Browsing by Subject "Experiences"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Experiences of Non-Hispanic Black and African American Women with Postpartum Healthcare
    (2025-06) Sposato, Margaret Fallon Van Brunt; Otte, Julie; Ellis, Rebecca; Draucker, Claire; Johnson, Jasmine; Tully, Kristin
    Racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality and morbidity are stark in the United States, especially for non-Hispanic Black and African American women who experience elevated rates of pregnancy-related deaths and severe maternal morbidity. Effective postpartum healthcare is essential for preventing pregnancy-related deaths, successfully managing complications, and optimizing childbearing women’s health, yet little is known about non-Hispanic Black and African American women’s experiences with postpartum healthcare in the year following delivery. The purpose of this study was to describe non-Hispanic Black and African American women’s experiences with postpartum healthcare throughout the one-year postpartum period from their perspectives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 postpartum non-Hispanic Black and African American women in Indiana within 12 months of childbirth. The participant narratives were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Participants identified eight types of positive experiences and eight types of negative experiences interacting with healthcare providers, nine types of healthcare facilitators and 12 types of healthcare barriers encountered during the one-year postpartum period, and eight recommendations for improving postpartum healthcare. The findings revealed (1) participants’ feelings about their postpartum healthcare were primarily influenced by relational experiences with providers (e.g. feeling attended to or dismissed) and whether their care needs were or were not met by providers, and (2) participants’ experiences accessing healthcare were primarily influenced by health system factors (e.g. having or not having enough appointments), resource and practical factors (e.g. childcare), and financial and insurance factors (e.g. having health insurance). The study results provide preliminary insights into non-Hispanic Black and African American women’s experiences with healthcare in Indiana during the one-year postpartum period and suggest there may be multiple opportunities throughout the postpartum year for healthcare providers and the health system to optimize this population’s healthcare experiences.
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    INTERNal Experience: How Previous Medical Trauma Influences Identity
    (2018) Chilman, Bailee; Misluk, Eileen
    This arts-based phenomenological study intended to extend themes from Jarrett’s (2016) artsbased phenomenological study, which explored the evolving identity of a graduate art therapy student. The researcher/participant of this study specifically explored how her past medical trauma continues to influence her current personal and professional identity development, while at her current clinical internship at a pediatric hospital. This participant replicated Jarrett’s (2016) methodology by completing the Twenty-StatementTest (TST), following the creation of artwork for six weeks. Upon the completion of data collection, the participant took part in a semi-structured interview with an independent reviewer. The purpose of the independent reviewer was to aid in the process of the interpretive phenomenological systematic analysis, which included the TST responses to recognize and categorize themes to further understand certain influences of one’s personal and professional identity. The researcher utilized three of the four categories that Jarrett (2016) identified; familial, sociocultural, and educational, as a framework for the early development of data analysis. The researcher extended categories in this study to include medical and trauma influences. As a result of this process, further themes evolved in the understanding of how traumatic experiences influence one’s identity. The researcher’s pediatric medical experience influenced the artwork and TST. The results of the interpretive phenomenological systematic analysis indicated that the following eight themes influenced the participant’s personal and professional identity: giving, self, success, interpersonal relationships, mother, somatic experiences, values and memories.
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    Transgenerational latent early-life associated regulation unites environment and genetics across generations
    (Future Science Group, 2016-03) Lahiri, Debomoy K.; Maloney, Bryan; Bayon, Baindu L.; Chopra, Nipun; White, Fletcher A.; Greig, Nigel H.; Nurnberger, John I.; Department of Psychiatry, IU School of Medicine
    The origin of idiopathic diseases is still poorly understood. The latent early-life associated regulation (LEARn) model unites environmental exposures and gene expression while providing a mechanistic underpinning for later-occurring disorders. We propose that this process can occur across generations via transgenerational LEARn (tLEARn). In tLEARn, each person is a 'unit' accumulating preclinical or subclinical 'hits' as in the original LEARn model. These changes can then be epigenomically passed along to offspring. Transgenerational accumulation of 'hits' determines a sporadic disease state. Few significant transgenerational hits would accompany conception or gestation of most people, but these may suffice to 'prime' someone to respond to later-life hits. Hits need not produce symptoms or microphenotypes to have a transgenerational effect. Testing tLEARn requires longitudinal approaches. A recently proposed longitudinal epigenome/envirome-wide association study would unite genetic sequence, epigenomic markers, environmental exposures, patient personal history taken at multiple time points and family history.
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    “Understanding the Motivations and Experiences of STEM Students in a Study Abroad Program”
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Scheive, Melanie
    From March 14th to 21st of 2015, student members of the IUPUI chapter of Timmy Global Health traveled to Las Canas, Dominican Republic as part of a medical brigade team. Alongside doctors, nurses, dentists, and other medical personnel, participating students played an active, hands-on role in helping to provide primary care services to over 600 patients from the five impoverished communities surrounding Las Canas (Timmy Global Health, 2015). Undergraduate students, many of whom are STEM students, decide to participate in these medical brigade trips for a variety of reasons. The exact motivations and experiences of STEM students participating in health science-related study abroad trips, however, are not adequately explored in current study abroad literature. This research seeks to determine how each participant’s experiences in Las Canas have impacted their perceptions of health science-related careers. The specific aims of this project are concerned with understanding the following: 1) the motivations that influence the decision-making process of STEM students choosing to study abroad; 2) the individual experiences during a health science-based study abroad trip that are instrumental in refining and solidifying STEM interest; and 3) the student-level and community outcomes (e.g. an increase of STEM interest and a positive effect on local health care recipients, respectively) produced by a medical brigade experience. A mixed methods research design —including observations, interviews, participant reflections, and pre-/post-program surveys — was utilized to address this project’s specific aims.