Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 230 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-230).

No description available.

The systematic evaluation of effective health behavior interventions is critical for addressing overweight and obesity. Process evaluation assesses whether critical intervention components are delivered as intended and can enhance our understanding of program effects by linking participant program exposure to outcomes. The purpose of this study was to conduct a process evaluation of PROACTIVE, an intervention program to prevent and reduce obesity in clinical settings, and to explore associations between measures of dose, fidelity, and session quality with participant outcomes in an effort to explain gender differences in PROACTIVE program response observed at 24 months. Overweight and obese men (n = 74) and women (n = 175) were randomized into the 24-month health behavior counselling intervention. Outcomes of waist circumference (WC) and physical activity (PA; 7-Day PA Recall) were measured at 12 and 24 months. Process outcomes were distilled from Session Summary Forms completed by Health Educators after each session. Dose was a significant predictor of WC (β = -.12, p < .01) and PA (β = -.16, p < .05) at 24 months. Fidelity predicted 12 month WC (β = -.11, p < .05) and PA (β = .21, p < .05). Quality was significantly associated with 12 month (WC: β = .07, p < .05; PA: β = -.18, p < .01) and 24-month outcomes (WC: β = .10, p < .01; PA: β = -.15, p < .05). No gender differences were found for complete program adherence (dose; p = .51) or treatment implemented (fidelity; p = .06). Men and women were exposed to a similar amount of PROACTIVE session content and maintained similar levels of adherence throughout the 24-month intervention, therefore the difference in program success between men and women could not be attributed to unequal program exposure between the two groups. Insight yielded into the relationship between program exposure and participant outcomes via this process evaluation can help guide and refine future program implementation along with providing areas for future research. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-01-29 17:29:48.89

Abstract not available

Errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographies.

The Decade of Maori Development (1984-1994) stimulated the re-emergence of distinctly Maori approaches to progressing their own advancement. Maori health promotion is one such approach that has a central concern for improving Maori health outcomes. A range of Maori collectives are providing what they claim to be distinctly Maori health promotion initiatives. However, Maori health promotion has a pragmatic orientation, and this has, at least in part, led to conceptual and theoretical under-development. There is an almost complete lack of empirically and theoretically sound work to conceptualise Maori health promotion. This research programme has focused on identifying the defining characteristics of Maori health promotion. The primary data source for this research programme was three case studies of Maori health promotion interventions. Tipu Ora - a Maori community-based well-child programme; the Plunket Kaiawhina Service - a national Maori focussed initiative located within a mainstream service; and, the Wairarapa Maori Asthma Project - a tribally-based asthma management initiative. The main source of data in each of the case studies was in-depth open-ended interviews with programme participants and stakeholders. Data was also drawn from document review and archival records. The findings of this research indicate that Maori health promotion is based on a broad concept of health, which can be expanded as the basis for a more general argument for Maori advancement. Maori health promotion is the process of enabling Maori to increase control over the determinants of health and strengthen their identity as Maori, and thereby improve their health and position in society. Its defining characteristics have been identified in this research programme, and presented in �Kia uruuru mai a hauora�, a framework for Maori health promotion. The Framework has the potential to provide the basis for a more consistent and rigorous approach to Maori health promotion practice, policy, purchasing, and research. Aspects of the Framework may also have wider application to generic health promotion and other indigenous peoples� approaches to health promotion. This study concludes that Maori health promotion draws primarily on the heritage and new knowledge that arises from Maori and Western experiences. However, it remains grounded in the distinctive concepts and values of Maori worldviews. Maori health promotion is a distinctly Maori process, in step with and indigenous health promotion, but primarily on the determination of Maori to be Maori.

The thesis is concerned with finding strategies of community development suitable for health promotion and a matching method of evaluation. The thesis contains two literature reviews. The first examines the history and practice of community development, the problems in the field of drug abuse prevention, especially in its evaluation, and recent developments in health promotion within the context of the new public health movement. The second literature review chapter examines qualitative methodology and in particular recent developments in the use of case studies. The design of the study in the thesis utilises multiple-case studies and explanation-building with data matrix construction as the method of analysis. Two multiple case studies of thirteen and twelve cases respectively use data from the Community Approach to Drug Abuse Prevention (CADAP) Project. Detailed analysis of ten matrices are presented for the First Stage Multiple-Case Study and three for the second. Major conclusions are drawn about how a successful performance in the processes of preparation and training in community development lead to later successful community activity. Whether the preparation and training is done by staff of the CADAP Project or by trained staff of host organisations makes no difference to this outcome. Conclusions are drawn about community development in general, its application to health promotion and its evaluation.