Matching Items (14)
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- All Subjects: Creative Project
- All Subjects: Mental Health
- Creators: School of Nutrition and Health Promotion
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Previous research has found improvements in motor and cognitive measures following Assisted Cycle Therapy (AC) in adolescence with Down syndrome (DS). Our study investigated whether we would find improvements in mental health in older adults with DS as measured from the Adapted Behavior Dementia Questionnaire (ABDQ), Physical Activity Self Efficacy Scales (PACES), Children's Depressive inventory, which are early indicators of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in persons with Down syndrome. This study consisted of seven participants with Down syndrome between the ages of 31 and 54, inclusive, that cycled for 30 minutes 3 x/week for eight weeks either at their voluntary cycling rate (VC) or approximately 35% faster with the help of a mechanical motor (ACT). Our results were consistent with our prediction that self efficacy improved following ACT, but not VC. However, our results were not consistent with our prediction that dementia and depression were improved following ACT more than VC. These results were interpreted with respect to the effects of exercise in older adults with DS. Future research should focus on recruiting more participants, especially those with deficits in mental health.
ContributorsPandya, Sachin (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Coon, David (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Poetry serves as a window through which we can convey emotions and experiences otherwise difficult to access and express. This chapbook addresses the moments in life that have dramatic transformational effects and those moments and events we wish to deny. Through my poetry, I reveal the honest revelations of hurt and pain, and the raw emotions evoked from the things that have occurred throughout my life. In doing so, I confront these painful experiences from a place of conscious awareness of the way in which they have impacted my life, and I allow others access to my hurt, self-hatred, and imperfection acknowledged throughout. This chapbook symbolizes the movement from a place of denial to a place of awareness and finally to a place of transformation and growth. As my poetry transformed from weak poems only accessible on an abstract level to powerful poems of honest and tangible pain and hurt, I experienced my own transformation. Allowing myself to candidly share my experiences with others has enabled me to grow from these experiences.
ContributorsLarson, Amanda Beth (Author) / Montesano, Mark (Thesis director) / Comeaux, Alexandra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Many studies have supported the theory that gain-framed messaging is effective in changing smoking behavior. However, the importance of focusing on long-term positive benefits or short-term positive benefits in this messaging remains a mystery. This study investigated the role that reward-delay within gain-framed messaging has on the self-esteem and behavior of cigarette smokers. Specifically, it sought to answer the question of whether short-term reward-delay messaging is more effective in increasing self-esteem and positive smoking behavior than long-term reward-delay messaging. An intervention was conducted in which participants, 16 female and 17 male, were exposed to either short-term reward-delay information or long-term reward-delay information. Self-esteem scores as well as smoking behavior were measured and compared before and after the intervention. Results from the study showed that participants in the short-term reward-delay group smoked 2 less cigarettes per day and 12 less cigarettes per week on average after the intervention than participants in the long-term reward-delay group. The results were also consistent with the findings of previous studies that suggest females are more heavily influenced by gain-framed messaging than males.
ContributorsHintze, Kellie Elizabeth (Author) / Chisum, Jack W. (Thesis director) / Brown, Carla J. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of Assisted Cycling Therapy (ACT) on depression in older adults with Down Syndrome (DS). We predicted that older adults with Down Syndrome would see an improvement in their depressive symptoms after ACT and Voluntary Cycling (VC). However, we predicted there would be a greater improvement in depressive symptoms after ACT in comparison to VC. Depression was measured using a modified version of the Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI 2) due to the low mental age of our participant population. Twenty-one older adults with DS were randomly assigned to one of three interventions, which took place over an eight-week period of time. Eleven older adults with DS completed the ACT intervention, which is stationary cycling on a recumbent bicycle with the assistance of a motor to maintain a cadence at least 35% greater than the rate of voluntary cycling. Nine participants completed the voluntary cycling intervention, where they cycled at a cadence of their choosing. One participant composed our no cycling control group. No intervention group reached results that achieved a conventional level of significance. However, there was a trend for depression to increase after 8 weeks throughout all three intervention groups. We did see a slightly slower regression of depression in the ACT group than the VC and control. Our results were discussed with respect to social and cognitive factors relevant to older adults with DS and the subjective nature of the CDI2. This study brings attention to the lack of accurate measures and standardized research methods created for populations with intellectual disabilities in regards to research.
ContributorsBeaman, Emily Kiernan (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Bosch, Pamela (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Cultural beliefs and behaviors can serve as both risk and protective processes for Latino adolescents, with some recent empirical work suggesting the important protective role of bicultural values (e.g., endorsing high levels of both mainstream culture and culture of origin). We expanded on past research to explore whether bicultural values were associated with internalizing (depressive, anxiety, stress) symptoms and externalizing (alcohol use) symptoms among a sample of Latino adolescents preparing to begin college. We hypothesized biculturalism to protect against all negative outcomes. Our sample consisted of 209 college-bound Latino adolescents (65% female; 85.1% Mexican descent; 10.6% 1st generation, 62% 2nd generation) who were enrolled in university for the coming fall. All multivariate models included sex, ethnicity, parent education, and immigrant generation status as covariates. Correlations and multivariate analyses revealed that higher bicultural values were associated with lower depressive symptoms, lower anxiety symptoms, lower stress, and greater alcohol use. Gender was shown to moderate the relationship between biculturalism and alcohol use. Overall, findings suggested that greater bicultural values were associated with lower endorsement of internalizing symptoms for all participants, but higher endorsement of alcohol use over the last year for the highly bicultural females. Biculturalism may be particularly protective for Latino adolescents who are preparing to attend college given the need for them to transition into an environment with high acculturative demands. However, our results also highlight that these bicultural females may be at greater risk for alcohol use and related problems.
ContributorsDilgert, Janice (Author) / Doane, Leah (Thesis director) / Thompson, Daisy (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
This creative project seeks to demonstrate the nutritional and financial benefits of cooking in versus eating out to college age students. We sought to determine what factors significantly differentiated restaurant meals versus home-cooked versions, and how we could share this information with our peers to potentially influence them to make a healthy lifestyle change. The first step was to determine the factors that influence college-aged students eating habits, and was presented with a review of relevant literature in several topics. We researched food literacy in young adults, the impact of fast food, social media's role in healthy eating habits, health behavior change in young adults, and the benefits of home cooking to obtain a general baseline of the knowledge of college-aged students. The initial research was utilized to write more effective blog posts that appropriately addressed our targeted demographic and to determine what platforms would be most appropriate to convey our information. These ideas were taken and then translated into a blog and Instagram account that contained healthy, copycat recipes of popular restaurant meals. We wrote 30 blog posts which were made up of 20 original recipes, 8 nutrition informational posts, and an introduction/conclusion. Finally, a focus group was hosted to ascertain the opinions of our peers, and to determine if they would be willing to make a lifestyle change in the form of cooking more frequently as opposed to eating out regularly. We provided them with a pre and post survey to gather their opinions before and after reviewing the findings of our research and project. We concluded that if given the information in an accessible way, college students are willing to eat in, not out.
ContributorsKirch, Jayme Elizabeth (Co-author) / Sanford, Victoria (Co-author) / Lehmann, Jessica (Thesis director) / Martinelli, Sarah (Committee member) / Levinson, Simin (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Research indicates patient adherence to physical therapy home exercise programs is low and this is confirmed anecdotally by people working in the field. Many patients do not improve at the desired rate because they are only coming into the clinic for two to three days a week and then do not continue with their exercises at home. This thesis project was focused on designing a mobile application that would better help physical therapists facilitate home exercises for their patients. The goals of this application were to make it easier for patients to remember what they need to do and how often they need to do it, to increase patient improvements by making it easier to access and complete assigned exercises, and to make the physical therapist more efficient and effective by assigning the exercises through a program that can be easily altered. In order to create this application, research on self-efficacy, adherence, and behavior strategies and theories was collected. Then, interviews with physical therapists and patients were completed to determine what content should be added to the application for patients to be successful and to determine what features they believed would best facilitate exercise adherence. Lastly, the application and its features were designed based on the collected research and interviews.
ContributorsMoran, Alyssa Marie (Author) / Broman, Tannah (Thesis director) / Feser, Erin (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Beets have a history of bad reputation for not having the most appetizing qualities compared to other vegetables. Despite the nutritional and health benefits of Beta vulgaris rubra (commonly red beetroot or red beets) the potential of this vegetable has yet to be glorified as compared to i.e. Brassica oleracea var. sabellica (kale), or Chenopodium quinoa (quinoa). When considering this root vegetable as a vehicle for providing your body with a source of dietary nitrate, Beta vulgaris rubra can be classified as a functional food. This work dives deeper into the function of Nitric Oxide (NO) within the human body, and explains the potential benefits of consuming red beets. Followed is a proposal for a cookbook focused on dishes containing this vegetable, as well as a sample of recipes varying from breakfast to dinner to dessert. The amount of nitrate provided by each serving of any of the dishes has not been established, and it is rather a creative attempt to shine positive light on this functional food.
ContributorsBooher, Aleksandra Maja (Author) / Mayol-Kreiser, Sandra (Thesis director) / Lespron, Christy (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Cases of diet-related illnesses are some of the most common illnesses we witness today. From heart disease to type 2 diabetes, from obesity to hypertension, many of these diseases are easily prevented by lifestyle changes. However, it is much easier to instill healthy habits in a population from the start rather than trying to change habits later, even if one's health depends on it. A pastime as simple as cooking allows us to take responsibility for our own health by (quite literally) taking it into our own hands. This is why I chose to write a cookbook for my honor's thesis. More importantly, this is why I chose to write a cookbook geared towards young children. My target audience is 8-11 years old because that's when I first started to cook, and it's a habit that has kept me well to this day. Within this cookbook, readers will find over 30 (mostly) healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and desserts, complete with written instructions and photographs to aid with meal preparation. My hope is that, during my career, I will be able to publish this book and distribute it to children who might not have an interest in cooking, but can learn basic cooking skills from my book. If kids get working in the kitchen, they might keep cooking as they grow older, which will help them keep control of their health for the better.
ContributorsArellano Summer, Myrella Gabriela (Author) / Grgich, Traci (Thesis director) / Lespron, Christy (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
For this creative project, an instructional video on relaxation techniques was created. The relaxation techniques demonstrated were intended to help patients with comorbid cancer and sleep disturbance fall asleep with greater ease. Based on a literature review, autogenic training and tai chi were chosen as the relaxation techniques to demonstrate in the video project. The literature review informed what components of autogenic training and tai chi should be included in the video. A patient with cancer was asked to participate in the making of the video. The patient was guided through autogenic training and tai chi. The patient provided feedback on her experience after completing each technique. The video also included background information on the two relaxation techniques. The completed video was presented to the director of Natural Medicine and Detox in Phoenix, AZ, a naturopathic physician, and a cancer survivor. These individuals provided feedback on what they liked about the video and what they thought needed improvement. The video was posted on YouTube as a resource for patients with cancer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04kYz1kSCaU
ContributorsIliescu, Michelle Kathleen (Author) / Petrov, Megan (Thesis director) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12