Consumer Satisfaction with Aging & Disability Resource Connection of Oregon: Round 4

The report describes the fourth round of consumer satisfaction surveys that were conducted with people who had been in contact with the Information & Referral/Assistance (I&R/A) Call Center or received Options Counseling (OC) services of Aging and Disabilities Resource Connection (ADRC) of Oregon. Data for this survey were collected in November 2014. This Executive Report summarizes and presents data on overall satisfaction, conclusions, and recommendations for the ADRC program

Offering weight management support to pregnant women with high body mass index: A qualitative study with midwives

Objective: The prevalence of pregnant women with high body mass index is increasing worldwide. High body mass index is associated with health risks for mother and baby and supporting healthy gestational weight gain is important. Midwives play an important role in supporting women to engage in behaviours such as healthy eating and physical activity. The aim of this study was to explore how midwives’ support pregnant women with high body mass index to establish a healthy lifestyle with emphasis on nutrition and physical activity in order to minimise gestational weight gain. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 midwives working in antenatal health care in Sweden. Interviews were conducted shortly after new guidelines on care for pregnant women with high body mass index had been introduced. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed by thematic analysis. Results: Three main themes were identified; use a conscious approach, invite to participate and have a long-term health perspective. Midwives built a relationship with a woman through identifying her concerns and circumstances, before sensitively discussing weight. Some midwives used Motivational Interviewing to help women identify their own resources. To reach long-term health benefits, midwives set achievable goals with the women. Conclusion: These study findings provide practical examples of how midwives can support women with weight management during pregnancy. Through being sensitive when developing a relationship, midwives enabled the women to identify their own resources and achievable goals. Support after the baby is born is needed subsequently to help women maintain their healthy behaviour changes

Maine’s vanishing maternity care and community resilience: Interrupting the resource-capacity erosion cycle

Rural maternity care is in decline across the U.S., with most rural women living over 30 minutes from their nearest hospital-based obstetric unit. In Maine, eight hospitals closed their obstetric units over the last 15 years, including five closures since 2020. Individuals in many rural Maine communities now face hours-long drives to access maternity care. These distances are associated with a range of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Hospital-based obstetric unit closures are driven by factors such as low birth rates and staffing challenges that are related to broader demographic and economic patterns, including an aging population and shifting livelihoods. When such larger trends or disasters like the COVID pandemic put pressure on rural hospitals, unprofitable obstetric services become an enticing cut. Previous research on this issue has not addressed the relationship between a community’s maternal health resources and its adaptive capacity. Bridging the literature on rural maternity care and climate resilience, I suggest the two are tied and mutually reinforcing. Environmental shocks and stressors that destabilize rural economies and populations can also exacerbate the factors that influence rural maternity unit closures. Health resource losses signal that a community is struggling and may encourage younger people with more job skills and capital to look elsewhere when starting families, risking a cycle of stress, resource loss, and rural decline. From this standpoint, rural maternity unit closures are not only a canary for community vulnerability, but also a potential point of intervention to stem resource loss and invest in community health and sustainability.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/rural_issues/1058/thumbnail.jp

ZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE: COMPARING ARCTIC AND NORTH PACIFIC BIOVOLUME FROM 1953 TO 1962

Despite their ecological importance, knowledge of zooplankton community dynamics is limited. This study aims to fill the gaps in the scientific understanding of zooplankton abundance in the past to better protect marine ecosystems in the face of climate change. Although zooplankton research is over a century old, published literature includes few in-depth analyses of data from the twentieth century. This research focuses on zooplankton abundance from two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean and the California Current System within the North Pacific Ocean over a decade (1953-1962) to draw conclusions about the history of these organisms. To strengthen future population predictions and drive effective marine policy, this research answers the following question: How did zooplankton abundance in the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans respond to El Niño-Southern Oscillation phases between 1953 and 1962, and what can this tell us about zooplankton resiliency in different oceanic regions as climate change persists? Biovolume data extracted from the Biological Atlas of the Arctic Seas and California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation was analyzed using RStudio and Microsoft Excel. Results showed that Arctic zooplankton were more vulnerable to climatic changes than populations in the California Current. Changes in biovolume between La Niña and El Niño events were drastic in Arctic zooplankton. For both regions, abundance was greater during La Niña, whereas El Niño appeared to limit population size. Similar seasonal trends were strong throughout the timescale. Arctic abundance decreased over time during La Niña and increased over the El Niño event. In the Arctic, productivity is linked to ocean mixing due to increased freshwater caused by melting sea ice and terrestrial glaciers. Increased abundance in this region during La Niña may have resulted from a delay in Arctic zooplankton response to changing sea surface temperatures, or specific atmospheric conditions that reduce sea ice in high latitudes during multi-year La Niña events. California Current abundance was more predictable and closely linked with upwelling as a mechanism stimulating productivity. Cold, nutrient-rich waters driven by La Niña increased upwelling and nutrient availability, promoting zooplankton abundance. Warm El Niño waters weakened upwelling within the California Current, thus decreasing zooplankton abundance. Overall, zooplankton within this region are more resilient to climate change. This study reinforces the importance of regional understanding of zooplankton populations, along with a need for continued long-term monitoring as climate change persists

Using EEG-validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques to Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music for Therapeutic Purposes

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy for EEG test data of 98.2298% using an ensemble classifier. We also classify low-level music features to cross-check music emotion predictions from music features with the predictions from EEG data, obtaining a classification accuracy of 94.9774% using an ensemble classifier. We establish links between specific genre preference and perceived valence, validating individualized approaches towards music therapy. We then use the classification predictions from the EEG data and combine it with the predictions from music feature data and subjective annotations, showing the similarity of the predictions made by these approaches, validating an integrated approach with music features and subjective annotation to classify music emotion. We use the music feature-based approach to classify 250 popular songs from 5 genres and create a musical playlist application to create playlists based on existing psychological theory to contribute emotional benefit to individuals, validating our playlist methodology as an effective method to induce positive emotional response

ZOOPLANKTON ABUNDANCE IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE: COMPARING ARCTIC AND NORTH PACIFIC BIOVOLUME FROM 1953 TO 1962

Despite their ecological importance, knowledge of zooplankton community dynamics is limited. This study aims to fill the gaps in the scientific understanding of zooplankton abundance in the past to better protect marine ecosystems in the face of climate change. Although zooplankton research is over a century old, published literature includes few in-depth analyses of data from the twentieth century. This research focuses on zooplankton abundance from two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean and the California Current System within the North Pacific Ocean over a decade (1953-1962) to draw conclusions about the history of these organisms. To strengthen future population predictions and drive effective marine policy, this research answers the following question: How did zooplankton abundance in the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans respond to El Niño-Southern Oscillation phases between 1953 and 1962, and what can this tell us about zooplankton resiliency in different oceanic regions as climate change persists? Biovolume data extracted from the Biological Atlas of the Arctic Seas and California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation was analyzed using RStudio and Microsoft Excel. Results showed that Arctic zooplankton were more vulnerable to climatic changes than populations in the California Current. Changes in biovolume between La Niña and El Niño events were drastic in Arctic zooplankton. For both regions, abundance was greater during La Niña, whereas El Niño appeared to limit population size. Similar seasonal trends were strong throughout the timescale. Arctic abundance decreased over time during La Niña and increased over the El Niño event. In the Arctic, productivity is linked to ocean mixing due to increased freshwater caused by melting sea ice and terrestrial glaciers. Increased abundance in this region during La Niña may have resulted from a delay in Arctic zooplankton response to changing sea surface temperatures, or specific atmospheric conditions that reduce sea ice in high latitudes during multi-year La Niña events. California Current abundance was more predictable and closely linked with upwelling as a mechanism stimulating productivity. Cold, nutrient-rich waters driven by La Niña increased upwelling and nutrient availability, promoting zooplankton abundance. Warm El Niño waters weakened upwelling within the California Current, thus decreasing zooplankton abundance. Overall, zooplankton within this region are more resilient to climate change. This study reinforces the importance of regional understanding of zooplankton populations, along with a need for continued long-term monitoring as climate change persists

Using EEG-validated Music Emotion Recognition Techniques to Classify Multi-Genre Popular Music for Therapeutic Purposes

Music is observed to possess significant beneficial effects to human mental health, especially for patients undergoing therapy and older adults. Prior research focusing on machine recognition of the emotion music induces by classifying low-level music features has utilized subjective annotation to label data for classification. We validate this approach by using an electroencephalography-based approach to cross-check the predictions of music emotion made with the predictions from low-level music feature data as well as collected subjective annotation data. Collecting 8-channel EEG data from 10 participants listening to segments of 40 songs from 5 different genres, we obtain a subject-independent classification accuracy for EEG test data of 98.2298% using an ensemble classifier. We also classify low-level music features to cross-check music emotion predictions from music features with the predictions from EEG data, obtaining a classification accuracy of 94.9774% using an ensemble classifier. We establish links between specific genre preference and perceived valence, validating individualized approaches towards music therapy. We then use the classification predictions from the EEG data and combine it with the predictions from music feature data and subjective annotations, showing the similarity of the predictions made by these approaches, validating an integrated approach with music features and subjective annotation to classify music emotion. We use the music feature-based approach to classify 250 popular songs from 5 genres and create a musical playlist application to create playlists based on existing psychological theory to contribute emotional benefit to individuals, validating our playlist methodology as an effective method to induce positive emotional response

The Historical, Political, Social, and Individual Factors That Have Influenced the Development of Aging and Disability Resource Centers and Options Counseling

This thesis reports on the perspectives and experiences of policymakers, advocates, agency supervisors, and experts in the field of gerontology, about the development of Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) programs and Options Counseling (OC). By examining the foundations upon which ADRCs and OC are built, this study sought to inform future research about the effectiveness of existing practice, increase understanding of best practices, and clarify whether these emerging services are accomplishing original goals. ADRCs and OC intend to address long-term care issues and healthcare needs by providing a single entry point to the social service system. ADRCs offer information, assistance, and OC to people of all ages, incomes, and disabilities, and promote long-term care options that honor independence and respect for the needs and preferences of individuals, their families, and caregivers. They are the latest iteration of policymakers\u27 efforts to provide affordable home-and community-based care for older persons and their caregivers. A total of fifteen qualitative interviews were conducted and analyzed using grounded theory methods. Key persons interviewed included experts in the area of aging, aging policy, and aging. Participants were recruited through referrals suggested by Portland State University\u27s (PSU) Institute on Aging (IOA) staff. In addition, several key experts known to the researcher through affiliation with PSU\u27s IOA agreed to be interviewed. Snowball sampling was then used to locate additional key experts. Interview participants were classified as advocates, state decision makers, policy makers, or academicians. Advocates included national and state directors of agencies that promote the development and management of effective services to aging adults. State decision makers included state directors, ADRC directors and supervisors, and program analysts. Policy makers interviewed were national program directors responsible for shaping the future of developing programs to assist older adults. Academicians who participated in the study have been instrumental in developing and researching practices that promote well-being for the aging and the aged. These key experts were selected based on their knowledge and ability to inform the strengths, weakness, and development of ADRCs and Options Counseling. Many have been instrumental in health and aging policy and service development and research, and possess insider knowledge not available to the general public regarding attitudes and interests motivating the actors. Findings indicate that ADRCs and OC are designed to manage within existing social service systems. They can benefit some individuals by providing more options and support in accessing public and private services. It remains to be seen whether they have the capacity to ameliorate some existing system-level problems. Findings highlight program strengths and weaknesses, sustainability issues, and policymakers, state decision makers\u27, and providers\u27 commitment to sustaining ADRCs and OC