Predicting mental well-being in assisted living communities : the roles of social capital and the built environment.

Along the continuum of poor to good health, mental well-being refers to the positive state of being. Mental well-being connotes the ability to manage stress, maintain independence, and is indicative of happiness and improved quality of life. Mental well-being is critical to overall health throughout the lifespan, but it is of particular importance in the context of healthy aging since older adults are more likely to experience compromised mental health. Existing research has identified factors that reduce the risk of poor mental health outcomes: the built environment and individual and community social capital are associated with overall health status and the incidence of mental illness. This study explores the relationship between these variables and mental wellness, currently a gap in the literature. This dissertation assessed the roles of social capital and the built environment on promoting and maintaining positive mental health, specifically for assisted living residents. The study utilized a quantitative design to determine if built environment quality, community social capital and individual social connectedness were predictive of mental well-being. Site audits were used to assess built environment quality surrounding twelve assisted living facilities in Greater Louisville. Of these twelve sites, six authorized individual interviews with their residents, and subsequently 76 individuals were surveyed. Social connectedness explained about 15% of the variance in mental well-being. For older adults, knowing people who can provide them with resources or favors is predictive of increased happiness and enhanced mental well-being. Although built environment quality did not emerge as a meaningful variable for predicting mental well-being, social connectedness and social capital explained about 27% of the variance in mental well-being. In addition to the resources they may know, increased perceptions of community trust and reciprocity are associated with increased mental well-being for older adults. In this regard, social capital and social connectedness are important predictors of mental wellness for older adults residing in assisted living communities. Beyond reducing the risk of illness, this study demonstrates that social capital and social connectedness are associated with mental wellness. In light of this, assisted living communities should evaluate the impact of their activities and programmatic offerings on resident social capital. Every effort should be made to help residents maintain their pre-existing community ties as well as forge new relationships

Investigating the Relationship Between Empowerment and Secondary Science Teachers’ Technology Integration Knowledge

Empowered teachers believe they can improve their work conditions and positively impact student outcomes. Likewise, teachers with technology integration knowledge can effectively use technology to enhance lessons and improve student learning. This quantitative correlational study investigated teachers’ empowerment, teachers’ technology integration knowledge, and associations between empowerment and technology integration knowledge. Two hundred fourteen randomly selected high school science teachers from across the United States responded to a survey intended to measure empowerment and technology integration knowledge. The teachers\u27 average responses indicate that teachers generally agree with statements surrounding empowerment (M = 3.93, SD = 0.54) and technology integration knowledge (M = 4.09, SD = 0.59). The Spearman\u27s rank correlation indicates a positive and moderate (r = .41) association between empowerment and technology integration knowledge. This study fills a gap in educational leadership and science education literature by providing insight into leadership practices that may be associated with teachers\u27 effective integration of technology in the classroom

LIVING IN THIS BODY: HEARING THE VOICES OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES

This research explored factors associated with self-determination among university-educated women with physical disabilities. Autoethnography and case study methods were employed. Participants were the researcher and five other women. Semi- structured interviews were conducted and the researcher also responded to the interview questions. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were analyzed using a content analysis procedure. Journal entries by the researcher were analyzed as part of the autoethnographic data. Themes from the researcher data were compared to themes from the participant data at four levels: identical themes, similar themes, overlapping themes and unique theme. Themes were also compared to available literature concerning the experiences ofpeople with disabilities. Implications for educators and counsellors were presented

The Role Of Imagery And Abstraction In Proverb Comprehension: A Dual-coding Analysis Of Figurative Language

Five studies evaluated the claim (Reichman and Coste, 1980) that a dual coding approach to language representation cannot explain interpretation of figurative language. That claim was based on earlier findings that were interpreted as showing that memory representations of the figurative meanings of proverbs are abstract and imagery-free.;Study 1 used a rating task to measure figurativeness of 240 proverbs that varied in rated imagery. As proverbs became increasingly abstract, they were rated as increasingly literal in the relation between surface wording and inferred intended meaning. The dual coding explanation is that concrete language has associated non-verbal representations which are necessary to provide a basis for non-conventionalized figurative interpretations.;A dual coding analysis of figurative language predicted differences in interpretation processes for concrete and abstract proverbs. Study 2 showed, in support, that rated comprehension ease and verbal interpretation ease were more highly correlated for abstract proverbs ( Punishment is lame but it comes ) than for concrete proverbs ( A little pot is soon hot ).;Study 3 evaluated concrete-abstract differences in the relation between proverbs and their interpretations by (1) measuring the frequency with which the topic of the proverb was also the topic of its interpretation and (2) by having judges sort proverb interpretations into groups based on similarity of ideas. Results confirmed that the topic of the interpretation of an abstract proverb was more often the same topic named in the proverb than occurred for interpretations of concrete proverbs. In addition, abstract proverbs tended to be interpreted more similarly across individuals than were concrete proverbs. These results were interpreted as showing that the contribution of literal associative processes to proverb interpretation is greater in the case of abstract than concrete proverbs.;Studies 4 and 5 examined cued recall for concrete and abstract proverbs and showed that replication of previous failures to find concrete/abstract differences in cued recall of proverbs depends on who generates the interpretation recall cue. When recall cues were self-generated interpretations of the proverbs, recall of concrete proverbs was superior as predicted by dual coding.;The results taken together favor a model based on the dual coding distinction between imaginal and verbal interpretive processes in figurative language comprehension

Curating the Human Experience: Introducing an Inquiry of Literary Texts into Historical Research

This case study follows the process as four high school students curate literary sources in preparation for historical arguments. Results indicate that the use of literary texts prepared students to build nuanced historical arguments by helping them identify subtexts and divergent perspectives through their research. The underlying ELA skills complemented the literacy demands of historical argumentation

Ecological and genetic aspects of the population biology of the littoral rotifer Euchlanis dilatata

Littoral rotifers are associated with vegetation and thus live in highly structured habitats. This structural complexity increases the possibilities of forming local subpopulations differing in (a) plant substrate used, (b) biotic interactions, and (c) genetic structure. I explore some of these topics in populations of the littoral rotifer Euchlanis dilatata; I investigated several aspects of egg-laying behavior in 3 clones of E. dilatata. Individuals lay their eggs randomly within culture dishes in the absence of substrate, while eggs laid in the presence of an artificial substrate are deposited in clumps by 2 of the 3 clones. When given a choice among artificial substrates with or without eggs and eggshells of conspecifics, rotifers lay most eggs on those substrates containing eggs followed by those with eggshells; I found E. dilatata most often associated with the macrophyte Myriophyllum exalbescens at 3 sites in Devils Lake (Lincoln Co., OR). In general, rotifers laid most of their eggs on this macrophyte species in laboratory preference experiments. I also assessed habitat-specific predation susceptibilities for rotifers cultured in the presence of aquatic macrophytes (M. exalbescens, Elodea canadensis, or Ceratophyllum demersum) and two invertebrate predators (damselfly nymphs Hydra). Rotifer survival was greatest on Myriophyllum. This population consisted of individuals of two distinct size classes. Females of the larger size class are up to 1.5 times longer than those of the smaller size class. I determined chromosome numbers for individuals of each morphotype. Large morphotype females average 21 chromosomes, small morphotype females 14. Individuals of both ploidy levels were most often associated with Myriophyllum. While there was no evidence of spatial habitat segregation, their temporal distributions varied. Diploid individuals were present only in late spring and summer collections, while triploids were present throughout the year. These distribution patterns were reflected in life history characteristics under various temperature treatments. Diploid clones produced significantly more young and lived longer under high temperature regimes (25{dollar}\sp\circ{dollar}C) whereas triploid individuals survived longer at low temperatures (12{dollar}\sp\circ{dollar}C). In addition, diploid and triploid also differed in their relative susceptibilities to invertebrate predators. Both damselfly nymphs and Hydra were more effective in reducing the survival of the larger triploid rotifers