This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Decker School of Nursing, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Design))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / Available health and well-being information is limited in communities with insufficient health care resources. This affects the community negatively on multiple levels in which the health and well-being needs of individuals are not satisfied. This research project explored the impact of human centred co-design, using tools such as health and well-being needs questionnaires including a health needs assessment as well as a quality of life scale. The aim was making accurate health and well-being information more accessible to the youth. The target group was Durbanville youth aged between 14 and 18 years. The sample included different ages ( = 15), races (79% White, 21% Coloured) and near equal gender distribution (55% female, 45% male). The sample (N = 33) was comprised of three groups: Group A, B, and C. A Human-Centered Design (HCD) framework was used during the project referring to the following three steps: Hear, Create, and Deliver. During the Hear phase, stories and inspiration from the participants were gathered. Group A (n = 10) completed a health and well-being information needs questionnaire. Group B (n = 15) discussed the topic, and created affinity diagrams. This was how the health and well-being status and information needs were established. During the Create phase; frameworks, opportunities, solutions, and prototypes were developed by the participants. Group B co-designed the concept prototype: a possible mobile application solution for practical access to health and well-being information. Group C (n = 8) provided feedback and input on the concept prototype and created storyboards to visually display scenarios in which they would use the mobile application. This step produced a youth-friendly health and well-being information service concept prototype. During the Deliver phase, the relevant health and well-being information solution was established as a youth-friendly health and well-being mobile application: WeHelp. Also, group A, B, and C were introduced to a similar existing resource named MobieG. Thus, the present study contributed directly to the participants’ health and well-being awareness. The research provided significant health and well-being insights. For example, the youth of Durbanville revealed extremely low scores on the emotional well-being domain. The data collected makes it possible for future researchers to create a practical, youth-friendly, health and well-being information service.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth are disproportionally burdened by high rates of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy, heightening their need for sexual health interventions that are aligned to their unique culture and social context. Media technologies, including the Internet, cell phones, and video games, offer new avenues for reaching adolescents on a wide range of sensitive health topics. While several studies have informed the development of technology-based interventions targeting mainstream youth, no such data have been reported for AI/AN youth. To fill this gap, I: a) quantified media technology use in a select group of AI/AN teens and young adults living in Pacific Northwest tribes and urban communities; b) identified patterns in their health information-seeking and media preferences; and c) worked with local tribes and partners to develop recommendations for designing culturally-appropriate technology-based interventions targeting Native adolescents. This research included: a) an anonymous, paper-based survey of over 400 AI/AN youths age 13-21 years; b) a systematic review of technology-based sexual health interventions; and c) a variety of community-based participatory research strategies to analyze findings, prioritize options, and generate recommendations for designing interventions that align with the culture, needs, and organizational capacities of the tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Technology use was exceptionally common and diverse among survey respondents, mirroring patterns reported by teens in the general population. Seventy-five percent of AI/AN youth reported using the Internet, 78% reported using cell phones, and 36% reported playing video games on a daily or weekly basis. Thirty-five percent reported that they would feel most comfortable getting sexual health information from the Internet, and 44% reported having done so in the past. Youth expressed interest in a wide array of interactive media features, and culturally-specific content that holistically encompassed their wide-ranging health interests and concerns. Tribal health educators expressed particular interest in adapting Internet-based skill-building modules and informational websites, and teens expressed interest in websites and videos. These findings are now being used by the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board to inform the development and adaptation of culturally-appropriate interventions targeting AI/AN youth in the Pacific Northwest.

This thesis explores the stigmas and taboos surrounding youth health centers in Sweden and how this might be hindering young people to visit the youth health centers. It’s exploring how this can be challenged and how the threshold can be lowered by involving the informal support system and bringing the youth health center to the youth arena which allows for a more informal type of support and guidance. The youth health centers in Sweden have been around since 1970 and are a well known and established form of healthcare, yet the majority of the visitors are young women. How come? I’ve been working from the hypothesis that there is a need for more youth to seek help but that they for various reasons don’t manage to make it all the way there. There are many stigmas surrounding topics that the youth health center is dealing with, such as sex, depression, or domestic violence. This is especially true for young people on the edge between childhood and adulthood. Using a human-centered design approach this project has through the involvement of adolescents, midwives and youth workers among others, been exploring challenges and finding opportunities where interaction design can be used to improve the situation for the youth that do not make it to the youth health centers but that want and would benefit from their services. The final design proposal is an ambassadorship, aimed towards adults already part of the informal support system, that will enable youth to feel more empowered to seek help. It is set up to reach the youth in new ways, in an informal manner to bring the solution to the youth and to create a more comfortable space for them to open up within. Part of this is also a service for youth to effortlessly get in contact with the youth health center and to create personal connections to its personnel through link cards and video presentations. These connections are there to prepare the youth and to lower the bar of contact by building trust and humanize the help-seeking process. To make it clear that they are not trying to contact an institution but a person.

The study sought to identify factors motivating young people aged 14-25 years to use voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV in Malawi by interviewing 145 young people. The study identified barriers affecting and strategies promoting young people's access to VCT. The research results indicate that young people go for VCT mainly to know their HIV status. The availability of VCT services, and the provision of VCT services by peers motivate young people to access VCT. Some young people do not access VCT services due to fears of being found HIV+ve and because of the poor attitudes of the health service providers. Providing more information about VCT, involving young people as VCT providers, using youth friendly health service providers, providing VCT in a separate room for young people and through mobile services will increase young people's access to VCT services in Malawi. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

published_or_final_version / Speech and Hearing Sciences / Master / Master of Science in Audiology

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