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Piloting Trauma-Informed Workshops to Enhance Life Skills in Housing Transitions: Action Research
Get PDFThis action research pilot project explores how trauma-informed, life skills workshops grounded in critical and creative thinking methods can support Housing First (HF) residents transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. The study is based on the understanding that addressing homelessness requires more than housing provision—it demands attention to the cognitive and emotional impacts of trauma through co-created, resident-centered interventions. Using iterative cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, the project engages a small, fluctuating group of 4–5 participants from a diverse community of 60 HF residents. The pilot program includes six workshops, one focus group discussion, and individual interviews over two action research cycles. thinking tools such as Six Thinking Hats and 5 Whys effectively engage residents in low-stakes, relatable problem-solving. Key lessons highlight the importance of offering choice, relevance to personal experiences, and using trauma-sensitive facilitation practices. While challenges such as low attendance, substance use, and time limitations constrain outcomes, some residents apply learned strategies to manage conflicts and daily stress. Future directions include expanding the curriculum based on resident input, adapting session formats to be smaller and more flexible, and developing improved tools to evaluate skill application in daily life. This research contributes to understanding how trauma-informed and critical thinking approaches can be integrated to support long-term stability for HF residents, emphasizing that meaningful change is most likely when interventions are resident-driven, flexible, and responsive to lived experience
Curiouser and Curiouser: Cultivating a Love of Learning within Elementary-Aged Children through an Activity-based Curiosity Program
Get PDFThis synthesis paper explores how a curiosity-centered educational design can promote lifelong learning (LLL) in elementary-aged children by actively engaging caregivers as co-learners. Grounded in the author’s personal and professional experience, the project responds to the underutilization of natural curiosity in traditional education. Drawing from metacognition, Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory, the author develops an activity-based curiosity program that integrates caregiver involvement into reflective, autonomy-supportive learning experiences. The program design applies principles such as collaboration, relationship-building, creative problem-solving, and metacognitive scaffolding, all explored through coursework in the Critical and Creative Thinking Graduate Program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Using an action learning approach, the author piloted and iteratively refined the program in real-world caregiver-child settings, exploring how reflective questioning and adaptive roles—such as coach, model, and co-learner—could build trust and sustain engagement. The paper argues that making curiosity a foundational habit, rather than a byproduct of content instruction, enhances learning motivation and strengthens caregiver-student relationships. While still in a prototype phase, the curiosity program offers a model that supports both academic development and relational growth. It is particularly relevant to parents, alternative educators, and those seeking approaches that prioritize agency, adaptability, and lifelong learning. The paper concludes that cultivating curiosity in relational contexts fosters metacognitive awareness, supports student autonomy, and provides caregivers with a meaningful role in shaping their children’s learning journeys
Enhancing the Value of Satellite Earth Observations for Coastal Management: Tools for Collaboration and Co-Development
No full textDespite unprecedented satellite Earth observation (EO) capabilities and free data availability, widespread adoption in coastal management remains limited due to persistent communication barriers between satellite experts and coastal practitioners. This dissertation addresses the fundamental challenge of translating satellite EO technical capabilities into management-relevant applications. Through synthesis of literature, stakeholder interviews, and two multi-year co-development case studies in Virginia\u27s Middle Peninsula and Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this research identifies systematic barriers to satellite EO adoption and develops innovative frameworks for overcoming them.
The work argues for a common language between satellite product developers and coastal managers, identifying communication barriers spanning technical, institutional, and knowledge transfer domains. Case assessments demonstrate that co-development of EO approaches can produce multiple operational satellite products. Shoreline change analysis, water quality monitoring, and habitat assessment tools were enhanced by co-development practices.
The key innovation treats satellite data literacy as language learning, introducing the CREATE Framework—six proficiency-based co-development techniques (Classify, Relate, Educate, Align, Tailor, Enable) adapted from bilingual education models. This approach recognizes different user proficiency levels and redistributes responsibilities across the satellite data ecosystem, with data intermediaries (regional planning bodies, academic institutions, and boundary-spanning organizations) serving as translators between technical experts and coastal managers.
Long-term sustainability requires academic institutions to develop transdisciplinary educational pathways combining satellite EO technical competencies with coastal management domain knowledge, cultivating professionals prepared to serve as data intermediaries. By leveraging data intermediaries and proficiency-based frameworks, this work provides concrete strategies for scaling satellite EO applications across diverse coastal management contexts, ultimately enhancing climate adaptation capabilities and coastal resilience planning
Effects of Emotion Regulation on Reactions to Racism in Process of Antiracism among White Individuals
Get PDFThe current study used multiple mediation models to explore the pathways and relationships among white privilege awareness, white emotional empathy, white cognitive empathy, white guilt, and different types of emotion regulation as predictors of individual and institutional antiracist engagement. Gaining an understanding of how white individuals experience and regulate certain racial emotions in the process of learning about their white privilege may inform antiracist trainings, diversity, equity and inclusion workshops, multicultural courses in schools, as well as counseling trainings in cultural humility. White adults (N = 170) were recruited through an online crowdsourcing platform (Prolific) and completed a brief (~20 min) online survey. Direct and indirect relationships were tested via models 4, 6, and 15 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results supported previous research showing white emotional empathy and white guilt to be significant mediators in the relation between white privilege awareness and antiracist action. Additionally, the present study found a significant serial mediation of white cognitive empathy and emotional empathy, such that cognitive empathy led to emotional empathy and together they predicted engagement in antiracist action. The hypotheses of different types of emotion regulation moderating any of the above mediations were not supported. Neither higher acceptance-based emotion regulation nor cognitive emotion regulation strategies of positive reappraisal and putting into perspective had an effect on white individuals\u27 levels of antiracist action engagement, suggesting that white individuals experiencing white empathy and white guilt are processing them in other ways or that the study design could not accurately capture emotion regulation of these complex constructs. Finally, the current study analyzed differences in the above mediations when predicting action that is individual (e.g., challenging racism interpersonally) versus institutional (e.g., participating in an antiracist organization). White emotional empathy and white guilt were significant mediators when predicting both individual and institutional action. However, the serial mediation of white cognitive empathy and emotional empathy was not significant when predicting institutional antiracist action, indicating there may be other important factors to consider along with white empathy when considering engagement in collective action. Overall, the present study supports interventions that focus on promoting white empathy as a way to increase white antiracist action and contributes to the growing literature demonstrating that white guilt can be a motivating factor in white racial identity development, rather than an emotion that naturally leads to white defensiveness and dissuades one from action
From Erasure to (Re)Vision: Blackgirls in Education
Get PDFBlackgirls can grow up, attend school, and never have a teacher who looks like them. Their teachers may never tell them they could become great teachers someday, or school may not be an affirming place they can imagine returning to as educators. Black women make up only 6% of K-12 teachers, and this research shares the life stories of fourteen Blackgirl educators from that notable group, highlighting the challenges they faced on their journey to becoming teachers. This interview-based study uncovers some of the emotional and institutional scars Black women carry. Findings show that the path to and staying in the profession involves daily struggles with whiteness, ableism, racism, and sexism, often creating a disabling environment. Blackgirls’ experiences in teaching can symbolize a rose growing in concrete, with seeds and roots buried beneath layers of soil and concrete, nurtured through cracks, pushing through to bloom as educators. Despite harsh conditions and the challenges of becoming teachers, Blackgirls favor pedagogical practices rooted in love and care for students and themselves. Creating more inclusive educational practices for all learners involves reimagining teaching methods and transforming teacher preparation to foster more inclusive and equitable environments for Black and Brown students and educators. The data emphasize the importance of educational institutions and schools considering Black women’s educational experiences when developing strategies to improve recruitment, mentorship, and retention of Blackgirls in teaching
At Least It\u27s Not Hospital Food: Faunal Analysis of a Virginia Plantation Occupied by the Union Army
Get PDFThis thesis uses faunal remains from a midden at Sherwood Forest Plantation, Stafford County, Virginia to discuss the diet and provisioning of Union soldiers. Sherwood Forest was among Virginia’s wealthiest plantations in the Antebellum Period. During winter 1862-1863, the Army of the Potomac occupied the site, treating it as an ad hoc supply depot, pastureland and field hospital. After the war, the plantation owner and his heirs repeatedly sought repayment through the court system, generating documents detailing his confiscated and damaged property. The assemblage is compared to three zooarchaeological approaches about food supply: barreled meat, 19th century military supply, and plantation food supply. The assemblage does not fit any single pattern but elements of each one. These patterns, combined with the legal documents, reveal the faunal remains are primarily locally sourced, a typical way for the Union Army to save money and avoid the spoiled or unappetizing food often issued
Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Newton
No full textEstablished in 1989, the Massachusetts Legislature created the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy in response to a need for an improved understanding of the Latino experience in the commonwealth. Now in its 34th year, the Gastón Institute continues its mission of informing the public and policymakers about issues vital to the state’s growing Latino community and providing information and analysis necessary for effective Latino participation in public policy development. To learn more about the Gastón Institute, visit: www.umb.edu/gastoninstitut
Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Boston
No full textThe City of Boston Planning Department has found that Boston’s population was undercounted in the 2020 Census by as many as 25,000 people and that subsequent population estimates continue to understate the population.1 The Planning Department’s Research Division has developed a tool to display limited demographic data, but these population estimates are insufficient for purposes of this report.2 Therefore, this report uses 2019-2023 American Community Survey and may therefore undercount Boston’s population. Boston, the largest city in the Commonwealth, is home to an estimated 126,647 Latinos. This is the largest Latino population in the state, though other smaller cities (Lawrence, Chelsea, Holyoke, and Springfield) have higher percentages of Latinos in their population. In Boston, Latinos represent about one-fifth of the city’s population, a smaller share than for Whites (44.5%), similar to Blacks (20.3%) but a greater share than for Asians (Figure 1). Latinos make up 12.9% of the statewide population
Hypertension Prevalence Among Black Communities in Greater Boston
No full textHypertension presents a significant public health challenge within Black communities in Greater Boston, with notable disparities in prevalence and outcomes compared to other groups. Data indicates that Black adults in Boston report a hypertension diagnosis at nearly double the rate of white residents, leading to higher rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, including heart disease hospitalizations. These inequities are primarily driven by adverse social determinants of health (SDoH), such as limited access to healthcare, nutritious food, and safe physical activity environments, rather than genetic factors alone.
Addressing this requires multi-level interventions. Clinic-based strategies, including team-based care and evidence-based treatment algorithms, must be integrated with community-based approaches like faith-based interventions including black churches, barbershop screening programs, the GOFRESH healthy food initiative, and community health worker engagement. Policy recommendations include targeted funding for community health centers and urban planning changes to address food deserts and enhance safe environments for physical activity. Despite these efforts, research gaps remain, particularly regarding the long-term sustainability and cost-effectiveness of community programs and the impact of acculturation on hypertension risk in diverse Black populations. A comprehensive, integrated approach addressing these systemic inequalities is crucial for achieving health equity in hypertension management
Breaking Down the Barriers To PCSK9 Inhibitors
No full textBreaking Down the Barriers to PCSK9 inhibitors
Abstract
Treating high cholesterol with proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors are an important part of risk reduction for coronary artery disease (CAD) (Baum et al., 2017). Patients are going without needed treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors due to barriers related to Prior Authorization (PA), including the unusually high denial rate for this medication class, in fact, based on insurance datasets it is estimated that 4 out of 5 PAs for PCSK9 inhibitors are denied on the first try (Nasir, Angraal & Virani, 2019). Despite a novel tactic by the manufacturer of dropping the price of Repatha in March of 2018, cost still remains a barrier in addition to the needlestick and prior authorization (Smith et al., 2021). One specific problem is the lack of knowledge on what to order for genetic testing for familial hyperlipidemia (FH), which can result in a lack of necessary data to fill out the PA form properly (Graham, 2017). The proposed solution is to train providers by designing and implementing a CEU training about proper documentation and genetic testing for familial hyperlipidemia (FH). Administering a questionnaire before and after the training will assess success and gain information to help determine what further research is needed to break down the barriers of treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors. System level changes in prior authorization are desperately needed, by means of legislative changes to overhaul the inefficient system that is currently in place. Thankfully bills outlining prior authorization reform are already in process in some states (H.B. 1136, 2025)