

The rise of the average life span in developed countries in the past couple of centuries can be traced back to implementation of relatively simple health interventions. Also, accompanying the rise in the average life span is the rise in chronic disease. Current treatments for chronic disease is often very costly and only offers partial alleviation to the problem. Preventing the chronic disease upstream of the problem happening in the first place is both significantly more effective and cheaper. Raised bed gardening helps prevent chronic disease processes from happening through mental, physical, and nutritional health benefits. A subset of people that would particularly benefit from raised bed gardening would be families receiving homes from Habitat from Humanity for many different reasons including susceptibility to a gardening intervention, availability of materials, and location of the homes. A guide to implement these gardens is provided which is supplemented with a combination of research and personal experience.
ContributorsBarker, Kenneth Holland (Author) / Collins, Michael (Thesis director) / Kizer, Elizabeth (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Adaptive Aquatics: Training Swim Instructors to Work with Individuals with Disabilities

Description
This thesis project examines the nature of aquatic exercise and the applicability and advantages it has for individuals living with a developmental disability. Specifically, this project will be taking a look at the discontinuation of the Red Cross adapted aquatics certification in the early 2000's. This certification was specifically meant…

This thesis project examines the nature of aquatic exercise and the applicability and advantages it has for individuals living with a developmental disability. Specifically, this project will be taking a look at the discontinuation of the Red Cross adapted aquatics certification in the early 2000's. This certification was specifically meant for swim instructors to teach those with disabilities. However, this program was cut in 2004 and has not been replaced in the current Red Cross literature, excluding a single chapter of limited scope and does not include in-person training. Therefore, this project is meant to be a multifaceted study of the history, benefits, and limitations of re-instituting this and similar programs that help prepare aquatics teachers to aid individuals with disabilities, specifically individuals living with cerebral palsy and autism spectrum disorder. The primary goal of this project is to take an understanding of aquatics as a method of healing and apply these findings in order to promote the continued growth of aquatic exercise in a way that will make it more accessible to individuals who may not be able to participate in such an environment otherwise. This paper will also be exploring future endeavors related to adapted aquatics groups, and what steps should be taken to bolster awareness and participation, both through the Red Cross and other organizations. For this project I will be relying not only on current journalistic literature, but also my own experiences as an instructor of Red Cross swimming lessons, and the Sioux Falls based group, Adaptive Aquatics.
ContributorsHansen, Emily Ann (Author) / Collins, Michael (Thesis director) / Washo-Krupps, Delon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
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Contributing to a meta-analysis on the effects of acute physical exercise on the executive functions of preadolescent children, adolescents and adults

Description
The purpose of this study, originally, was to contribute to the completion of a meta-analysis conducted by Mara Wierstra from the University of Virginia. Wierstra had requested individual participant data from two separate studies conducted in our lab: "Acute bouts of assisted cycling improves cognitive and upper extremity movement functions…

The purpose of this study, originally, was to contribute to the completion of a meta-analysis conducted by Mara Wierstra from the University of Virginia. Wierstra had requested individual participant data from two separate studies conducted in our lab: "Acute bouts of assisted cycling improves cognitive and upper extremity movement functions in adolescents with Down syndrome" and "Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) improves inhibition in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder." From the data requested, the participants were required to complete three separate tests (i.e., Tower of London, Trail Making Task and the Stroop Test). After compiling the data and sending it to her, we decided to conduct a small meta-analysis of our own, drawing connecting conclusions from the data from the two studies. We concluded that observationally our data suggest an advantage for ACT over voluntary cycling and no cycling across two separate populations (i.e., Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome), and across different measures of executive function (i.e., Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, and Tower of London). The data suggest that the ACT interventions may promote the upregulation of neurotropic factors leading to neurogenesis in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
ContributorsParker, Cade Joseph (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12