Faculty Mentor

Undergraduate, Evening, Adult Degree Completion, Major/Department (if applicable)

Graduate, Academic Program (if applicable)

The Effects of Opioid Related Fear & Stigma on Medication Adherence

Undergraduate; Day Program

Pain is one of the primary concerns amongst cancer patients, and opioids are commonly prescribed for pain management. However, stigma and fear of addiction can lead to nonadherence in patients, resulting in poor pain management and reduced quality of life. While studies have shown the existence of this fear, no study has focused on educating patients on the difference between therapeutic and addictive doses of opioids.
Studies in the literature have demonstrated the effects that unrelieved pain has on the body. There have also been studies done on the factors contributing to the apprehension as well as some on educational interventions that have been done. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of educational interventions aimed at addressing this fear and increasing adherence to prescribed opioid regimes.This proposal aims to fill this gap by providing education on the difference between therapeutic and addictive dosages. It aims to investigate whether these educational interventions can increase adherence to medication regimes among cancer patients, thus improving pain levels.The study will utilize a quantitative interventional design. Participants will complete a survey before receiving education on opioids, with questions about their feelings towards opioids, adherence to medication regimes, and pain levels. After receiving education from a nurse, a follow-up questionnaire will be administered at the next appointment to assess any changes in their thoughts or practices.The study will take place in a local oncology clinic and will include approximately 45 patients who are 18+, currently have cancer and have been prescribed opioids for cancer-related pain. Sample population was generated using GPower computer software.The pre-education survey results will be compared to the post-education survey results to assess the effectiveness of the educational intervention. GPower software will be used to conduct a statistical analysis and evaluate the data collected.The study is expected to demonstrate that education can effectively increase adherence and improve overall pain scores in cancer patients prescribed opioids.This study's findings may have significant clinical implications, as they could lead to improved pain management and quality of life for cancer patients prescribed opioids. Education could address fears and misconceptions about opioid addiction, ultimately resulting in better adherence to prescribed medication regimes.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Benjamin Rosenberg

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Ben Rosenberg and Jennifer Lucko

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Babies Behind Bars: Separation and Segregation of Incarcerated Mothers from their Children

Undergraduate; Day Program

Over the past years, the imprisonment rate for women in the United States has been substantially increasing, resulting in continuous higher incarceration rates of women in prison. The United States “has the highest incarceration rate of women in the world, with over 205,000 women currently behind bars in either state and federal prisons or jails and another million on probation or parole” (Clarke et. al., 2013). Furthermore, the prisons and jails here in America are primarily focusing on the incarcerated male population leading to these institutions not prioritizing the proper health and safety protocols for these incarcerated women, who are mostly mothers. Incarcerated mothers are a vulnerable group of people in this society that often comes with a long history and experience of mental health problems, unemployment, poverty, sexual, emotional, physical, and mental abuse. This paper is conducted using a systematic search of different electronic databases and search engines that provided enough information to answer the research question for this literature review.
The purpose of this thesis is to explore and inform people regarding how important resources are for the future of the entire community as a whole. The gathered information in this thesis will be utilized to compose a proposal on how the entire society as a whole can work together with focusing on helping these people in achieving a second chance to have a better life. Focusing on these vulnerable populations will lessen the gaps that the society have been trying to fill that they cannot successfully fulfill since they need to start focusing on the cause of the problem, rather than interventions after a problem has already been created. The study design that this study will conduct will be a qualitative survey study that will be conducted using an existing thematic analysis to see if there will be a major impact on giving incarcerated mothers prolonged time with their newborn baby during their sentence.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Biological Sciences

Undergraduate; Day Program

Professor Ian Madfes, Ph.D.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Costley-Trigueros

Obed Hernández-Gómez

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Benjamin Rosenberg

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Obed Hernandez-Gomez

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Rosalie Chen & Jordan Lieser

Undergraduate; Day Program

Art: Studio Art, Psychology

Undergraduate; Day Program

Gramajo Mazariegos

Rosenberg, Benjamin

Undergraduate; Day Program

The Rising Rates of Pediatric Health Conditions due to Lack of Nutrition Education

Undergraduate; Day Program

Statistics show that there is an increase in childhood health conditions related to nutrition. Throughout the United States, the rates of childhood obesity have drastically increased along with the rates of type two diabetes. There is correlation between these two chronic problems in pediatric patients, but not all pediatrics diagnosed with DM2 are obese. Furthermore, there is a correlation between this increase of obesity/DM2 and the lack of nutrition education in schools. The public school system in the United States does not have the funding to provide adequate nutrition education to the children which is leading to substantial health consequences.
The goal of this paper is to show the correlation between the lack of nutrition education and the increase of obesity/DM2. The study focuses on the pediatric population in the public school system. The administration of surveys before and after proper nutrition education is typically used. The study used a control group of students who have not been given nutrition education, and the survey compared to those who have received education.
The anticipated results would be that those children taught proper nutrition education would be able to successfully complete the survey. If there was an increase in proper nutrition education, there would be a dramatic decrease in childhood obesity/DM2.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Benjamin Rosenberg

Benjamin Rosenberg

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Benjamin Rosenberg

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Barriers and Motivations to Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors

Most adults are aware that good health behaviors (eating well and exercising) are more
likely to result in healthy living and vice versa. With that said, despite how clear it is, some
partake in these behaviors while others do not. What things may influence this choice was the
focus of this study.
Barriers to a healthy lifestyle can certainly vary, but there are also some commonalities
on which to focus. For those who equate exercise with the need for an exercise “place”,
membership cost is very often perceived to be a major barrier to initiating activity. Time was also
a commonly referenced issue particularly relevant to employed individuals and those with large
families. Session times often made them difficult to fit into life and work patterns.
The desire to be healthy is one of the key motivational dispositions influencing actual
health. Intentions are better translated into planning and behavior if furnished with health
motives. Logically, the desire to be healthy can also be considered a desire to not be sick, i.e.,
uncomfortable feelings/fears related to illness.
It was hypothesized that the health behaviors of good diet and regular exercise will be
directly related to having sufficient time and financial resources to permit healthier behaviors and
also directly related to fear of illness.
A total of 32 adult participants completed a diary providing 3 days of diet and 7 days of
exercise, along with the Health Anxiety Scale. Date analysis found that individuals who
exercised regularly and ate healthy diets had significantly lower levels of fear of illness; the
hypothesis was not supported as this finding was the opposite of prediction. Analysis also
revealed that more than half of those who do not eat healthy diets or regularly exercise stated that neither time nor money were limitations to such healthier behaviors.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Dr. Meredith Protas

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Ian S. Madfes, PhD.

Undergraduate; Evening Program, Adult Degree Completion

Carlos Rodriguez

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Harris, Patricia Rae Eileen

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Dr. Meredith Protas

Undergraduate; Day Program

Benjamin Rosenberg

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Obed Hernández-Gómez

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Music, Psychology

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Second-hand Smoke & Its Effect On Cognitive Functioning in Young Adolescents

Undergraduate; Day Program

When someone breathes in smoke that has been exhaled by a smoker or from the burning of tobacco products within their environment, they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure (SHS) is linked to a series of serious health problems. When SHS exposure occurs at home, children may be highly susceptible to its effects. More research needs to be done in order to determine its effect on a child’s cognitive process. Following the review, it was determined that, as shown by these articles, children who experience more secondhand smoke exposure at home are more likely to experience cognitive delays or impairment than children who experience little or no secondhand smoke exposure. Another key finding is that regardless of one's own smoking habits in adolescence and adulthood, the study found that early exposure to parental smoking is linked to having negative effects in associative learning and short-term working memory in midlife. These findings show the likelihood that exposure to parental smoking throughout childhood may have long-term effects on cognitive function that may last into adulthood and midlife.
The study’s aim is to find out if there is a correlation between secondhand smoke exposure during childhood development and if increases the risk of cognitive impairment. The research design is a Non-experimental quantitative research (correlational study). Secondary Data Analysis was done between six scholarly articles. In this research, the study sample includes Infants and children ages 0-18 years old and Mother’s exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy. This is a non-experimental research study and includes articles that review data prospectively. Data was collected from different published articles found on Pubmed and Dominican’s Iceberg database. Anticipated result is that there is a correlation between secondhand smoke exposure during childhood development and increases the risk for cognitive impairment.

Undergraduate; Day Program

Targeted temperature to induce hypothermia on resuscitated cardiac arrest patients has shown to be the most effective form of treatment to improve neurologic outcomes. However, there is a lack of evidence proving induced hypothermia can cause a direct decrease in cerebral edema, thus avoiding traumatic brain injury altogether. This research article made use of a randomized observation on San Francisco intensive care patients ranging 26-65 years of age, who underwent a cardiac arrest within the past 4-6 hours. The randomized patients will be observed for induced hypothermia targeted to 33 degrees Celsius for the course of 24 hours post cardiac arrest. The status of their cerebrum and neurologic outcome will be monitored for the course of 6 months. Monitoring can include and is not limited to electroencephalogram (EEG), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and psychological evaluations.
It is anticipated that over the course of 6 months and 500 patients, from 3 various intensive care units in San Francisco, a total of 378 of the patients' will result in decreased cerebral edema and avoid traumatic brain injury from induced hypothermia. The remaining 122 patients may experience unsuccessful consequences; such as memory loss, personality changes, vision changes, and other symptoms of traumatic brain injury due to cerebral inflammation post cardiac arrest.
In conclusion, it’s anticipated that among the 378 cardiac arrest patients who underwent induced hypothermia (33C) within the following 4-6 hours, will have experienced considerable neurological outcomes. Through EEG and MRI readings over the course of 6 months, we anticipate a result in no traumatic brain injury or cerebral edema for patients who received hypothermia management.
Keywords: Targeted temperature, therapeutic hypothermia, cardiac arrest, cerebral edema, traumatic brain injury, critical care

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Comparison of the Self-Efficacy of Black Women from Single Parent and Two-Parent Households

Undergraduate; Day Program

About 64% of Black minors live with a single mom. There are a multitude of valid reasons why so many Black Men aren’t consistently around but, ultimately it leaves Black women primarily responsible to sustain the family home. The single parent mothers’ accomplishments during these often-stressful situations tends to increase the mothers’ self-efficacies, which result in an increase in their children’s views of their own potentials (Ardelt and Eccles, 2001).

Children of two-parent home are typically considered “healthier”, due to their having greater
support systems, thus making both sons and daughters feel secure in their autonomy (Zakiei et al, 2020). Sons of single mothers have been shown to struggle more than daughters in all-around well-being and general self-efficacy (Buchanan and LeMoyne, 2020). Black single mothers raise their sons and daughters differently (Miller and Browning, 2000). Sons are taught more traditional views, such as attaining marriage to a doting woman to take care of them. Daughters are pushed toward independence and self-sufficiency and typically are encouraged not to depend on anyone else, including a man. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the self-efficacy of Black women raised by a single parent mother will be higher than for those who were raised in a two-parent household.

A total of 60 black women completed measures of General Self Efficacy (GSE) and provided a brief family history. The GSE scores for the 25 participants raised by a single mom (Mean = 34.3) were almost identical to the GSE scores for the 31 raised in two-parent households (Mean = 33.4); the hypothesis was not supported. The range of GSE scores, however, was generally very high for both groups, suggesting that for this particular set of women, their single moms did as effective a job of raising self-sufficient Black women as those raised by two parents.

Obed Hernández-Gómez

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Dr. Patricia Rae Harris

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Undergraduate; Day Program

Burn injuries are an existing risk factor of social impairment. The main priority of care for a burn patient includes the focus on pain management and wound care. However, scarce research has been studied on how to improve the psychological adjustment of burn victims. There is limited availability of evidenced based practice that is related to promoting a healthy social life after a burn. Without interventions to help re-engage burn victims with society, they will turn to negative coping mechanisms such as avoidance, isolation and distancing. The goal of this study is to enhance the social interaction of burn survivors during their recovery. This mixed method study aims to improve social impairment of burn victims in the Bay Area with the use of journaling. A pre and post test will be given, using the tool PROMIS-29, to acknowledge the psychological state of the burn victims before and after the journaling intervention. The sample size will include 100 participants that have been recruited through burn centers, burn units, in-patient hospitals and support groups. Participants will write journal entries each day for six weeks. The journal entries will be examined for similar themes and the results of this study will demonstrate the psychological wellbeing of the participants. In evaluation, the post test and journal entries will show the impact of the intervention of psychosocial ramifications. The literature suggests that there is no reason to focus on the psychological dynamic of burn victims. This study will identify interventions that progress the development of psychological dynamics and ability to interact in society of burn victims in the Bay Area. This study will provide evidenced based practice that can be used to further the research of burn survivors.

The Positive Effect of Doula Care in African American Women

Undergraduate; Day Program

African American pregnant women
are a vulnerable population that often comes with
a long history of racial disparities and lack of
support that leads them to endure health issues,
postpartum depression, or even mortality. If
African American pregnant women were given
the proper resources and continuous support from
a Doula, then these issues can subside and
postpartum depression rates can be lowered

Literature Review and Gap
Studies in the literature have demonstrated the overall positive effects that doulas have on mothers. There has
been a few findings on the effect doulas have on
postpartum depression rates in women. However,
there is a gap in the literature regarding the actual
effectiveness doula care has on African American
women and their postpartum depression rates.

Study Aim and Research Question
This proposal aims to fill this gap by providing
differences between mothers postnatally that have
had continuous doula care or not. It airs to
investigate the overall positive effects that doulas
have on African American women and how it can
reduce their postpartum depression rates.