Nurse-Family Partnership is a targeted public health intervention program designed to improve child and maternal health through nurse home visiting. Adolescent girls and young women who are pregnant or living in situations of social and economic disadvantage are at increased risk for poor health. Rural living may compound marginalization and create additional challenges for young mothers. In the context of a large-scale process evaluation, I posed the question: “In what ways do Canadian public health nurses explain their experiences with delivering this program across different geographical environments?” This thesis represents a purposeful attempt to examine the experiences of public health nurses as they deliver the Nurse-Family Partnership program across different geographical settings in British Columbia, Canada. The qualitative methodology of interpretive description guided study decisions and data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews with public health nurses delivering the Nurse-Family Partnership program and their supervisors. Consisting of three studies linked by their focus of evaluating Nurse-Family Partnership in British Columbia, this thesis explores influences on program delivery across the rural-urban continuum, including issues related to nurse recruitment, retention, and turnover. Overall, the findings from these analyses suggest that the nature of clients’ place and their associated social and physical geography emphasizes that geography has a significant impact on program delivery for clients who were living with multiple forms of oppression and it worked to reinforce disadvantage. In manuscript one, exploration and description of factors that contribute to recruitment, retention, and turnover of public health nurses delivering Nurse-Family Partnership in British Columbia, Canada are presented. Then manuscript two reflects the factors and challenges of providing the NFP program in rural communities. The final manuscript applies an intersectional lens to reveal how the nature of clients’ place and their associated social and physical geography emphasizes inadequacies of organizational and support structures that create health inequities for clients. The collective work of this thesis emphasises the importance of location as a factor affecting home visitation programs. In rural environments, public health nurses are resourceful and can provide insight into important considerations for program delivery. These may include enhanced use of technology for communicating with supervisors, nurses, or clients through cell phone/videoconferencing or experiencing rugged terrain and extreme weather conditions. Public health nurses practicing in urban areas also have geographical considerations that are location specific, including precariously housed clients whose locations are transient and providing care to clients living in unsafe conditions. Across all environments, time was a valued commodity and effective communication was essential. Supporting nurses as they deliver Nurse-Family Partnership in Canadian communities can help nurse retention in a program with many positive attributes. Working with vulnerable populations, building relationships with clients, regular reflective supervision and team meetings were among the top reasons public health nurses enjoyed being involved in Nurse-Family Partnership. Reasons leading to turnover are also discussed. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Living in social or economic disadvantage is associated with negative health outcomes for Canadian families. Young mothers and their children are one such group at risk for suboptimal health outcomes, creating a significant public health concern. The Nurse-Family Partnership is a targeted public health intervention program designed to improve child and maternal health through nurse home visiting. As this program is evaluated for uptake in Canada, this thesis examines the delivery within the context of Canadian geography. Factors that influence program delivery for public health nurses in Canada are explored.

In this research, I aim to investigate the interrelationships between people, architecture and the landscape, by asking the question "what is the architect's role in curating place'. The goal of this body of work is to challenge the role of the ‘architect' when working within the context of place. This research, and the design intervention developed a process that challenges the profession by asking: “Should an architect be solely the creator of place, or is the architect a curator of place? The research analyzes existing theories related to the definition and concept of place approached from a wide spectrum of professional expertise overtime to attempt to grasp human being's passion related to the dynamic topic of place. The intent is to create a framework for design that can be adopted, implemented and layered upon any place, to unearth, distill, and better understand its essence. The rural post-industrial landscape of Western Massachusetts specifically focused around the former paper mill village of Woronoco is the stage for this inquiry. place is anchored equally in the qualitative and quantitative forces that shape it and thus requires an attentive observer, a trained observer, but most importantly a local, inspired observer who is fundamentally attached to that place. As both a landscape architect and architect, I offer a heightened awareness of the patterns and processes or ecology of place especially concerning the occupation and physical impact of humans on the landscape through the built environment. The proposed design interventions will attempt to treat place as a living organism, one that is continuously changing and whose dynamics are interconnected and responsive to a broad range of forces that shape it. A place curation design approach has led me to offer a series of design interventions, and not a proposal for a single building. These interventions will not fulfill a single program or fulfill one specific functional purpose; it will not focus on creating a design typology or use a consistent design language or material palette. Instead, the design will introduce multiple architectonic interventions that are derived almost organically in the landscape, in a manner that will stimulate the continued use and engagement with this place. Human interaction, engagement and interpretation is the essential component to ensuring the longterm sustainability of place, allowing it to continuously evolve and be relevant to future generations.

Platform-centric startups that generate value by facilitating interactions between two or more interdependent groups digitally transform and disrupt the business environment, leading to significant changes in how people purchase, sell, communicate, and even live. Some of these, such as Uber and Airbnb, have become among the most beloved and successful brands, though they had serious challenges in building up their brands at the early stages due to lack of resources. The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a framework of branding in platform-centric startups by identifying the pillars of brand‐building and linking the relevant factors. This study employs qualitative method to propose a four-level framework including passion, innovation, co-creation, and moralization for brand-building in startups. The novelty of this framework reveals that the locus of brand-building is gradually expanding from the founders to the company, then to the customers, and finally to a larger societal constituency. The framework can assist founders and stakeholders in monitoring the growth of a new venture in the real business world while guiding branding scholars to investigate the discipline of startup branding.

Attitude surveys can serve as a basis of public interest and opinion inputs to National Park Service planning and management decision making. The initial objective of this study was to develop a method for scaling attitudes which alleviated problems of interpreting effects of two related components of attitude--beliefs and corresponding evaluations of those beliefs. In conjunction with this objective, visitor knowledge about and attitudes toward resource use and management in Shenandoah National Park were assessed. Finally, guidelines were formulated suggesting how to design an effective interpretive message taking into account relevant user characteristics, level of knowledge, and attitudes toward resource use and management in the national park. Considering summer months and weekend/weekday visitation patterns, a stratified random sample of days was selected to contact park visitors. On designated sampling days visitors were contacted at lodges, backcountry stations or campgrounds. Names and addresses were secured via an information release form. In September, 1978, individuals were mailed an attitude survey. A follow-up post card and two selective follow-up questionnaire mailings ensued. Overall response rate was 81 percent. The survey instrument obtained contributions of belief and affective components of attitude. In order to measure these components in a manner reflecting resource management objectives and allowing easy interpretation of attitude scores, a new modified matrix scaling technique was developed. A matrix of attitude scores was computed using an unipolar belief scale and bipolar affect scale. The computed using an unipolar belief scale and bipolar affect scale. The belief scale was also employed to determine visitor level of knowledge concerning resource use and management in Shenandoah National Park. The over-all matrix system was developed within the framework of Fishbein's (1963) expectancy value attitude theory. The scaling method lessened some of the problems created by using standard bipolar st.nnmative scaling. In addition, final scores derived from this matrix procedure were logically consistent, theoretically appropriate, and may be managerially relevant. Results of analyses of variance in overall belief and attitude scores suggested the utility of developing different interpretive messages about resource use and management for the three camping styleslodge, campground, and backcountry users. Attitude changes predicted via the expectancy value formulation indicated the importance of considering the distribution of visitor attitude scores before attempting development of an interpretive message designed to influence attitudes. / Ph. D.

Public health concerns were prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly regarding rising cases of anxiety and depression among adults. U.S. healthcare providers were especially affected by the unrelenting demands on their time and service. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) provided patient care during the pandemic to meet the increasing need for mental health services as people began experiencing mood disturbances such as anxiety, depression, and grief. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceived effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of PMHNPs. A qualitative design using the interpretive description method allows researchers to use pre-existing knowledge to inform their research and actively participate in knowledge synthesis, focusing on variations in data. Individual interviews with 18 PMHNPs were conducted via video teleconferencing, and their data were evaluated and interpreted for meaning. After a thorough analysis of the interview transcripts, nine themes were identified: adaptive coping, improved access, support, self-care, work strain, complications, maladaptive coping, pandemic strain, and polarization. This study illuminated the challenges PMHNPs faced during the pandemic and the strategies they employed to cope with difficulties and will inform future research and practice in mental health care.

Many people assume that when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidates a federal statute as unconstitutional, the Court's decision establishes binding precedent that narrows the U.S. Congress's available options. This thesis examines whether Congress has in practice been able to effectively circumvent Supreme Court precedents while still acting consistently with such precedents in a narrow sense by not repassing an identical statute. More specifically, this work explores whether the U.S. Congress was able to repass new statutes similar to those previously invalidated by the Rehnquist Court (1986-2005). To more fully probe this issue, this study examines how often Congress has responded in such a manner, how successful Congress was in replicating the initial invalidated statute's breadth and potency, the success of the amended statute's subsequent implementation or whether the new statutes survived judicial scrutiny, and lastly, whether legislative policy goals or Court precedents prevailed. The research focused on the Rehnquist Court because it invalidated an unprecedented 34 federal statutes. This analysis found that Congress offered 11 proposals, but only repassed four statutes attempting to replicate the initial invalidated statutes. Nevertheless, in the four instances of successful reenactment, Congress was able to achieve, in practice, indistinguishable potency and breadth in two statutes and identical potency with significantly narrower breadth in one statute. This work is significant because it demonstrates that occasionally Congress has utilized available tools—in this case repassing analogous statutes—to effectively counter Supreme Court precedents. The Supreme Court is not always the exclusive or irrevocable arbitrator of constitutional controversies. / Master of Arts

Yes / Ensuring an informed and effective dementia workforce is of international concern; however, there remains limited understanding of how this can be achieved. This review aimed to identify features of effective dementia educational programs. Critical interpretive synthesis underpinned by Kirkpatrick’s return on investment model was applied. One hundred and fifty-two papers of variable quality were included. Common features of more efficacious educational programs included the need for educational programs to be relevant to participants’ role and experience, involve active face-to-face participation, underpin practice-based learning with theory, be delivered by an experienced facilitator, have a total duration of at least 8 hours with individual sessions of 90 minutes or more, support application of learning in practice, and provide a structured tool or guideline to guide care practice. Further robust research is required to develop the evidence base; however, the findings of this review have relevance for all working in workforce education.

Yes / Circular supply chain (CSC) emphasises surge in application of reuse, recycling, remanufacturing and thereby promotes transformation from linear to circular model of flow of products. Supply chains of manufacturing industries have become global over the years. Products manufactured in developing nations are being sent to developed nations for mass consumption. Developed nations have regulatory policies, technological knowhow and modern infrastructure to adopt CSC model. Their counterpart is trailing in these aspects. In literature, limited work has been performed on identifying challenges of implementing CSC in developing nations. Therefore, employing literature review and feedback received from experts, 16 important barriers were identified to CSC adoption in India. These barriers were analysed using integrated Interpretive Structural Modelling ? MICMAC approach. The findings will contribute in transforming supply chains thereby bringing economic prosperity, addressing global warming and generating employment opportunities. Finally, crucial policy measures and recommendations are proposed to assist managers and government bodies.

Yes / This paper studies the Critical Success Factors’ (CSFs) for the adoption of Digital Payment System in India. There are few studies about the literature on CSFs for the adoption of the digital payment system in the Indian context. This study is an attempt to cover this gap. In this study, we reviewed the theories for adoption model at the individual level used in Information System (IS) and discussed four technology model including “Technology Acceptance Model” (TAM). Ten factors have been identified with extensive literature review and review of selected models namely; Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived functional benefits, Awareness, Availability of Resources, Government as a policy maker, Performance Expectancy, Social Influence, Price Value, Experience & Habit, and Risk-taking ability. An expert from academic industry has been taken as a reviewer or consultant of the selected variables. The CSFs may ensure that they are the predictors and the important factors for adoption of digital payments system in India. The study mainly uses the deductive approach to consider the primary and secondary sources of data. The analyses of these models take into account through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) methodology and develop a model for effective adoption of Digital Payment System in India. The paper also makes future recommendations for further research studies.

Yes / The wider use of Internet of Things (IoT) makes it possible to create smart cities. The purpose of this paper is to identify key IoT challenges and understand the relationship between these challenges to support the development of smart cities. Design/methodology/approach: Challenges were identified using literature review, and prioritised and elaborated by experts. The contextual interactions between the identified challenges and their importance were determined using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM). To interrelate the identified challenges and promote IoT in the context of smart cities, the dynamics of interactions of these challenges were analysed using an integrated Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliqués à un Classement (MICMAC)-ISM approach. MICMAC is a structured approach to categorise variables according to their driving power and dependence. Findings: Security and privacy, business models, data quality, scalability, complexity and governance were found to have strong driving power and so are key challenges to be addressed in sustainable cities projects. The main driving challenges are complexity and lack of IoT governance. IoT adoption and implementation should therefore focus on breaking down complexity in manageable parts, supported by a governance structure. Practical implications: This research can help smart city developers in addressing challenges in a phase-wise approach by first ensuring solid foundations and thereafter developing other aspects. Originality/value: A contribution originates from the integrated MICMAC-ISM approach. ISM is a technique used to identify contextual relationships among definite elements, whereas MICMAC facilitates the classification of challenges based on their driving and dependence power. The other contribution originates from creating an overview of challenges and theorising the contextual relationships and dependencies among the challenges.