Heart disease is the leading cause of death among African Americans. Despite advances in treatment modalities, based on better understanding of the disease's pathology and access to health care, African Americans continue to die from heart disease at rates significantly higher than other races. The available literature on cardiovascular disease among African Americans does not adequately explore how social support affects heart health in this group. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of social support on cardiac recurrence among African American adults. Cohen's ISEL support system variables: tangible, appraisal, belonging, and self-esteem; and five demographic variables: age, marital status, educational level, household income, and gender provided the conceptual/methodological base for data collection and analysis. The sample consisted of 83 African American men and women ages 22 to 84 that had experienced at least one cardiac event. Chi-square analysis showed a positive correlation between marital status and cardiac recurrence. Results suggest that living alone may increase an individual's chances of having a second cardiac event. Social change implications include (a) identification of essential social support elements and tailored treatment plans for heart patient and caregiver in order to promote better heart health outcomes for African Americans living with someone or alone; and (b) policy change that fosters effective prevention and treatment.

Studies of African American English (AAE) structure have historically placed significantemphasis on its system of tense and aspect, and have done so for good reason. In the interest of developing a comprehensive descriptive analysis of the variety’s syntactic and semantic features, research on the syntactic constructions and functional grammatical items that distinguish it from other English varieties continues to bring about new insights into the different elements that make up a system of tense and aspect, as well as how these elements interact with other parts of the grammar—not only in AAE but crosslinguistically. One of these elements is the verbal marker <i>BIN</i>, which situates part of an event in the remote past, as shown in (1).<div><br></div><div>(1) Jane <i>BIN</i> saw that movie.</div><div>‘Jane saw that movie a long time ago.’<br></div><div><br></div><div>This paper further investigates both the function of and restrictions on the aspectual marker <i>BIN </i>in African American English (AAE) using acceptability judgment data collected in an online survey of AAE speakers. With this study, I aim to contribute to thetheoretical description of the verbal system of AAE (L. J. Green, 1993) and its system of tense and aspect. The judgment task will identify patterns of acceptability surrounding the following two factors: event type and whether the verb receives progressive or past tense marking. Using a generative-constructivist semantic framework (Ramchand, 2008), I hypothesize that the semantic information represented by the aspectual marker BIN will either allow or disallow certain combinations of event structure and progressiveness, and these restrictions may be demonstrated to be systematic according to the erb classes proposed byRamchand (2008). Additionally, based on the survey data and the approach to the decomposition of event structure regarding Outer and Inner aspect proposed by (Travis, 2010), I will propose that restrictions on <i>BIN </i>and ambiguity between structures containing<i> BIN </i>can be accounted for syntactically based on the configurations of both grammatical and lexical aspect.<br></div><div><br></div>

ABSTRACT The educational success of African American males is negatively affected when they are raised in a single parent household that is headed by their African American mother. African American males are more prone to becoming substance abusers, incarcerated, school dropouts, or perpetuating the same cycle of creating other fatherless homes. This study was sought to examine the similarities associated the educational success African American men and the impact that their single mothers had on their success. Information was gathered by interviewing ten African American males who have obtained a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree, were in a management position and were raised by a single mother. This qualitative research method enabled the researcher to learn what factors the single mothers contributed to the educational success of their sons. Each participant in this study offered personal information on the role(s) their mother played in their education. The roles discussed included being a strict disciplinarian, stressing the importance of education, and being an example as it relates to hard work and returning to school to obtain a college degree. This study proves that African American males who are raised in a single parent household can be educationally successful with the constant involvement, guidance, and support of their mother.

WHAT’S THE 411 ON SEX IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH? A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GIRLS’ EXPOSURE TO SEX COMMUNICATION IN THE CHURCH By: Brittany M. Berry, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017. Major Director: Dr. Faye Z. Belgrave, Professor, Psychology The purpose of this dissertation research was to explore sex communication with African American girls in the African American Church. This research was guided by two objectives: (1) to explore African American adolescent girls’ exposure to sex communication in African American Churches, and (2) to explore African American girls’ perceptions and feelings about these messages. In this qualitative study, 20 African American teen girls and eight Church youth leaders were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and coded to determine themes for youth and youth leaders. A total of 32 themes emerged across youth and youth leader interviews. Twelve girls reported some discussion of sex in Church and 8 girls reported no discussion. Overall, participant responses indicated that sex messages in Church are typically abstinence-focused and based on religious principles, with mention of using condoms in some cases. Findings indicated that girls vary in their comfort level with discussions about sex depending on multiple factors, including their own sexual activity. The impact of sex communication in Church on girls’ sexual behavior may vary; however, the relationships youth have with youth leaders and fellow parishioners may aid in holding girls accountable to the information they gain and religious values they cultivate in Church. Recommendations for Church leaders, youth leaders, and researchers are provided.

African Americans are among the fastest growing entrepreneurial minority group in the United States, but they continue to struggle with sustaining these new business ventures. Evidence suggests that African American business entrepreneurs experience an increased failure rate with a 4-year business survival rate of 39%. Reducing the failure rate would significantly add to the U.S. economy (an estimated $2.5 trillion) and create nearly 12 million more jobs. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the strategies and behaviors of an award-winning African American entrepreneur in Miami Dade County who has remained in business over 20 years. The conceptual framework for this study was entrepreneurship theory. The data were collected through a semistructured interview with the participant, a review of published news media data, and a review of financial and marketing documents. Member checking was completed with the participant to strengthen credibility and trustworthiness of interpretations. The findings revealed several qualities about this entrepreneur, including innovativeness, internal locus of control, and self-efficacy attributed to business success. The participant also leveraged education and family networks as social capital to reach firm sustainability, as well as bootstrapping to mitigate the lack of financial capital. The information learned from these findings may contribute to social change by providing insight into the necessary strategies and behaviors required by African American entrepreneurs to stay in business beyond 4 years.

African Americans are adversely affected by health disparities due to the complexities of the patient-provider relationship. The behavioral model of health services was used as the theoretical framework to understand how individuals make healthcare utilization decisions. The purpose of the research was to evaluate how the patient-provider relationship influences inconsistent doctor visits by African American patients despite the prevalence of chronic conditions. 45 African Americans located in Shelby County, Tennessee were included in this study. A cross-sectional quantitative design was used to collect the data via an online survey. The 45 collected responses were analyzed by performing multiple linear regression, Pearson correlation, and Cronbach's ï?¡. Results of the analyses were statistically significant in proving that education level, income, gender of African Americans, and having health insurance affect the patient-provider relationship. It was determined by the statistically significant results that the patient-provider relationship had an effect on African American patients' decision to seek healthcare services and medication compliance and follow-up medical care. This information may guide the conversation within the Shelby County, Tennessee African American community regarding what role the patient-provider relationship has when addressing health disparities among African Americans.

The effects of nonadherence to prescribed blood pressure medication adversely impacts African Americans (AA) in comparison to their European American counterparts. The associated health consequences of uncontrolled hypertension include heart failure, stroke, and renal dysfunction. And the treatment of the complications negatively impacts quality of life and contributes to increased health care costs. To address the problem at 1 clinic, a quality improvement (QI) project was developed by the clinic nursing staff, but the project had never been evaluated. The project included blood pressure measurements assessed among AA patients before and after implementation of a 4-item Morisky Medication-Taking Adherence Scale (MMAS) and education by the nurses. The purpose of this project was to evaluate whether the use of the MMAS and education improved blood pressure control in the AA hypertensive patients. This QI evaluation project was guided by Johnson's medication adherence model and the Kolkaba comfort theory. Deidentified results of 3 months of patient blood pressures taken before and 3 months after the QI project was implemented were obtained from the site for statistical analysis. A paired sample t test was used to determine if a difference in blood pressure existed between the 2 groups, before and after implementation (n = 33) of the teaching and the MMAS. Results indicated a statistically significant (p < .05) decrease in blood pressures after implementation of the QI project. The findings of this project may positively influence social change by improving adherence to blood pressure medication and thereby improving healthcare outcomes for AA patients.

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Kristin Scott

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