9319 research outputs found
Sort by
Unraveling Job Disengagement: Exploring Causes and Solutions
No full textJob disengagement poses a significant challenge within organizational settings. Employees exhibit emotional detachment and diminished commitment to their job responsibilities. Addressing job disengagement is imperative for fostering a positive workplace culture and strengthening organizational performance. This detachment transcends dissatisfaction, penetrating morale, productivity, and employee retention (Burnett, 2023). Root causes of disengagement include ineffective leadership, limited growth prospects, high-stress work environments, and exclusionary organizational cultures. This research examines the effects of recreation on employee engagement. Recreation emerges as a promising solution to enhance employee engagement, offering avenues to add fun and replenish energy throughout the workday. Organizations can enrich job roles by strategically incorporating recreational activities and creating vibrant, fulfilling work environments. Engaging in recreational pursuits outside of work hours also serves to rejuvenate employees, countering the effects of disengagement. Furthermore, integrating enjoyment into workplace activities enhances satisfaction, morale, productivity, and employee retention (Tews, 2013). Embracing job enrichment strategies centered on recreation promotes employee well-being and effectively combats job disengagement. It is essential to recognize the pivotal role of managers and the work environment in implementing these strategies and fostering a supportive organizational culture conducive to employee engagement and fulfillment. This research underscores the importance of recreation to employee engagement here at Eastern Kentucky University with employees indicating that recreation enriches their job significantly.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1356/thumbnail.jp
ADA Compliant Playgrounds Aren\u27t Enough
No full textADA Compliant Playgrounds Aren’t Enough
Is ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant enough when it comes to our public and city parks? Parks are to be ADA compliant but that just means the equipment must be accessible to those in wheelchairs. After researching the accessibility of our city, state, and public playgrounds in Lexington Ky, it was surprising to find that not one has a fully inclusive playground for those with disabilities. Lexington is the 60th most populous city in the United States and families should not have to travel to surrounding areas for our disabled youth to experience inclusion. The nearest fully inclusive playground is in Richmond Ky, a minimum 30-minute drive. Our playgrounds need to be welcoming to people of all different abilities to enjoy and experience play. Stimulating play is needed for the development of all children so making it possible for every child should be a priority.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1369/thumbnail.jp
The Effect of Taboo Words in American Sign Language and English
No full textResearchers have found that listeners respond more intensely to taboo words when hearing them than when reading them. Our goal is to investigate whether this effect extends to American Sign Language (ASL) and to determine whether ASL participants respond more intensely to signed taboo words than to written taboo words. We recruited 76 people to take part in this study (50 English-speaking EKU undergraduate students and 16 people from the state of Kentucky who use American Sign Language as their primary language). For the English survey, participants were given words in written and oral English. For the ASL survey, participants were given words in written English as well as words in a visual ASL format. All participants were asked to rank each of those words based on how taboo they were (on a scale from “1 – Not Taboo at All” to “5 – Extremely Taboo”). The results indicate that, in both surveys, there was no significant difference between the written and spoken/signed versions. This shows that the modality of a taboo word does not affect how the taboo word is perceived.While much research has been done investigating taboo effects in English, to our knowledge this is the first study to investigate these issues in ASL. Understanding how signers respond to emotional language is essential to understanding how language modality influences listeners. This study will impact our understanding of taboo words and how these words affect people, not only in English but in ASL as well.
Keywords: American Sign Language (ASL), English, Taboo, Response, Language.https://encompass.eku.edu/swps_undergraduategallery/1364/thumbnail.jp
Exploring the Professional Identity Development and Leadership Capacities of a Doctor of Occupational Therapy
Get PDFOccupational therapy literature contains little evidence of the added value of clinical doctorate education, the professional identity of a Doctor of Occupational Therapy, or distinctions between master’s-prepared and doctorate-prepared occupational therapists. This study is intended to add to the literature base through the systematic and in-depth exploration of the experiences of graduates from a post-professional clinical doctorate program in occupational therapy. The goal of this study was to examine the professional identity transformation experienced by occupational therapists completing a doctorate degree, and to better understand the Doctor of Occupational Therapy identity. The study followed a qualitative descriptive design, including participant focus group interviews and document review. Participants included sixteen recent graduates, two male and fourteen female, of a post-professional doctorate program in occupational therapy. Data analysis revealed recent graduates’ perceptions of the leadership characteristics and capacities they developed throughout their learning experiences in the program and contributing to their professional identities as Doctors of Occupational Therapy. Results may have implications for the capacity for leadership within the profession. Further study is warranted to examine the impact of occupational therapy doctoral education on professional identity and capacities
Literacy and Language Barriers in Healthcare
No full textMy name is Kaylee Cloud and I am an entry-level Occupational Therapy Doctoral student at EKU. I completed my Capstone project with a focus on health literacy and language barriers in healthcare. I completed my project at CHI St. Joseph Hospital in Berea, KY. This hospital is a Critical Access Hospital, meaning it is located in a rural area where patients have difficulty accessing healthcare. I began my project by assessing organizational health literacy and personal health literacy of patients, providers, and resources at the hospital to determine the needs of the hospital. I then worked to create resources and update some of their current resources to improve readability and improve patients’ access to resources that are easy to understand. I created resources for both patients and practitioners with the goal to improve both personal health literacy and organizational health literacy. I created an educational PowerPoint presentation with the goal to implement it as a continuing education module for new and current employees at the hospital and other resources that were targeted toward hospital administration’s current concerns regarding patient outcomes. All of the assessment results and resources were left with my mentor for future use and reference in the hospital.https://encompass.eku.edu/otd-capstone-posters/1060/thumbnail.jp
When Virtual Reality Meets Occupational Therapy
No full textVirtual reality (VR) has found to be beneficial to occupational therapy clients in the way it creates a safe and enjoyable way to address daily occupations and its ability to increase upper extremity function. The purpose of this ALE was to incorporate VR into interventions for outpatient brain injury patients. Goals for this intervention included successfully implementing VR into intervention plans, creating a handbook for VR use in the use, and adapting equipment to be more accessible. After reaching these goals, implications for practice suggest that VR, along with other technologies can be beneficial for occupational therapists with the proper training and education. As occupational therapists seek out new ways to engage clients, consideration of VR can present opportunities for occupational engagement that clients may have previously determined impossible.https://encompass.eku.edu/otd-capstone-posters/1070/thumbnail.jp
Qualitative Evaluation of Interprofessional Education Experiential Learning (IPEEL) for Health Professional Students
Get PDFInterprofessional education (IPE) is critical for health professional students to form professional identities and develop collaborative skills. Although accrediting bodies mandate incorporating IPE, the effects of IPE programming on health professional students and the best pedagogical approach for achieving desirable outcomes are still unclear. In addition, specific effects of IPE within the context of experiential learning are not fully understood. That is, the literature has not presented a clear framework for structuring IPE programs, nor have outcome measures for IPE utilizing experiential learning (IPEEL) been established. The purpose of this study was to complete a grounded theory qualitative analysis of survey data from three cohorts of health professional students participating in an IPEEL elective course where students worked directly with children and their families. Pre- and post-survey responses identified how students perceived growth related to IPE competencies as a result of the IPEEL curriculum, as well as helped to develop a refined model of IPE specifically for experiential learning. Results indicated that overall students reported positive perceptions of IPE-related outcomes and positive outcomes related to the children and families they worked with, while confirming enabling and interfering factors that contribute to the IPE process. Future applications of the IPEEL model for IPE programming are recommended
Empowering Trail Towns: Community Engagement in Sustainable Recreation
No full textTrail towns, strategically situated along recreational trails, serve as critical hubs connecting outdoor activities with local economies and community wellbeing. They offer necessary services and amenities to trail users while stimulating local businesses through the influx of eco-tourists seeking adventure and nature experiences. These towns are instrumental in providing a framework for sustainable recreation—an approach that harmonizes economic development with environmental stewardship. Furthermore, trail towns encourage public health by promoting physical activity, thereby reducing stress and mitigating the risks associated with chronic diseases. Their role extends beyond economic stimulus, fostering social engagement through community events and volunteerism, cultivating a sense of place and belonging. This paper explores the multifaceted impact of trail towns on various aspects such as local economic growth, public health promotion, sustainable tourism, community involvement, and environmental education. Recognizing the integral value of trail towns is essential for their support and investment, ensuring the preservation and enhancement of their unique offerings. The symbiotic relationship between such towns and trail users exemplifies a successful model that balances visitors\u27 and residents\u27 needs and benefits, creating thriving communities that respect and capitalize on their natural surroundings for long-term prosperity
Aviation Psychology: Cognition and Personality
Get PDFThis study has two main objectives. The first is to measure the personality traits of aviation students at EKU. Recent research indicates the existence of a distinct pilot personality profile, characterized by heightened emotional stability and conscientiousness compared to the general population. The current study will evaluate aviation students at EKU and see how they compare to that specific profile. The second objective is to evaluate aviation students\u27 confidence in their visual abilities during flight and to see whether certain interventions can help them better calibrate their confidence with their actual abilities. Awareness of cognitive limitations is vital for pilots as failure to recognize them can lead to catastrophic consequences. Results will be analyzed to determine the relationship between personality traits, aviation outcomes, and perceptions of visual awareness. Findings from this study could inform aviation instructors, advisors, and others about the role of personality in aviation education and the efficacy of interventions targeting perceptual limitations. This integrated approach aims to enhance aviation training by addressing both individual differences and perceptual challenges encountered in real-world aviation settings
Motivated Mentorships: How Reasons for Undergraduate Research Predict Scholarly Outcomes
No full textMentorship experiences involve a variety of motives at work simultaneously, and some of those are more effective than others. We hypothesized that personally-autonomous reasons (PARs, “for me”) and relationally-autonomous reasons (RARs, “for us”) for pursuing undergraduate research would be associated with better perceived and scholarly outcomes, whereas controlled reasons (CRs, “I have to”) would be associated with worse outcomes. Fifty-five undergraduate students who were presenting their mentored projects at university-hosted poster events completed surveys indicating their reasons for working on and completing their project, their perceptions of their project and their mentorship, and the number of past and planned future projects, presentations, and continued mentorship experiences. The results indicated that both PARs and RARs were associated with positive outcomes, but PARs were more commonly associated with the project and RARs were more commonly associated with the mentorship. Implications and practical applications for mentorship approaches are discussed