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- Creators: Department of Psychology
- Creators: Brian, Jennifer
Description
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient's death by prescribing a lethal medication that they understand will be used for the purpose of ending the patient's life. It is a highly contentious subject and, with the recent addition of California to the list of states that allow physician-assisted suicide, is an increasingly relevant subject. Physician-assisted suicide is rarely framed as a healthcare experience, despite being a choice in the process of end-of-life care. The research seeks to bring together the debates about physician-assisted suicide with conversations about health care experiences. The experiences and perspectives of young people are particularly valuable to evaluate now, as their voices will soon be the leaders in the debate over physician-assisted suicide. Within this research, there is an underlying theme of independence of individuals that is present through both the literature review and the body of data collected and analyzed. The study found that there was no significant relationship between the quality of a person's healthcare and their perspectives about physician-assisted suicide.
ContributorsMoeur, Katherine Elizabeth (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Graff, Sarah (Committee member) / Stevenson, Christine (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
As technology's influence pushes every industry to change, healthcare professionals must move to a more connected model. The nearly ubiquitous presence of smartphones presents a unique opportunity for physicians to collect and process data from their patients more frequently. The Mayo Clinic, in partnership with the Barrett Honors College, has designed and developed a prototype smartphone application targeting palliative care patients. The application collects symptom data from the patients and presents it to the doctors. This development project serves as a proof-of-concept for the application, and shows how such an application might look and function. Additionally, the project has revealed significant possibilities for the future of the application.
ContributorsGaney, David Howard (Author) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Thesis director) / Lipinski, Christopher (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Emerging Information Technology, Storage and Evaluation within Healthcare: A Discerning IMT Analysis
Description
The introduction of novel information technology within contemporary healthcare settings presents a critical juncture for the industry and thus lends itself to the importance of better understanding the impact of this emerging "health 2.0" landscape. Simply, how such technology may affect the healthcare system is still not fully realized, despite the ever-growing need to adopt it in order to serve a growing patient population. Thus, two pertinent questions are posed: is HIT useful and practical and, if so, what is the best way to implement it? This study examined the clinical implementation of specific instances of health information technology (HIT) so as to weigh its benefits and risks to ultimately construct a proposal for successful widespread adoption. Due to the poignancy of information analysis within HIT, Information Measurement Theory (IMT) was used to measure the effectiveness of current HIT systems as well as to elucidate improvements for future implementation. The results indicate that increased transparency, attention to patient-focused approaches and proper IT training will not only allow HIT to better serve the community, but will also decrease inefficient healthcare expenditure.
ContributorsMaietta, Myles Anthony (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The 284 residents of the rural community of Cooper Landing, Alaska are subject to many health risks. Cooper Landing is home to a large population of older adults whom suffer from a disproportionate physician to population ratio. Limited rural health care infrastructure and poor physician to population ratios are not conducive to primary health care implementation. Limited access to primary health care is linked to vast health disparities in rural communities like Cooper Landing. Preventive care and healthy lifestyle incentives have been largely overlooked as viable alternatives to primary health care access. In Cooper Landing, implementation of such incentives has proved to be either underutilized or unsuccessful by the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. To remedy this, the Rural Alaska Wellness Project (RAWP), a nonprofit organization, carries out its mission to promote health and wellness by providing a community resource for preventive care in Cooper Landing, Alaska. RAWP intends to increase the availability of the Cooper Landing School's gymnasium for community use, donate fitness equipment, implement TeleHealth initiatives, and host annual health fairs through grant funding, generous donations, and fundraising activities.
ContributorsNolan, Erin Sachi (Author) / Shockley, Gordon (Thesis director) / Hrncir, Shawn (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
With advances in biotechnology, personalized medicine has become an ever-expanding field. Even with so much growth, the critics equally match the proponents of personalized medicine. The source of their disagreement is rooted in the concept of empowerment. This analysis utilizes the personal genomics company 23andMe and their relationship with the Federal Food and Drug Administration to illustrate varying views of empowerment. Specifically, the case study focuses on the ability to provide direct-to-consumer health reports to patients independent of physicians. In doing this, larger issues of what is at stake in personalized medicine are uncovered. These include but are not limited to: who determines what individuals get empowered and what information is determined good versus bad.
ContributorsSilverman, Adam Mattern (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Homelessness is a pervasive in American society. The causes of homelessness are complex, but health and homelessness are inextricably linked. Student-run free clinics care for underserved populations, including people experiencing homelessness, but they have multiple agendas—to provide care but also to give students hands-on experience. It is plausible that these two agendas may compete and give patients sub-par quality of care.
This study examines patient care in the SHOW free clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, which serves adults experiencing homelessness. This study asks two questions: First, do clinicians in Phoenix’s SHOW free clinic discuss with patients how to pay for and where to access follow-up services and medications? Second, how do the backgrounds of patients, measured by scales based on the Gelberg-Anderson behavioral model for vulnerable populations, correlate with patient outcomes, including number of unmet needs in clinic, patient satisfaction with care, and patient perceived health status? To answer these questions, structured surveys were administered to SHOW clinic patients at the end of their visits. Results were analyzed using Pearson’s correlations and odds ratios. 21 patients completed the survey over four weeks in February-March 2017. We did not identify any statistically significant correlations between predisposing factors such as severity/duration of homelessness, mental health history, ethnicity, or LGBTQ status and quality of care outcomes. Twenty nine percent of surveyed patients reported having one or more unmet needs following their SHOW clinic visit suggesting an important area for future research. The results from this study indicate that measuring unmet needs is a feasible alternative to patient satisfaction surveys for assessing quality of care in student-run free clinics for homeless populations.
This study examines patient care in the SHOW free clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, which serves adults experiencing homelessness. This study asks two questions: First, do clinicians in Phoenix’s SHOW free clinic discuss with patients how to pay for and where to access follow-up services and medications? Second, how do the backgrounds of patients, measured by scales based on the Gelberg-Anderson behavioral model for vulnerable populations, correlate with patient outcomes, including number of unmet needs in clinic, patient satisfaction with care, and patient perceived health status? To answer these questions, structured surveys were administered to SHOW clinic patients at the end of their visits. Results were analyzed using Pearson’s correlations and odds ratios. 21 patients completed the survey over four weeks in February-March 2017. We did not identify any statistically significant correlations between predisposing factors such as severity/duration of homelessness, mental health history, ethnicity, or LGBTQ status and quality of care outcomes. Twenty nine percent of surveyed patients reported having one or more unmet needs following their SHOW clinic visit suggesting an important area for future research. The results from this study indicate that measuring unmet needs is a feasible alternative to patient satisfaction surveys for assessing quality of care in student-run free clinics for homeless populations.
ContributorsWilson, Ethan Sinead (Author) / Jehn, Megan (Thesis director) / Harrell, Susan (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This paper sought to answer the question of how to improve the American healthcare system. The Affordable Care Act aimed to do this by increasing access to insurance. What this has done, however, is exacerbate the already rising rate of physician shortages. As a way to fix this problem, it is suggested that state legislatures and the federal government adopt the rising trend of expanding scope of practice to the extent of the care providers' certification. This is a movement has garnered support throughout the country and 20 states already allow for nearly autonomous practice by advanced practice nurses (APNs). This paper looked at systematic review, peer-reviewed papers, state/federal legislation and labor statistics to demonstrate how this move could increase access to healthcare providers as well as decrease cost by nearly 25%. This paper also evaluated how to formalization of nursing education has had positive impacts on the French healthcare system. Additionally, it evaluated a more specific look at Arizona and used data provided by the Arizona Board of Nursing and The Arizona Medical Board to make a compelling argument as to why this is a viable option for solving the disparity between rural and urban healthcare. The conclusion of the paper was to push policy makers to make the statutory constraints of the profession closer to the certification the people receive in their education as opposed to relying on case law. Additionally, it would be helpful to use technological innovations, like project echo, to help these professionals practice in rural areas. This will ultimately lead to a healthcare system that better serves the needs of all populations, as well as decreasing the overall cost of care.
ContributorsKingsbury, Andrew (Author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / McGregor, Joan (Committee member) / Reddy, Swapna (Committee member) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Health service quality is understood to be a crucial determinant in successful patient-physician encounters and patient health. One common feeling that patients have reported experiencing during appointments is shame. We hypothesized that patients who experience appearance-based shame during an appointment are not likely to return to the same physician and that patients who do not experience appearance-based shame are likely to return to the same physician. This was assessed by conducting an anonymous online survey of 13 questions that served to establish a general foundation for understanding the participants' physical characteristics such as race, age, weight, and gender identity as well as their overall patient-physician relationship and experiences of shame, if applicable. 119 participants were recruited from Arizona State University and a case study was performed individually for five participants of interest. The data analyzed from this study suggests that while appearance-based shame does exist in healthcare spaces, it is not a significant determining factor in patients returning to their physicians. In addition, there was no significant evidence to suggest that patients who do not experience appearance-based shame are either likely or more likely to return to their physician. We hypothesize this could be due to confounding variables such as convenience, accessibility, or insurance limitations which patients may prioritize over feeling ashamed during an appointment. However, more research needs to be conducted to confirm these hypotheses.
ContributorsHolmes, Madison (Author) / Santos, Emily (Co-author) / Kathir, Nehhaa (Co-author) / Fontinha de Alcantara, Christiane (Thesis director) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
A patient's adherence to their treatment plan is crucial for management of chronic disease. The literature supports the fact that adherence is low, often at or below 50%. In order to adhere to one’s treatment plan, a patient must have accurate recall of this plan. A large body of research has established that patient recall is poor, and there is a growing body of research examining ways to improve recall, and thus, treatment outcomes. The present study examines differing delivery methods of the After Visit Summary in order to improve adherence, treatment outcomes, and patient satisfaction. It also evaluates the impact of visit modality (virtual vs. face-to-face visits) on patient recall for treatment information.
ContributorsSutherland, Isabella (Author) / Hartwell, Leland (Thesis director) / Hollmann, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
In the emergency department of a hospital, providers are responsible for diagnosing and treating multiple critical patients at a time. Their ability to make quick and careful decisions often will determine whether their patient lives or dies. Because of this, emergency department (ED) providers experience significant amounts of stress during each shift which consequently may lead to burnout (Lall et al., 2019). It is crucial to investigate strategies to help control burnout among ED providers, as their own well-being directly affects the physical health of their patients. Furthermore, female providers are subject to increased stress from unique challenges within the workplace due to their gender. The purpose of this study was to determine which strategies are the most effective in the mitigation of burnout among female emergency department providers. A survey was administered to emergency department providers (M.D., D.O., P.A., and N.P.) from three hospitals in Arizona. It was found that spending time with family, maintaining good nutrition, and exercising were the most effective strategies in the mitigation of female provider burnout. These results should be considered by providers who work in the ED, female providers working in other medical specialties, other ED staff, hospital administration, and ED patients. With the implementation of these three strategies into their daily life, female ED providers may find a decrease in burnout and, consequently, an improvement in patient care.
ContributorsZurbriggen, Hannah (Author) / Kappes, Janelle (Thesis director) / Lewis, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2024-05