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- All Subjects: healthcare
- Creators: College of Health Solutions
- Creators: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
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
Smartphone-based healthcare. It's becoming more real as technology advances, adding value to healthcare and opening the doors to more personalized medicine. The Medical Pal is a smartphone application that can track symptoms and analyze trends in the severity of those symptoms, alerting healthcare providers when there is a significant increase in the symptom severity. This is especially directed to the palliative patient, whose care is focused on managing symptoms and providing comfort. The HIPAA-compliant server used for the smartphone application was Catalyze.io and 40 Mayo Clinic Arizona palliative patients were surveyed on their smartphone usage to test the acceptance of this app in a clinical setting. A trial involving 9 simulated patients was conducted over a two week period to test the functionality of the app. A majority of surveyed patients (85%) expressed favor for the idea of a mobile ESAS, and the app was functioning, with the capability of displaying patient data on a healthcare provider's account. This project is intentionally a door-opener to an open field of opportunity for mobile health, symptom observation, and improvements in healthcare delivery.
ContributorsDao, Lelan Diep (Author) / Cortese, Denis (Thesis director) / Lipinski, Christopher (Committee member) / Fitch, Tom (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Exercise is a great boon to both the health of individuals and the national as a whole. Exercise provides a wide range of significant and well established benefits to both physical and psychological health, with many benefits that are still being discovered. The effects of exercise on health are somewhat unique, as exercise is one of a limited number of ways to improve health that is not harm a reduction strategy, but instead increases health through direct benefit, rather than increasing health by decreasing damage and harm. Support is also given to the proposal that individuals are in best position to determine the intensity of exercise and to choose primary activities to participate in, in order to provide near maximum physical and psychological benefit, with the understanding that frequency of exercise is of the upmost importance for benefit. The accessibility of exercise and the tremendous health benefit of exercise, makes exercise a huge asset in reducing the exorbitant health care spending and improving mediocre health outcomes in this country; a reasonable goal as numerous countries have better health the United States, even though the United States spends the more than any other country on health.
ContributorsRael, Ashur Scott (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This manual provides a "how-to" framework for the development of a student-run clinic. The manual should be used as a resource, referring to the table of contents and summaries of topics for specific areas of interest. The manual details the phases for the development of a student-run clinic focusing on underserved populations. The Student Health Outreach for Wellness (S.H.O.W.) Community Initiative in Phoenix, Arizona serves as the example. S.H.O.W. represents just one type of clinic structuring. As such, it is important to realize when developing a clinic that there are numerous clinic approaches based on community needs, volunteer support, and funding.
ContributorsWheeler, Shannon Christine (Author) / Thompson, Pamela (Thesis director) / Gaughan, Monica (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 was created as an overhaul of the US Healthcare system with a goal of getting all American citizens and legal residents healthcare that was both affordable and of good quality. Now almost a year removed from it going into effect, this study looks to determine how the ACA has worked in getting individuals who were previously uninsured and required charitable-based healthcare into health insurance programs within a small population in Arizona. This study evaluates the type of insurance program, the quality and ease of access of the care, and the general affordability of the healthcare. This study found that 75% of individuals surveyed had gained health insurance in the last year, with 95% expecting to be insured for 2015. The large majority rated the quality of their care and the accessibility of it as good, with corresponding increased use of primary care providers as a health resource. The affordability of the care was still a major issue for those who were found to be uninsured and for those who were insured. Despite affordability issues, self-reported measures of general health and access to care were reported by the majority of respondents to have improved over the last 12 months.
ContributorsHonan, Timothy Francis (Author) / Ketcham, Jonathan (Thesis director) / Jehn, Megan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Populations in the United States and globally struggle to receive equal and affordable access to healthcare, this is no secret. However there are several minority and underprivileged groups within the population that experience disproportionate quality of healthcare when compared to their cis-gendered heterosexual counterparts.
Individuals that align and identify themselves as part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) Community, often face discrimination and bias from within the healthcare system that prevent them from receiving adequate patient knowledge, tailored and beneficial healthcare, as well as social support when seeking treatment for conditions that may at times, be more persistent within the community. Examples of these holes within the healthcare system include a lack of culturally competent and appropriate care for those in the community, access to affordable treatments, and other unique health needs.
Consequently, as a minority group these members face social and environmental factors that contribute to their overall wellbeing and health, and therefore training and education need to be implemented for future and current healthcare providers to assess, recognize and acknowledge these varying factors and how they contribute to a patient’s overall wellbeing.
Individuals that align and identify themselves as part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) Community, often face discrimination and bias from within the healthcare system that prevent them from receiving adequate patient knowledge, tailored and beneficial healthcare, as well as social support when seeking treatment for conditions that may at times, be more persistent within the community. Examples of these holes within the healthcare system include a lack of culturally competent and appropriate care for those in the community, access to affordable treatments, and other unique health needs.
Consequently, as a minority group these members face social and environmental factors that contribute to their overall wellbeing and health, and therefore training and education need to be implemented for future and current healthcare providers to assess, recognize and acknowledge these varying factors and how they contribute to a patient’s overall wellbeing.
ContributorsRandell, Arianna Nicole (Author) / Kizer, Elizabeth (Thesis director) / Don, Rachael (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this study was to evaluate how incarceration impacts the health of female inmates. Healthcare professionals and employees at the Riverside Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, were interviewed in order to ascertain their perspective on the health of the female inmates they serve. A total of six employees, identified as “respondents” were interviewed and, in addition to these interviews, a tour of the facility was provided. This study used a phenomenological design and the results were analyzed through grounded theory, in which responses were broken down into several codes and themes were then identified from those codes. The analysis of the interviews found that healthcare, empowerment, and drug use were the main themes identified in relation to the health impacts of incarcerated women. The healthcare provided at the facility has a significant impact on the health of the inmates, because most of the inmates struggle with some form of health issue, such as a mental illness, untreated malady, or drug dependency. Empowerment was found to be the most important factor in motivating women to obtain an education, employment skills, and employment once they reenter society. All respondents identified drug use as the most profound health issue at the facility, in addition to acting as the largest barrier for women to successfully reenter society and attain stable employment.
ContributorsBraunstein, Zoe (Author) / Savaglio, Lauren (Thesis director) / Davis-Strong, Devi (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Medicine is evolving at an accelerating rate. The needs of the future in medicine are different than the needs of today. With many possible outcomes for the future of medicine, researchers and physicians have tried to predict the future for particular fields. As new healthcare workers enter the medical field, their training must be tailored to provide the best education to prepare healthcare workers for their careers. Therefore, it is imperative to take a closer look into the future in order to better decide how to train doctors, nurses, PA’s, etc. effectively to provide the best care possible.
ContributorsHewlett, Jessica Lynn (Author) / Sklar, David (Thesis director) / Lindor, Keith (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis uses the Foucauldian model of the biopolitical state to explain the regulation of refugee women’s bodies who have undergone female genital cutting/mutilation (FGC/M). The main theoretical framework for this thesis is inspired by Dr. Khiara Bridges’ work: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (2011). Her book explains how “material and societal conditions appear to affirm the veracity of race” (Bridges, 2011, 10). She describes pregnancy as a “racially salient event” that inevitably engages racial politics. In her book, she illustrates how the material body is the primary sign of racial difference (Bridges, 2011, 47). I argue that race and culture are inscribed in the body, and FGC/M is a physical representation of that inscription. As a result, a physical representation of racialization opens women with FGC/M to far more scrutiny and regulation. I define the United States and France as biopolitical states whose values and agendas regulate and police bodies to behave according to their norms. The value set that underlies the United States is predicated on principles of sovereignty, federalism, and an emphasis on a Puritanical work ethic where an individual must earn their benefits from the state. In France, however, there is less stigma surrounding social welfare but there is forced cultural assimilation that results in a singular, secular French identity. These value systems then inform the tools to police behavior. The tools, or systems, I have identified for this thesis are the adoption of human rights instruments into domestic law, refugee policy, healthcare systems, and regulation of women’s reproductive health. All of these macro-level systems then inform individual patient-provider relationships since those interactions are not independent of these systems. I argue that refugee women who have undergone FGC/M deviate from these prescribed norms and thus are subjugated to overwhelming biopolitical regulation.
ContributorsRamakumar, Asha Anjali (Author) / Reddy, Swapna (Thesis director) / Switzer, Heather (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Healthcare encounters may often be experienced by patients as cultural experiences as much as they are medicinal, creating different expectations and perceptions for each individual seeking care. This project sought to understand the experiences that Alaska Natives have with healthcare and how those experiences influenced their care. It provided a small window into the cultural relevance to healthcare for Alaska Natives by conducting interviews with participants from Sitka, Alaska. Interviews addressed three topics (or themes): linguistic and communication barriers, culturally specific care associated with individual tribes and patient-provider relationships. Although these topics, within the context of healthcare, have been well studied under the Native American - Alaska Native demographic umbrella, few projects target Alaska Natives specifically. This project was developed to specifically spotlight Alaska Natives to gain an understanding of their healthcare experiences.
ContributorsLarson, Skylar (Author) / McMullen, Mary (Thesis director) / Rowans, Leslie (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05