Experiences and Attitudes of Older Homeless Women Toward Healthcare Access

Homelessness among older women is a growing problem in many metropolitan areas of the United States. Researchers have indicated that health issues and problems accessing basic care are connected. Older homeless women face increased health issues, multiple challenges related to accessing basic care, and low incomes which put them at higher risk of becoming homeless, staying homeless, and delaying medical treatment. The homeless who lack fulfillment of social support and timely medical care are considered repetitive users of the emergency department and hospital stays. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences and beliefs of older homeless women with system access. The research questions were focused on what the study participants knew about healthcare system access, their personal experiences, and linked uses of access with healthcare services, as well as, negative barriers and enablers. Guided by the theory of disengagement, face-to-face in-depth interviews with 12 homeless women ages 45 and above was performed. Content analysis was used to analyze responses from interviewees. Findings included the lived experiences and beliefs regarding healthcare services linked with personal health, barriers related to healthcare services, and enablers toward healthcare access. The results of this study produced needed insights on how to shift public and persuasive support methods to meet changing health needs and desires of older homeless women. This study may lead to positive social change through gained knowledge of the personal experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of older homeless women

A Comparison of Smoking Cessation Methods in Normal Smokers and Smokers with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

This research was designed to investigate whether there would be a difference in mean exhaled carbon monoxide levels and mean number of cigarettes smoked for two randomized groups of smokers.Smoking cessation therapy was manipulated in smokers with a chronic, productive cough (COPD) and those who were asymptomatic (normal). Individual therapy was compared to self-help therapy.The main purpose of this study was an attempt to define the smoking cessation therapy that worked best for each of these two groups.With the information gained from this research, it was hoped that educating different types of smokers (those with and without lung disease) about the smoking cessation therapy that may work best for them would lead to the most optimal voluntary behavior changes.Other purposes included describing the relationship between demographic information and smoking cessation outcome. This smoking cessation program provided the opportunity to look at 1) process (a better definition of smoking cessation therapies in different types of smokers), 2) impact (smoking cessation) and 3) outcome (prevent further progression of COPD and increase quality of life).It also focused on a more tailored smoking cessation program for smokers with individual variances.It was hoped that this study may be used to show that an individually-tailored smoking cessation paradigm can be effective in any clinic-based practice setting for different types of smokers.Practical implications to support this study include the ability to predict successful smoking cessation attempts in patients with lung disease based on their self-efficacy and tobacco dependency.Equally important, an assessment of the most effective behavior modification approach for each of these two groups of smokers was investigated. Advisor: Gary L. Marti

Mercy Otis Warren: Republican Scribe and Defender of Liberties

An active proponent of republican government, Mercy Otis Warren had a significant role in the revolutionary period. She was a woman who was close to the action, well-acquainted with the central figures, and instrumental in bringing about the monumental changes in America in the late 1700s. Referred to as the “muse of the revolution,”[1] Mercy Otis Warren used her pen to significantly broaden the colonial understanding of a republican form of government and passionately promote it. From a collection of early poems and political satires written in the years preceding the war to her epic history of the revolution published when she was in her seventies after the Constitution had been ratified, her pen spanned the spectrum of the entire revolutionary period. She corresponded with a broad array of revolutionary figures, and her letters articulately illuminate the political principles of the era. Thus, her writings contributed to the political landscape during the revolutionary movement. She had an extremely influential impact on the American founding process, yet her role has been far too often minimized or even disregarded. Warren was unable to be a Founding Father herself due to the limitations of her social role at the time, but she certainly exerted an influence over the patriotic leaders and earned their respect. Through her letters, satirical dramas, essays, poems, and most of all her History of the Revolution, Mercy was unquestionably a compelling contributor to the history of the nation. Relentlessly pursuing what was right by promoting limited government and maximum liberty in all the ways available to her, Warren encouraged her generation to place their faith in God, not man, and certainly not in any form of government. Deeply committed to making the world a better place, she pursued lofty goals to the best of her ability and trusted God with the result

Rules Without Reason: Allowing Students to Rethink Previous Conceptions

This paper reports on the strategies chosen by a group of sixth-grade students in an urban informal learning program as they worked to solve an open-ended, nonroutine task. In particular, the paper focuses on the ability of these students to rise above their previous, procedure-based misconceptions and arrive at a mathematically reasonable solution. Aspects of the problem task, the problem-solving environment, and, importantly, of the nature of the teacher’s interventions are analyzed to determine the conditions that encouraged students to approach mathematics as a logical, meaningful, sense-making activity

Promoting student reasoning through careful task design: a comparison of three studies

Researchers have found that students as young as elementary school can engage in mathematical reasoning. Specifically, particular tasks tend to encourage this reasoning. This paper provides insight into some general characteristics of tasks that may lead to arguments that represent varied forms of reasoning. In this paper we report on arguments built by diverse student groups, of different ages, that were used to justify their solutions to problems from the fraction and counting strands of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. We compare the characteristics of the two tasks and suggest how the implementation of tasks such as these can help elicit varied student reasoning

Gender-Role Orientation as Determinant of Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is often included in entrepreneurial intentions models to explain why some individuals are more likely than others to become entrepreneurs. An unsettled question among researchers is whether ESE differs between men and women. While early studies seem to suggest that men have higher ESE than women, more recent studies are inconclusive. Lacking empirical support for gender differences in ESE compels researchers to look for other factors to explain variation in entrepreneurial self-efficacy. The present study confirms two recent studies finding no significant difference in ESE between men and women in a representative sample of MBA students. This finding leads to an investigation of gender-role orientation as a possible determinant of differences in entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Results indicate that the relationship between gender-role orientation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy is complex and multifaceted. Early in the venture creation process, the searching and planning tasks demand creativity and innovation where a strong mix of masculine and feminine traits (androgyny) improves performance. Later in the venture creation process, an individual (male or female) with a strong masculine orientation seems better suited for undertaking entrepreneurial tasks associated with persuading and leading others