Matching Items (339)
Filtering by
- Creators: College of Health Solutions
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
Description
In the US, individuals between ages 18-26 years old have the highest incidence of new HPV infection, the most common sexually transmitted infection. HPV infection can lead to the development of non-cancerous genital warts and persistent infection with cancerous strains can cause various cancers. An HPV vaccine which offers protection against seven cancerous strains and the two non-cancerous strains which cause genital warts has recommended for use by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for both men and women beginning in 2011. However, young adult men, including college-aged men, are lagging in HPV vaccine uptake and completion. This cross-sectional study, guided by the Health Belief Model and Theory of Planned Behavior, seeks to explore college men’s behaviors and intentions to getting the HPV vaccine (primary outcomes). It also seeks to explore their perceived susceptibility and severity of HPV infection; attitudes about the HPV vaccine, self-efficacy and social norms to vaccinate, and stigma related to HPV infection (secondary outcomes). Study results showed that only 33% of college men reported knowing they had received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. The majority of men reported they had never had a conversation about the HPV vaccine with their primary care provider. Overall, men had positive attitudes about the HPV vaccine, high self-efficacy to communicate and access the vaccine, but low intentions and low social norms to vaccinate against this virus. Outcomes of this research suggest the need for future intervention work to focus on increasing college males’ social norms to vaccinate against HPV. Influencing parents, peers, and other influential individuals to encourage college males to vaccinate against HPV may, in fact, increase their intentions and behaviors to utilize this cancer prevention resource.
ContributorsMcwilliams, Emily (Author) / Koskan, Alexis (Thesis director) / Helitzer, Deborah (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Almost from the beginning of time, humankind has searched for the secret to longevity. Early on in ancient Greece, many mythologies centered around that of Ambrosia, a holy ‘nectar’ through which gods gained their immortality (Maaz, 2006). As mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey, it was believed this honey-like nectar could heal wounds, resurrect the dead and provide immortality. One of China’s earliest emperor’s, Qin Shi Haug of the Qin Dynasty, ordered a nationwide search for a potion of eternal life (“How China's first emperor,” 2017). Qin commissioned a number of alchemists to create a sort of mixture from substances such as cinnabar, jade, and hematite, as these were believed to increase longevity in the person who consumed them (“How China's first emperor,” 2017). In India, the elixir of life has many names, and Indian alchemists spent a great deal of time experimenting with mercury and other minerals in hopes to find the key to immortality (Rastogi et al., 2015). While there have been great advances throughout history to increasing longevity – worldwide life expectancy is at an all-time high – we have yet to find the elixir of life (World Health Organization, 2016). Attempts on finding the secret to a longer life can be seen throughout the rest of history in modern medicine, antibiotics, vaccines, new fad diets, and studies on happiness and purpose. One of the most recent and promising studies on increasing lifespan is the study of Blue Zones.
Blue Zones are geographic clusters that are known as longevity regions (Huang & Jacquez, 2017). These regions are seen to have a larger number and distribution of centenarians among their populations compared to the rest of the world. There are currently five Blue Zones across the globe: Ikaria, Greece, Loma Linda, California, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Okinawa, Japan, and Sardinia, Italy. Blue Zones have become a catalyst for researchers to unlock the secret to longevity. The most well-known and extensive Blue Zone research, led by Dan Buettner and his National Geographic team, discovered that all of the Blue Zones have nine common factors (Buettner, 2012). These factors have been developed into pillars that Buettner believes are the key to a longer, healthier and happier life. The nine pillars are: 80% rule, plant slant, wine at 5, move naturally, down shift, purpose, belong, right tribe, and loved ones first. It is proposed that by incorporating these pillars into one’s life, the likelihood of living to be a centenarian increases exponentially.
Blue Zones are geographic clusters that are known as longevity regions (Huang & Jacquez, 2017). These regions are seen to have a larger number and distribution of centenarians among their populations compared to the rest of the world. There are currently five Blue Zones across the globe: Ikaria, Greece, Loma Linda, California, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Okinawa, Japan, and Sardinia, Italy. Blue Zones have become a catalyst for researchers to unlock the secret to longevity. The most well-known and extensive Blue Zone research, led by Dan Buettner and his National Geographic team, discovered that all of the Blue Zones have nine common factors (Buettner, 2012). These factors have been developed into pillars that Buettner believes are the key to a longer, healthier and happier life. The nine pillars are: 80% rule, plant slant, wine at 5, move naturally, down shift, purpose, belong, right tribe, and loved ones first. It is proposed that by incorporating these pillars into one’s life, the likelihood of living to be a centenarian increases exponentially.
ContributorsMattson, Hannah Marie (Co-author) / Lewis, Allison (Co-author) / Mayol-Kreiser, Sandra (Thesis director) / Shephard, Christina (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Stroke is the fifth most common cause of death in America and a leading cause of long-term adult disability, affecting more than 795,000 people a year ("American Stroke Association: A Division of the American Heart Association"). Many of these individuals experience persistent difficulty with the execution of daily tasks as a direct consequence of a stroke. A key factor in the successful recovery of a stroke survivor is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation sessions can start within two days of the stroke if the patient is in stable condition, and often continues long after their release from the hospital ("American Stroke Association: A Division of the American Heart Association"). The rehabilitation sessions are driven by a team of rehabilitation care professionals which includes, but is not limited to a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech-language pathologist. These professionals are available to the stroke survivor as resources to assist in developing and organizing ways to achieve independence as opposed to dependence. Ultimately, a stroke survivor’s family typically provides the most important long-term support during recovery and rehabilitation ("American Stroke Association: A Division of the American Heart Association"). However, there is very little research that focuses on the impact that local family can have on the stroke survivor’s establishment and achievement of goals throughout their recovery and rehabilitation. This study examines this gap in knowledge.
ContributorsGraves, Migail (Author) / Rogalsky, Corianne (Thesis director) / Schaefer, Sydney (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Research on the correlation between exercise and mental health outcomes has been a growing field for the past few decades. It is of specific interest to look at how physical activity affects psychological outcomes and it’s efficacy for treating mental health disorders. The current treatment options for depression and anxiety are not suitable for everyone and therefore there is a need for a more accessible and cost-effective form of treatment, like exercise. Furthermore, exercise as a treatment is also linked with many more health benefits. Indeed a wealth of studies have explored the relationships between exercise and depression as well as exercise and anxiety, showing exercise to be a positive predictor of mental health. The following paper will serve to: define depressive and anxiety disorders, explore the research on the effects of physical activity prescriptions on the outcomes of such disorders, create evidence-based applied recommendations for different disorders, and explore the mechanisms by which exercise mitigates symptoms to ultimately accredit the prescription of exercise as a form of treatment for mental health disorders.
ContributorsAddington, Rachel Anne (Author) / Hoffner, Kristin (Thesis director) / Broman, Tannah (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The objective of this study was to examine the quality of life health metrics of parents whose children were diagnosed with Classic Galactosemia and underwent a proactive treatment program. The data analyzed in this study came from the Babble Boot Camp©, which included one control family and nine treatment families. The Babble Boot Camp© is an innovative intervention program that is implemented via parent training. Child progress and parent quality of life are closely monitored in regular intervals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the intervention was successful in terms of child language growth, how the child’s progress affected the parent’s quality of life, and if there were differences in the psychological and physical health of the mothers and fathers. We utilized a variety of questionnaires, specifically the Ages and Stages Questionnaires- 3 (ASQ3) (Squires & Bricker, 2009), Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) Questionnaire (Varni, 1998), Parental Stress Index (PSI-4) (Abidin 2012) and the MacArthur CDI Questionnaire (MBCDI2) (Fenson et al., 2007). The three main findings of this study are: the BBC© treatment protocol showed beneficial gain to the children, the development of the child did affect the parent’s quality of life, and the mother’s physical health was significantly worse than the father’s in terms of health metrics. The significance of this study is to identify preliminary trends in quality of life data of the parents. Clinical implications for the future include investigation of various possible factors driving the improvement of the parent’s quality of life.
ContributorsSchur, Jacklyn (Author) / Peter, Dr. Beate (Thesis director) / Scherer, Nancy (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The objective of the following research is to analyze the credibility of Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility feeding model and investigate its effectiveness when executed properly. Implementing this feeding model is proven effective in creating peaceful mealtimes, increasing healthy food relationships between children and food, and raising competent eaters. Being a competent eater helps to bypass larger lifelong struggles that threaten children’s health and safety – struggles like obesity, eating disorders, and chronic weight-related health conditions, making this research paramount in helping the children of the world fight the obesity epidemic that has been threatening their generation for more than a decade. It is an unfortunate fact that Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility lack specifics research trials on its effectiveness. The research below is of significant interest because it highlights the effectiveness of this feeding model while addressing its credibility, achievability, and limitations in conjunction with stressing the need for more research trials to be conducted.
ContributorsBlue, Casey Jordan (Author) / Dixon, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Hughner, Renee (Committee member) / Morrison School of Agribusiness (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Acne scarring can negatively affect individuals’ lives long after active acne has resolved. An online survey analyzed the public’s acne history and knowledge of acne scar prevention to determine acne scar risk factors and public awareness of acne scar prevention and yielded 209 complete data sets. Though types of acne scars vary in how long they persist on one’s skin, all forms were found to be equal in the negative psychological impact they inflict. Acne severity, acne duration, individual age, and family history of scarring were found to have associations with atrophic scarring The findings suggest a need for implementing a structured and standardized way for communicating acne scar prevention information to the general public. Practical implications of these findings are discussed further for increasing public awareness of acne scarring and prevention knowledge.
ContributorsJone, Jillian Louise (Author) / Lee, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Redden, Tamara (Committee member) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Plant viral vectors have previously been used to produce high expression levels of antibodies and other proteins of interest. By utilizing a transformed Agrobacterium with the vector containing the protein of interest for infiltration, viral vectors can easily reach the plant cells making it an effective form of transient protein expression. For this project two different plant viral vectors were compared; the geminiviral vector derived from Bean yellow dwarf virus (BeYDV) and the MagnICON vector system derived from Tobacco Mosaic Virus(TMV) and Potato Virus X(PVX). E16, an antibody against West Nile virus, has previously been expressed using both systems but expression levels between the systems were not directly compared. Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 cells were transformed with both systems and expression levels of E16 were quantified using ELISAs. Results showed very low expression levels of E16 using the geminiviral vector indicating a need for further investigation into the clone used as previous studies reported much higher expression levels with the system.
ContributorsMurphy, Skylar (Author) / Chen, Qiang (Thesis director) / Jugler, Collin (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The focus of this research paper will be on assessing the nutritional quality of the available dining options across the Arizona State University Campus by assessing the healthfulness, cost and availability of dining options. Due to the lifestyle changes that come along with attending college, first time full-time freshmen are at an increased risk for gaining weight and developing poor lifestyle choices that will follow them into adulthood. Freshman who chose to live in an on-campus dorm are required to enroll in a meal plan giving them access to dining halls as well as on-campus convenience and fast casual restaurants.
The on-campus dining options across the Tempe and Downtown campuses were evaluated using two established measures: The Full Restaurant Evaluation Supporting a Healthy Dining Environment Audit (FRESH) & The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS). A total of 31 on-campus dining facilities including twenty-two fast-casual restaurants, five markets and four dining halls were evaluated for this study. The results from these surveys assisted in determining if the nutritional environment provided by Arizona State supports healthy eating behaviors or if it incentives students to make poor nutritional choices.
Of the 21 restaurants evaluated using the FRESH survey, scores ranged from 33% to 63% of the total points possible. The maximum total score was awarded to Engrained on the Tempe Campus with a score of 91 and the minimum score was received by the Domino’s Pizza on the Downtown Campus with a score of 48. Of the four dining halls evaluated, the highest total score was 85 and the lowest was 79, indicating low variability amongst the dining halls. Out of the 22 restaurants evaluated using the NEMS-R, 32% fell within the lowest of the four quartiles of score distribution, 36% fell within the second lowest, 27% fell within the third quartile and a mere 4%, accounting for one restaurant (Engrained), fell within the top tier.
The loss of points amongst the restaurants and dining halls is mostly attributed to lack of fresh sides, lack of healthy entrees and barriers to healthy decision making. The restaurants that were classified as the healthiest options had limited hours of operations past 4 pm on weekdays and were not open on weekends. Additionally, the entrees at these restaurants averaged between $4-6 more expensive than those that were classified as the unhealthiest. The unhealthiest options also had the most hours of operation as they were open past 2 am every day of the week.
Overall, the campus dining environment provided by Arizona State University does not enable students to make healthy nutritional choices. In a setting where most students living on-campus do not have transportation or a full kitchen to prepare their own food in, a majority of their meals are consumed via on-campus dining options. Based on the overall assessment of healthy options, the barriers to healthy decision making, the hours of availability and the cost associated with healthier alternatives, the campus environment assists students in making poor nutritional choices.
The on-campus dining options across the Tempe and Downtown campuses were evaluated using two established measures: The Full Restaurant Evaluation Supporting a Healthy Dining Environment Audit (FRESH) & The Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS). A total of 31 on-campus dining facilities including twenty-two fast-casual restaurants, five markets and four dining halls were evaluated for this study. The results from these surveys assisted in determining if the nutritional environment provided by Arizona State supports healthy eating behaviors or if it incentives students to make poor nutritional choices.
Of the 21 restaurants evaluated using the FRESH survey, scores ranged from 33% to 63% of the total points possible. The maximum total score was awarded to Engrained on the Tempe Campus with a score of 91 and the minimum score was received by the Domino’s Pizza on the Downtown Campus with a score of 48. Of the four dining halls evaluated, the highest total score was 85 and the lowest was 79, indicating low variability amongst the dining halls. Out of the 22 restaurants evaluated using the NEMS-R, 32% fell within the lowest of the four quartiles of score distribution, 36% fell within the second lowest, 27% fell within the third quartile and a mere 4%, accounting for one restaurant (Engrained), fell within the top tier.
The loss of points amongst the restaurants and dining halls is mostly attributed to lack of fresh sides, lack of healthy entrees and barriers to healthy decision making. The restaurants that were classified as the healthiest options had limited hours of operations past 4 pm on weekdays and were not open on weekends. Additionally, the entrees at these restaurants averaged between $4-6 more expensive than those that were classified as the unhealthiest. The unhealthiest options also had the most hours of operation as they were open past 2 am every day of the week.
Overall, the campus dining environment provided by Arizona State University does not enable students to make healthy nutritional choices. In a setting where most students living on-campus do not have transportation or a full kitchen to prepare their own food in, a majority of their meals are consumed via on-campus dining options. Based on the overall assessment of healthy options, the barriers to healthy decision making, the hours of availability and the cost associated with healthier alternatives, the campus environment assists students in making poor nutritional choices.
ContributorsPeck, Autumn (Author) / Kingsbury, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Bienenstock, Elisa (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Due to unique barriers to access and quality of healthcare, rural Americans have, among many other poorer health outcomes, a worsening life expectancy than their urban counterparts: 76.8 years compared to 78.8 years. In addition to overall mortality, the burden of disease is greater in rural areas, as well as rates of physical injury. There are many intersecting influencing factors including, but not limited to, barriers to access needed healthcare, issues regarding the quality of healthcare provided, the ability to pay for healthcare and other socioeconomic considerations are both causes and consequences of poor health and healthcare access.
The health disparities between rural and urban communities in the United States are not uniquely American. This rural-urban divide in health outcomes is present across the world and, closer to home, across North America. In addition to reviewing the current literature surrounding barriers to health and healthcare access in the United States, we will also use southern neighbor Mexico’s history and their pursuit of rural equity (universally and in health/healthcare access) to contrast initiatives that the U.S. has attempted, with the intent of exploring new theories of rural healthcare provision. By combining the history of social medicine in Mexico with literature on barriers to healthcare access, I hope to highlight areas of innovation and improvement in the American health care delivery system.
The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature regarding health disparities among rural Americans, possible causes of such disparities and current strategies to improve health, healthcare access and healthcare quality in rural America in order to recommend the most effective, practical solutions to improve rural mortality, morbidity and quality of life.
The health disparities between rural and urban communities in the United States are not uniquely American. This rural-urban divide in health outcomes is present across the world and, closer to home, across North America. In addition to reviewing the current literature surrounding barriers to health and healthcare access in the United States, we will also use southern neighbor Mexico’s history and their pursuit of rural equity (universally and in health/healthcare access) to contrast initiatives that the U.S. has attempted, with the intent of exploring new theories of rural healthcare provision. By combining the history of social medicine in Mexico with literature on barriers to healthcare access, I hope to highlight areas of innovation and improvement in the American health care delivery system.
The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature regarding health disparities among rural Americans, possible causes of such disparities and current strategies to improve health, healthcare access and healthcare quality in rural America in order to recommend the most effective, practical solutions to improve rural mortality, morbidity and quality of life.
ContributorsSt Martin, Zachary (Author) / White, Adrienne (Thesis director) / Reddy, Swapna (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05