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Testing an Integrated Health Promotion Model Using Social Media for Breastfeeding Women: Structural Equation Modeling
Title
Testing an Integrated Health Promotion Model Using Social Media for Breastfeeding Women: Structural Equation Modeling.
Creator
Wilson, Jane C., Weglicki, Linda S., Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Abstract/Description
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality of women and infants. Organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2018), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2012), and the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017a) have universally endorsed exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and then continuation of breastfeeding for a minimum of one to two years, with only supplementation of other liquid or...
Show moreExclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality of women and infants. Organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF, 2018), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2012), and the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017a) have universally endorsed exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and then continuation of breastfeeding for a minimum of one to two years, with only supplementation of other liquid or solid food sources. Breastfeeding rates in the United States have not met the minimum goals set forth by Healthy People 2020 (n.d.). Although 81% of U.S. mothers initiated breastfeeding after the birth of their infant, only 22% of mothers were found to be exclusively breastfeeding at six months postpartum (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016a). This prospective, longitudinal, structural equation modeling study examined millennial-aged, exclusively breastfeeding women within one month postpartum who were followers of at least one of 17 social media breastfeeding support groups. Relationships of the conceptual constructs within Pender’s (1996) revised health promotion model (RHPM); House’s (1981) dimensions of social support; and the added constructs of breastfeeding knowledge, breastfeeding confidence, and breastfeeding attitude were analyzed in an effort to better understand the variables that lead to sustained exclusive breastfeeding to six months. Data supported the use of the integrated model for breastfeeding women. The normed referenced chi-square (2) of 1.9 (CFI =.94, IFI =.94, NFI =.89, RMSEA =.06, CFI [PCFI] >.5) indicated a good model fit. Additionally, there were statistically significant gains in the confidence, knowledge, and attitude scores from pretest to follow-up at six months. Exclusive breastfeeding to six months was reported to be three times (66%) higher than the U.S. national average (22%) (CDC, 2016a). Future use of the integrated model has great potential to impact public health by the exploration of variables that promote exclusive breastfeeding to six months.
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Date Issued
2018
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00013106
Subject Headings
Structural equation modeling., Breastfeeding promotion., Social media.
Format
Document (PDF)
Epistemology and networked governance: an actor-network approach to network governance
Title
Epistemology and networked governance: an actor-network approach to network governance.
Creator
O’Brien, Mariana G., Miller, Hugh T., Florida Atlantic University, College of Design and Social Inquiry, School of Public Administration
Abstract/Description
This dissertation suggests that network governance theory may have reached an impasse, and in order to pursue its advance, new methods need to be used. It tests the viability of actor-network theory on providing new insights on network governance, which could contribute to the strengthening of network governance theory. The author suggests that actor-network theory may offer both an epistemology and ontology that intents to not impose current definitions and divisions of traditional social...
Show moreThis dissertation suggests that network governance theory may have reached an impasse, and in order to pursue its advance, new methods need to be used. It tests the viability of actor-network theory on providing new insights on network governance, which could contribute to the strengthening of network governance theory. The author suggests that actor-network theory may offer both an epistemology and ontology that intents to not impose current definitions and divisions of traditional social science. By doing so, actor-network theory focuses on the performance of associations rather than on the traditional categories of structures, institutions, individuals or groups -- characteristic of most network governance studies.
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Date Issued
2015
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004456
Subject Headings
Actor network theory, Policy networks, Public administration, Social groups, Social sciences -- Network analysis, Social structure
Format
Document (PDF)
Beyond sustainability
Title
Beyond sustainability: justice and complex systems thinking for just sustainable viability.
Creator
Best, Andrea Leigh., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Philosophy
Abstract/Description
The dominant definitions of sustainability are too various and neglect essential elements necessary for effective sustainability discourse. This project considers what current understandings of sustainable development mean to those who subscribe to them and how those understandings affect public policy for sustainable development. I begin by presenting a timeline on the evolution of the term 'sustainability'. Then, I offer narrative policy analysis as a methodological tool for investigating...
Show moreThe dominant definitions of sustainability are too various and neglect essential elements necessary for effective sustainability discourse. This project considers what current understandings of sustainable development mean to those who subscribe to them and how those understandings affect public policy for sustainable development. I begin by presenting a timeline on the evolution of the term 'sustainability'. Then, I offer narrative policy analysis as a methodological tool for investigating communities of meaning with contending views on sustainability. This provides a foundation for the analysis of case studies using Harrisonian Sustainability Narratives-efficiency, equity, and ethics-as lenses through which three corresponding U.S. case studies are explored, each representing different levels of analysis-corporate, state, and individual. First, the Business Roundtable, a lobbying organization comprised of the CEOs of top U.S. companies exemplifying the efficiency narrative, claims that the problem of sustainable development can be addressed through free markets, which continually increase eco-efficiency and encourage technological advancement. Next, the Environmental Protection Agency, a state organization mandated to protect water and air and to manage toxic and solid wastes and representing the equity narrative, sees the problem of sustainable development as ensuring the just distribution of natural limits so as to reduce the impact of those limits on individuals within communities. Lastly, the ethical anthropology of Anna Peterson, philosopher of religion, points to the power of ethical narratives in creating wide-scale changes to our ideas about humanness and human nature as they relate to our relationship with our environment for sustainability., What I found in common with both the efficiency and equity narratives, representing both the political and corporate perspective and having significant influence on policy formation, is that they are pro market-based solutions of ecoefficiency and technological advancement. What they blatantly lack is guidance on what we ought to do, ought to value. I conclude that a humanist ethic is missing from both these narratives. Neither narrative sees matters of justice as co-equal partners with sustainability for sustainable development. Policy resulting from these narratives may offer efficiency and process but fails to include a robust humanist ethics necessary for a true sustainability. The way we think about our relationship to the environment shapes our behavior towards it. Just Sustainable Viability combines a complex systems approach that views human societies as complex adaptive systems and aims at optimizing social adaptive capacity with notions of distributive and procedural justice. With the inception of this new vision for sustainability, a new narrative must follow that firmly places humanity within the context of complex social and environmental systems.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684310
Subject Headings
System analysis, Policy sciences, Sustainable development, Social structure, Urban ecology (Sociology)
Format
Document (PDF)
Creating mindfulness with sensual functional handmade ceramics
Title
Creating mindfulness with sensual functional handmade ceramics.
Creator
Schwartz, Alexandria., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Visual Arts and Art History
Abstract/Description
I create opportunities for nourishment that are physical, emotional and spiritual with my functional porcelain vessels. They reference the human body's sensual curves, dimples, and bulges, establishing the experience of eating as a metaphor for the sensual experience of human interaction. The tactility is heightened by the variety of glazes dancing around the vessels, from satiny smooth and skin-like, to wet and dripping. Handmade vessels connect the users not only more deeply to the food...
Show moreI create opportunities for nourishment that are physical, emotional and spiritual with my functional porcelain vessels. They reference the human body's sensual curves, dimples, and bulges, establishing the experience of eating as a metaphor for the sensual experience of human interaction. The tactility is heightened by the variety of glazes dancing around the vessels, from satiny smooth and skin-like, to wet and dripping. Handmade vessels connect the users not only more deeply to the food that provides them nourishment, but also connects them more deeply to one another, and to the maker of the work. The slow, deliberate work of making one-of-a-kind objects is similar to the act of carefully preparing a homemade meal, and in turn, dedicating time to the ritual of sitting down together to enjoy that meal. Whether I'm working in my studio creating vessels, or in my kitchen creating a meal, I derive the same experience of spiritual wellbeing. In these moments I am completely present and mindful.
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Date Issued
2013
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3361056
Subject Headings
Conceptual structures (Information theory), Symbolic interactionism, Body, Human, Social aspects, Resilience (Psychology), Quality of life
Format
Document (PDF)