The Healing Properties of Writing for Persons with Mental Health Issues

The purpose of this study was to examine therapeutic writing through the experiences of persons with mental health diagnoses from the perspectives of occupational science and occupational therapy. Personal writing is the use of the writing process to cultivate and express fulfillment and contentment. This qualitative study was the third phase of a larger research endeavor on the healing properties of writing by the principal investigator. A phenomenologically-based study was designed utilizing interviews as well as inductive and deductive analysis by two previous student researchers in 2010, with additional sub-questions on how writing affects societal issues by the current student researcher in 2014. These sub-questions were added to explore the role of root narratives in the healing process and their contributions to wellness and personal writing. A sample of six persons with mental health diagnoses was recruited primarily through Tasks Unlimited, Inc. a mental health organization. Participants were interviewed about their participation in personal writing and its relation to personal expression, health and wellness, and quality of life. The study found writing to be very therapeutic; there are many healing properties of the personal writing process including clarity of mind, reduced depression and anxiety, and cathartic release. Writing helped people gain self-awareness, facilitated creative self-expression, increased insight and empathy in social relationships, and connected people to spirituality and purpose. The results were then synthesized with findings from previous students in order to produce a robust set of evidence for publication. Therapeutic writing is a viable tool that can be used to facilitate healing within mental health interventions in occupational therapy and other allied health professions

Influence of Personality Traits on the Continued Use of Fitness Apps

While fitness apps show promise to improve people’s health and well-being, studies have indicated a high dropout rate among their users. This study uses the expectation confirmation model (ECM) to examine post-adoption factors affecting continued use or dropout among users of fitness apps, with a specific focus on the impact of users’ personality traits (the “big five” traits) on the ECM model variables. We present our theoretical model and the results of our survey with 129 participants. We confirm that satisfaction, perceived usefulness, and confirmation of expectations resulting from use of fitness apps influence the continued use of the apps. Moreover, we show that conscientiousness and neuroticism, as traits, positively influence perceived usefulness. This study increases our understanding of the factors impacting continued use of fitness app

The Impact of Feedback Design on Cognitive Effort, Usability, and Technology Use

This study uses feedback design to explore the relationship between cognitive effort, usability, and behavior intention. We developed a decision aid, FoodGlance, which help users in making healthy food selection. We created two feedback designs for decision aid. The first feedback design scans the nutrition fact label and displays the information in the form of a pop-up. The second feedback used audio augmented reality along with the pop-up. Our results showed that cognitive effort had an impact on behavior intention; this impact was mediated by usability. However, this relationship was significant only when the task condition required high cognitive effort and had low usability. The two feedback designs significantly reduced cognitive effort in the decision-making process and increased usability. When participants used the pop-up feedback design, the mediating role of usability vanished. When the participant used pop-up with audio feedback, usability was no longer a player in our proposed model

Clarifying the Relationship Between Fitness Apps’ Affordances and Features

Affordance theory posits that users\u27 engagement with technology can form affordances that facilitate goal-oriented actions. Studies investigating affordances of fitness apps employed diverse definitions of affordances. Relying on the affordance theory, we developed principles to help identify fitness apps\u27 affordances: (1) affordances require users\u27 perception of their usefulness, (2) app features exist regardless of users\u27 perception, and (3) a single affordance can be enabled by multiple features. Using these principles, we examined fitness apps\u27 affordances reported in the literature. Our results show that 12 affordances out of the 17 followed the principles, and the remainder are features of the apps. We then mapped the 12 affordances against Fitbit app\u27s features. Our mapping identified several instances where multiple features can enable a single affordance and a single Fitbit feature could enable multiple affordances. Our findings enhance research studying the roles the features and affordances play in users’ engagement with fitness apps

Is a mid‐level dental provider model acceptable to potential patients?

ObjectiveThis study aims to assess patient attitudes toward mid‐level dental providers, known as dental therapists (DTs), by surveying those likely to be their patients. The recent adoption of accreditation standards by the Commission on Dental Accreditation has reignited a debate surrounding the state‐by‐state legalization of DTs in the United States; while the dental profession is divided on DTs, it is important to understand how potential patients may view the DT model.MethodsA questionnaire that asks about oral health experience, and comfort with the model of a dually trained dental therapist–hygienist, based on a provided definition, was administered to 600 patients and their waiting room companions at a large urban university‐based dental clinic.ResultsForty percent of respondents indicated they would be comfortable being treated by a DT for all 7 of the procedures referenced, and over 75% were comfortable with each of 5 procedures. Having caps or crowns placed was the only treatment about which respondents were evenly divided. Factors associated with greater odds of comfort with various procedures include being uninsured and being under the age of 65. Uninsured patients were 1.5 to 2 times more likely than privately insured patients to accept a DT.ConclusionsThe introduction of mid‐level dental providers is a strategy that those lacking regular care appear on the whole to be comfortable with.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/1/cdoe12230-sup-0001-AppendixS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/2/cdoe12230.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/3/cdoe12230_am.pd

Is a mid‐level dental provider model acceptable to potential patients?

ObjectiveThis study aims to assess patient attitudes toward mid‐level dental providers, known as dental therapists (DTs), by surveying those likely to be their patients. The recent adoption of accreditation standards by the Commission on Dental Accreditation has reignited a debate surrounding the state‐by‐state legalization of DTs in the United States; while the dental profession is divided on DTs, it is important to understand how potential patients may view the DT model.MethodsA questionnaire that asks about oral health experience, and comfort with the model of a dually trained dental therapist–hygienist, based on a provided definition, was administered to 600 patients and their waiting room companions at a large urban university‐based dental clinic.ResultsForty percent of respondents indicated they would be comfortable being treated by a DT for all 7 of the procedures referenced, and over 75% were comfortable with each of 5 procedures. Having caps or crowns placed was the only treatment about which respondents were evenly divided. Factors associated with greater odds of comfort with various procedures include being uninsured and being under the age of 65. Uninsured patients were 1.5 to 2 times more likely than privately insured patients to accept a DT.ConclusionsThe introduction of mid‐level dental providers is a strategy that those lacking regular care appear on the whole to be comfortable with.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/1/cdoe12230-sup-0001-AppendixS1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/2/cdoe12230.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134205/3/cdoe12230_am.pd

An update on the management of peripheral T-cell lymphoma and emerging treatment options

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) comprise a rare and heterogeneous subset of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHLs) that arise from post-thymic T-cells or natural killer (NK)-cells at nodal or extranodal sites. Worldwide, PTCLs represent approximately 12% of all NHLs and the 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) classification includes over 20 biologically and clinically distinct T/NK-cell neoplasms that differ significantly in presentation, pathology, and response to therapy. Because of the rarity and heterogeneity of these diseases, large clinical trials have not been conducted and optimal therapy is not well defined. Most subtypes are treated with similar combination chemotherapy regimens as used for aggressive B-cell NHL, but with poorer outcomes. New treatment combinations and novel agents are currently being explored for PTCLs and this review highlights a number of options that appear promising

Keepin' It Real: The Black Male's (Dis) Ability to Achieve in Higher Education

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the absence of disadvantaged black males in higher education and reduce their increasing presence in prison, the historical and cultural factors that contribute to that absence, as well as research that explores those factors. Then, using theory and research on literacy and difference and interviews with some black male, it will offer some suggestions for pedagogical initiatives in institutions to alter the educators' perception of and service to black male students. By developing programs, workshops and reorganizing curriculum design specifically to encompass the creation of the inner-city black males, educators would hope to empower them in higher education. Many times throughout history, the black male voice has been admonished for being too sexual, too violent, or too real. Each time academia has acknowledged the presence of black males; it has studied and examined their voices and images. However, of recent, studies show that black men are the least population to graduate from these institutions with college degrees. Many researchers and educators have questioned examined the possible factors that lead to black males inability to attain a degree--the influence of street life, the social mistreatment of them in the classroom, their ideals of manhood. Whatever the cause, the alarm has sounded. Sustainability of black male students begins with presence, and development and acknowledgement of voice strengthens presence. It has been many years since the black male voices of the Harlem Renaissance and the emergence of internationally acclaimed black male artists such as Dubois, McKay, Hughes, Cullen, and Wright expressed their experiences in America. Just as Langston Hughes poems, good rap as good poetry, seeks to "explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America" (721). Rap is one of the new male voices and does more "than reveal the pain of poverty"; it tells the story of some experiences that black people, the black male, inner-city dwellers, and the impoverished have experienced in America. Many of the already mentioned authors are now not only accepted as part of the canon, but also heralded for their creative expressions in the throes of oppression. By analyzing what is being said and why it is being said educators are creating programs and courses to encourage disadvantaged black male students to critically think about their community, life circumstances, and their place in society, thus giving them a voice in society and academia while broadening their experiences