8224 research outputs found
Sort by
Connecting Through Context: A Culturally Relevant Mental Health Resource for K-12 School Counselors
Get PDFThis field project, Connecting Through Context: A Culturally Relevant Mental Health Resource for K–12 School Counselors, explores the intersection of decolonial theory, culturally relevant pedagogy, and school-based mental health practices. Rooted in both personal and academic experiences, the project addresses the significant gap in culturally responsive mental health resources for immigrant and refugee students, with a personal emphasis on those from Southeast Asian backgrounds. With nearly 27% of the U.S. student population being immigrants, traditional Western mental health models, centered on talk therapy and medication, often fall short in effectively supporting culturally diverse students. Through a literature review grounded in the works of scholars such as Anibal Quijano and Gloria Ladson-Billings, this project demonstrates how decolonial frameworks and culturally relevant pedagogy can be used to develop more inclusive and effective mental health support within schools. The resulting curriculum takes the form of an interactive website designed as a practical, evolving resource for K–12 school counselors. The site provides historical and cultural context, insights into cultural beliefs around mental health, and community-driven resources, beginning with Thai culture and aiming to expand globally. Ultimately, this project encourages school counselors to practice cultural humility, build meaningful context around each student’s background, and co-create inclusive, safe spaces that affirm and celebrate students’ cultural identities. By shifting from a deficit model to one of empowerment and collaboration, Connecting Through Context offers a transformative approach to student mental health and well-being in multicultural educational settings
Empowered to Move: A Nursing Initiative to Advance Mobility with PLOF and CLOF
No full textObjective: Daily mobility goals were not being consistently met in two cardiac units at a San Francisco hospital. Literature reviews support early mobility as a critical component of patient recovery. Some barriers identified included inconsistent documentation of mobility status and activity and limited staff awareness of mobility protocols. Aim: This quality improvement project aimed to increase cardiac patient ambulation rates by 20% and achieve at least 80% documentation compliance with Prior Levels of Function (PLOF) and Current Levels of Function (CLOF) assessments within four weeks. Methods: The team used the 5Ps framework to define the project scope and applied SWOT and Cause and Effect analyses to identify root causes of low patient mobility. Interventions consisted of four components: staff education utilizing an educational flyer on mobility tools, a pre- and post-survey to assess knowledge gains, as well as an audit tool. Results: Documentation compliance and patient mobility goal achievement improved by over 25% across both units. Unit A achieved full documentation compliance, while Unit B’s patient mobility goal attainment increased from 54% to 80%. Additionally, 30% of staff scored full marks on the post-survey, compared to 0% before the intervention, indicating improved understanding of mobility protocols. Conclusions: This project demonstrates that simple, targeted educational interventions can significantly enhance patient documentation and improve patient mobility outcomes. Standardized tools like PLOF and CLOF, combined with staff training, are effective strategies for promoting high-quality care in cardiac units
Maroon Science: A Counterstory of Apocalypse, Abolition, and Abandonment
Get PDFThis Critical Race Counterstory explores Maroon Science, covert and adaptive knowledge systems rooted in African Sacred Sciences, as a means of navigating the dystopic polycrisis of anti-Blackness, Black youth suicide, and climate destruction. Framed through Apocalyptic Education, the work begins at the end, the inevitable collapse of western schooling and broader state systems it supports, to foreground fugitivity as essential to Black autonomy. The track maps connections between Black Indigeneity, ecological adaptation, and the concealment necessary for maroon communities to evade capture. The layered counterstory portrays Maroon Science as contingencies for African epistemologies of survival, flourishing in ungovernable pockets of freedom beyond the grasp of totalizing systems. Rejecting incorporative logics, the track activates Maroon Science as a living practice, offering relational and ritual-based approaches to sustain life in apocalyptic conditions. Ultimately, it invites readers to imagine beyond colonial constraints, embracing cycles of life, death, and continuity as central to forging futures amidst systemic collapse
The Psychological Constructs of International Graduate Students Transitioning to a University in America: A Thematic Analysis
Get PDFThis dissertation employed a qualitative analysis methodology to explore the experiences of first-time international graduate students during their transition to university, focusing on initial adjustment, perceived support, perceived discrimination, and mental well-being. Previous studies about international student experience have mainly focused on undergraduate students. Furthermore, few have examined the initial transition period to university and factors involved in both positively and negatively impacting students’ adjustment process as well as overall psychological well-being. Nine participants qualified for inclusion in the present study and participated in semi-structured interviews, which the researcher analyzed using a thematic analysis framework. Participants expressed a strong need for hands-on assistance during the initial period, citing unfamiliarity with lifestyle, cultural norms, and academic expectations in their new environment. The positive impact of faculty support was further highlighted in participant’s reports on how support from faculty alleviated their stress levels and increased a sense of belongingness. Participants talked about their emotional reactions to encountering discrimination inside and outside of campus which prompted some participants to reflect on their identities in relation to their new surroundings. Furthermore, they shared utilizing active approaches that helped them cope with feelings of homesickness and stress including building connections with others, maintaining focus on their goals, and employing other proactive approaches. Lastly, participants described their individual decision-making processes around staying vs. leaving the U.S. post-graduation and noted various influencing factors. Participants cited their hopes to improve experiences on incoming graduate international students as their primary reason for participating in the present study
Teachers and Students as Funambulists: Tightrope Walking Complex ESOL Contexts and Utilizing the Potential of a Humanizing Pedagogy as a Balancing Pole
Get PDFEnglish for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers and students in community college (CC) and community-based organization (CBO) classrooms perform an ongoing tightrope walk, navigating complex social, cultural, and linguistic contexts. ESOL as a field must create conditions that acknowledge the realities of its complicated legacies and their embodiment in the classroom, because research and field experience reveal negative impacts of existing practices on both students and teachers. To act on this cognizance and respond to these intricate dynamics, teachers need training and ongoing professional development. This capstone project, Teachers and Students as Funambulists: Tightrope Walking Complex ESOL Contexts and Utilizing the Potential of a Humanizing Pedagogy as a Balancing Pole, explores how a culturally responsive critical pedagogy can equip practitioners to reflect on their teaching and meet these challenges with confidence and care. An examination of critical applied linguistics (CAL) as it intersects with humanizing pedagogy - and the resulting design of a professional development curriculum website - offers a conceptual and practical balancing pole for all. Chapter I introduces researcher positionality, the problem and theoretical foundations. Chapter II reviews literature on the historical and ideological foundations of ESOL, drawing on CAL, humanizing pedagogy, and practitioner insights to inform curriculum development. Chapter III articulates the project’s rationale and significance, integrates findings from a mini research project, and outlines adaptations for varied professional development contexts. Chapter IV presents conclusions, recommendations, and the curriculum as a self-paced guide and website, bridging theory and practice to create more inclusive and transformative learning spaces
Intimate Partner Violence Prevention and Intervention at a Primary Care Clinic
Get PDFAbstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a massive health concern in the Spanish-speaking community. There is a high rate IPV, worsening by factors such as language barriers, cultural stigma, and the constant fear of deportation. Resent data underscores the need for standardized IPV screening and trauma-informed care, thus supporting early recognition and intervention. The aim of this Quality Improvement (QI) project is to increase IPV detection rate by 25% from March 10, 2025, to April 15, 2025, in an San Francisco community clinic using an electronic tool called a HITS (Hurt, Insult, Threaten, Scream) and by trauma-informed staff training. Methods of the intervention are integrated hard stops for IPV screening into the electronic health record in EPIC, staff trauma informed IPV care, pamphlets on IPV awareness, and a hosted training session attended by 28 staff members in person, and on zoom. Outcome measures include the number of patients screened, the number of staff trained, the improvements in patient documentation and referrals. The results displayed 42% in staff feeling confident while speaking to patients about IPV while enhancing EPIC documentation for Spanish-speaking patients. However, with these new implementations, barriers such as time constraints, and discomfort from staff were recognized, thus highlighting further implementations that may need to be addressed. Conclusions of the project note that standardizing IPV screening and improved trauma-informed care enhanced early detection while increasing patient safety. This underscores the clinics need for continued IPV training, more IPV related resources, and cultural competence that will sustain positive improvements
Empowering Schools: Suicide Prevention Education for School Nurses
Get PDFBackground: Suicide among adolescents and youth is a serious public health issue that requires immediate intervention to reduce ideation and death. The increasing rate of suicide among children and adolescents has a profound effect on families, friends, and the community.
Problem: Suicide among school aged children and adolescents can create significant challenges for school nurses, who are often the first contact for students who recognize suicidal ideation and mental health crises. This issue is particularly significant for the Alameda school nurses in California, as they play a significant role in identifying and supporting students in a crisis.
Methods: A suicide prevention education training was developed as part of a Doctor of Nursing Practice evidence-based change of practice project. Interventions: A suicide prevention education training was implemented for the Alameda School Nurses. A 90-minute presentation was delivered over zoom. Pre and post quizzes were distributed to participants through Qualtrics survey to assess and evaluate participants knowledge.
Results: Pre and post knowledge quizzes showed an average increase of 16.26% in knowledge regarding suicide prevention education. Among the 18 participants, 47% had been involved with supporting children or adolescent with suicidal ideation or attempts while 53% had not been involved.
Conclusion: This suicide prevention education training was a cost- effective intervention that supported school nurses’ knowledge and demonstrated an increased in knowledge regarding suicide prevention measures. Project limitations, benefits, and sustainability for long term were also evaluated
Community-based Toolkit for Parents and Their Children with Severe Mental Illness
Get PDFAbstract
Background: Many adult children with severe mental illness (SMI) reside with their aging parents, who not only provide financial and housing support but often serve as the caretakers and care coordinators. Circumstances can change in an instant for this population with the loss of their parents.
Local Problem: Persons with SMI in San Mateo County that have been reliant on their parents throughout their lives would suddenly be unhoused, vulnerable and without support in the community, which can adversely affect health outcomes.
Methods: A Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student-led pilot online community-based toolkit was designed following a community needs assessment.
Interventions: Project implementation included two components: an online community-based toolkit (www.bridges4parents.com) to simplify connection to different community resources and an in-person workshop led by a patient care educator to guide parents in navigating the website and county applications.
Results: Results of the pre- and post-survey of the toolkit showed increased confidence and knowledge of county resources among parents. Statistical analysis demonstrated significant positive change in central tendencies and means with implementation of the toolkit.
Conclusions: The online community-based toolkit is a valuable tool for parents in planning and ensuring a successful future for their adult children with SMI
Mitigating Agricultural Income Volatility: Evidence from Crop Insurance Adoption in India
Get PDFIncome volatility resulting from crop loss presents a significant threat to rural livelihoods in India, where nearly half of the workforce is employed in agriculture. This study examines the causal impact of crop insurance uptake on farm income using nationally representative data from the 70th and 77th rounds of the National Sample Survey, merged with satellite-derived climate data and Harmful Degree Days (HDD), which is used as a proxy for crop-damaging temperature. To address selection bias in insurance enrollment, Propensity Score Matching, Inverse Propensity Weighting, and a Two-Way Fixed Effects model are used. Results show that insurance uptake is associated with a statistically significant increase in agricultural income, ranging from 29% to 40% across the different methods. Additionally, the relationship between HDD and insurance uptake is found to be nonlinear and positive, that is moderate exposure to high temperature discourages enrollment, whereas severe exposure increases it. By integrating causal inference methods with climate data across all Indian states, this study provides new empirical evidence on the effectiveness of crop insurance and the determinants of its adoption