The effects of a program of exercise and nutrition on body composition in adolescents and young adults with moderate cognitive disabilities: A descriptive study.

Individuals with cognitive disabilities appear to age at a faster rate and experience chronic health problems earlier than the general population. The Surgeon General's 2000 Gap Report emphasized disparities in healthcare. The lifestyle of these individuals tends to be sedentary, with high incidence of obesity and low level of fitness. Only a handful of studies have investigated issues concerning health-related fitness in these individuals. Most were focused on examining the prevalence of obesity or behavioral interventions to ameliorate obesity.Significant improvements in body fat percentage and basic health knowledge were obtained by participants (11) receiving an intervention of exercise training and instruction in nutrition and health concepts, when compared to the control group (7). Adolescents and young adults with moderate cognitive disabilities took part in this 12-week study with follow-up. Difference between measures used was not significant.Over the past two decades, the prevalence of overweight and obese persons has increased dramatically and affects nearly 59 million U.S. citizens in all segments of the population. Obesity-related chronic health conditions account for 300,000 deaths annually, ranking second only to smoking as the leading preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. The most common health issue facing children is obesity, largely a result of inactivity and excessive food intake. Obesity's prevalence is rapidly increasing in minority populations that include the elderly and disabled

Beyond the End or the Means: Co-Theorizing Engagement for HIV Programming and Service Provision

Within health, community engagement is positioned as either a means, or an end. It is often framed as an apolitical, linear, and/or individualistic process, thus eschewing the relational or socio-structural factors that inform it. Although the rhetoric of engagement can be found across multiple policy, program and funding documents, the ways in which engagement is understood (or enacted) are rarely explored. As a fuzzy concept, it regularly morphs across contexts, leading many including those working in the HIV sector to note that engagement is undertheorized. Picturing Participation: Exploring Engagement in HIV Programming, Service Provision and Care is a community-based participatory research project, co-led by a team of community members, staff and academic researchers. It uses case study design and photovoice to explore how stakeholders conceptualize engagement within and across different HIV organizational sites: an AIDS service organization, a youth HIV prevention program and a sub-acute HIV hospital. This dissertation is nested in this larger project; it contains several sole and co-authored elements, including: an introduction, a community-report that provides an overview of key project findings, three stand-alone manuscripts, poetry, photography and installations. The first co-authored manuscript explores how participants use of journey metaphors illustrates their understandings of engagement as relational, temporal, and informed by organizational contexts and stakeholder roles. In the second manuscript, I put youths narratives of non-participation in conversation with decolonial and critical scholarship on the politics of refusal, neoliberalism, will, and the call to participate. This reading demonstrates how not participating can be productively read as a self-determined form of resistance. The last two chapters explore what new conditions of possibility are created for (co)-theorizing engagement if engagement is approached as a beyond. The third manuscript explores how my theoretical conceptions as a researcher/facilitator inevitably shaped the design and implementation of the methods used. I explore the methodological opportunities of bridging photovoice with site-specific installations, and working with the crafted-nature of images. The discussion proposes a new way of theorizing engagement as a dynamic, affective and pedagogical (and thus relational and ethical) process. It shares a researcher-produced installation as a site to reflect on the opportunities and tensions of doing collaborative, interdisciplinary doctoral work

Peer education in the context of school-based HIV prevention programming in Kenya: An examination of process and outcome.

The main objective of this study was to examine the extent to which peer education could contribute to the effectiveness of a comprehensive, teacher-delivered primary school HIV prevention programme in Kenya. The study used a quasi-experimental design with sequential cross-sections of standard 6 and 7 students, sampled pre and nine months post implementation of the programme. Peer supporters from each experimental school were recruited and trained. Assessment then involved a pre-post test completion using both questionnaires and individual and group interviews to examine the effects of the PSABH programme on peer supporters and students. Outcomes of interest included HIV related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. Overall, 2769 experimental and 1261 control students were sampled pre and nine-months post implementation of the programme. Peer supporters were assessed pre and post-training as well as six-months later. There was lack of evidence at nine months to credit any changes in students on the targeted outcomes to the intervention itself. Peer supporter training and working as a peer supporter however, was found to have a significant impact on peer supporters. This was evidenced by positive shifts in knowledge, attitudes, pursuit of information and communication as well as an increase in personal confidence and comfort in discussing HIV/AIDS related issues, activity within schools, reported interaction with students and other members of the community and favorable student response to and ratings of peer supporter work. Overall, the study suggested the influence of peer education on peers but not students. The findings are discussed in relation to methodological, theoretical and contextual factors. Suggestions are made concerning the importance of future research on the theoretical underpinnings of peer based HIV prevention programming, the integration of peer education within schools, and the selection, training, and integration of peer educators. Factors to be considered when designing HIV based interventions in AIDS endemic African countries are also discussed and some recommendations are outlined for carrying out future programming of this kind.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2005 .G355. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-11, Section: A, page: 3943. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005

Breaking silence: gendered and sexual identities and HIV/AIDS risk amongst youth in Kenya, 2007

The voices of youth are typically absent in research on African communities. The assumption is that children are not really active subjects, and that adults can speak and act on their behalf. This study addresses the walls of silence between children and parents; teachers and learners and between boys and girls, on matters of gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS. Within these walls, youth construct and re-construct their roles as either feminine or masculine. We see them challenging social constructs and reclaiming their voices and their right to be heard as experts about their own gendered and sexual lives. Using interviews and focus group discussions, a tri-site study was carried out in Kenya, and the findings presented illustrate how boys and girls construct their identities, negotiating, adapting to and resisting common articulations of masculinity and femininity. It demonstrates why it is wrong to constantly associate gender with women and girls, focusing on masculinity and femininity, not in isolation of each other, but as relational identities which derive their meaning from each other. "Breaking Silence" focuses on gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS risk amongst youth, demonstrating how youth can empower themselves to steer their agenda and articulate what it means to be particular boys or girls, while developing strategies to deal with their issues

Evaluation of the effect of poor water, sanitation and hygiene practices on growth and the incidence of infectious diseases in infants and young children aged 6-23 months in a selected rural district, Zambia

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (School of Public Health)Poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and practices in communities are known to be responsible for most of the infections occurring among infants and young children in developing countries. A combined effect of disease, poor diet, care practices and other factors among infants/children are known to lead to undernutrition reported in most developing countries. Apart from the reduced growth and productivity potential that malnutrition exhibits on the affected population, it is also an underlying cause to 50% of child mortality in poor communities. In light of this, the primary objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of poor WASH practices on growth and infectious disease incidence in infants and young children aged 6-23 months in the rural district of Monze in Zambia

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

"This is Tobago"Social and Cultural 'Influencers' of HIV Infections in Tobago

INTRO: In Tobago, HIV rates continue to increase (prevalence rate =5%). Women and youth are increasingly being infected, and heterosexual transmission accounts for most HIV infections. If these trends continue, Tobago's economic and social structure will be in jeopardy. This study has public health significance because it identifies and makes recommendations for incorporating relevant social and cultural factors into HIV prevention programs in Tobago. METHODS: Qualitative methods (participant observations, ethnographic and in-depth interviews) were utilized to unearth (a) pre- and post-HIV infection experiences of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), (b) relevant cultural and social 'influencer' of HIV/AIDS rates, (c) how these factors influence community norms and individual behavior, and (d) appropriate methods/model for incorporating relevant factors into HIV/AIDS prevention programs. PLWHAs, health professionals, community members and leaders were interviewed. RESULTS: 14 PLWHAs, 10 health professionals, 15 community leaders and 25 community members were interviewed. Participant observations occurred in homes, businesses, entertainment events, HIV-related organizations and health facilities. 206 PLWHAs are currently being treated in Tobago (HIV-related medications free to Trinidad and Tobago citizens). Infidelity, sex-in-exchange for resources, abuse and economic need increased PLWHAs' HIV risk. Lack of confidentiality is an issue, and stigma and discrimination are prevalent. There is lack of information about the causes, prevention and treatment of HIV in the general population. Sex is not openly discussed, however youth sexual behavior is common. Serial monogamy coupled with multiple sexual partnering increases general community risk. Consistent and correct condom use is not common, and purchasing or requesting condom use is difficult for women, youth, and married individuals. HIV testing is not common, and pre- and post-test counseling is inadequate. Current HIV prevention programs focus on abstaining, being faithful and using condoms, which do not take into account the complexities surrounding sexual decision making. There is a need for comprehensive HIV prevention programs. RECOMMENDATIONS: A client-centered, risk-reduction model of HIV prevention is recommended. Using the socio-cultural theory of learning, this study highlights the zone of proximal development, the knowledge-in-waiting, knowledge-in-use, agents of change, needed resources, and social environment needed to improve HIV prevention strategies in Tobago