Browsing by Subject "Health education"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3

Beyond obesity : historical, social change approaches to improve the fitness of Americans
(2014-08) Harrell, Baker Christian; Todd, Jan
America's growing concern about fatness during the twentieth century developed in parallel with a society that made it increasingly harder to live a healthy lifestyle. Since the 1970s, sweeping political, economic, cultural, and familial changes have occurred in the United States. Many researchers argue that these changes have created an "obesogenic" environment that has contributed to the increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in America by favoring inactivity and the over consumption of highly-processed, calorie-dense foods and beverages. As a result, the field of public health has increasingly begun to recognize obesity as a "societal disease." In 2001, The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity categorized the number of overweight and obese Americans as reaching "nationwide epidemic proportions." Since that time, America has waged an all-out "war on obesity." Instead of a broader emphasis on health promotion, some public health researchers have suggested that this heightened focus on obesity is 1) guided by America's historically-rooted social disdain for fatness and 2) insufficient to improve the healthy lifestyles of Americans. In searching for a solution to the so-called "obesity epidemic," a growing number of researchers have begun to look to models of social change. After an introductory chapter describing the scope of the problem, this dissertation provides an historical analysis of two, relevant social change models. The first historical case study is an examination of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's VERB social marketing campaign. The second study explores the model of social movements through the history of the aerobics "boom" of 1970s America. Based on these histories, this dissertation concludes by proposing a blended approach that harnesses the strengths of both models to organize and advance America's healthy living movement.
Gamification and behavior change in education
(2020-08-11) Kim, Jihoon, Ph. D.; Castelli, Darla M., 1967-; Harrison, Louis; Liu, Min; Brown, Christopher P.; Holahan, Carole K.
The rate of physical activity (PA) participation decreases from high school to college, and many college students manage to overlook their nutritional necessities. The two issues, in combination, increase the health risk of typically healthy individuals. The Self-Determination Theory has been applied to an education setting to promote autonomy, competence, and relatedness that can be heightened in the presence of gamification strategies when behavior change is the desired outcome. Gamification is the application of game-design elements in non-game contexts. The purpose of this series of studies was to determine 1) how gamification influenced the learner's motivation and performance, 2) how gamification strategies in higher education coursework changed behavior related to PA and healthy eating, and 3) what are the predictors of PA and healthy eating. First, the relationship between gamification and the learner's behavioral change in education was investigated using a meta-analytic review of contemporary research. Second, a study determined the impact of using gamification methods in higher education coursework to change the behavior associated with PA and healthy eating as an experimental design study. Finally, the predictors of PA and healthy eating behavior among first-year college students in gamified and non-gamified courses were identified. The results from Study 1 confirmed that the gamification strategies have a moderate, positive effect on participant’s behavior and test scores. Also, this study examined if age, intervention length, measurement type influences the effectiveness of the gamification intervention. The findings were based on 32 data sets from 18 experimentally designed studies. Study 2 found that health education with gamification approaches has a positive effect on motivating learners to change their walking and healthy eating habits. Finally, Study 3 discovered that healthy eating habits and past PA behavior were predictors of PA participation. Furthermore, sedentary behavior and eating social support were identified as a predictor of healthy eating. Collectively, the research findings support the use of gamification in behavior change coursework among college students. Further, the results suggest that there may be an optimal design for including gamification elements in health-oriented interventions that maximize health outcomes. The series of studies identified specific pedagogical and gamification methods most likely to promote habitually participate in physical activity and health eating among first-year college students. Finally, potential implications for physical education teacher education were described
Testing differences : the implementation of western HIV testing norms in sub-Saharan Africa
(2010-12) Angotti, Nicole Catherine; Regnerus, Mark; Auyero, Javier; Roberts, Bryan; Watkins, Susan C.; Weinreb, Alexander
This dissertation considers how Western health interventions are incorporated in non-Western societies. It focuses specifically on ‘HIV Testing,’ a key strategy that emerged to fight the spread of HIV in the West and was later institutionalized globally and exported to other, very different parts of the world. The empirical object of study is the “3Cs,” the cluster of Western norms and ideals upon which global testing policy rests: (1) that it includes counseling, (2) that it be conducted with informed consent, and (3) that the test results be confidential. Employing several methods of field research, this project investigates how the rationalities and motivations of various actors at national and local levels affect the implementation of a key global AIDS intervention in Malawi, a high HIV prevalence, rural African setting. Fundamental differences between the West and sub-Saharan Africa form the basis of this inquiry as to how imported models fare when implemented outside of their context of origin. Towards that end, this study considers how three strata of social and institutional actors who inform the HIV Testing encounter in Malawi interpret, and put into practice, the same ideas: the Counseling and Testing Establishment (CTE), HIV Counselors, and rural Malawians. For the CTE, its proponents, the “3Cs” are Western, human rights imports that are worth defending formally, but not necessarily worth prioritizing in practice. For HIV Counselors, its implementers, knowledge of the “3Cs” as Western biomedical jargon distinguishes them from villagers, but places them in situations where the ethics of testing conflict with moral concerns they have for those whom they were trained to help; thus they adapt them in practice. And for rural Malawians, its beneficiaries, the “3Cs” have little inherent value, and are perceived largely as doing harm rather than good in their communities. Thus, the net contribution of this study is that the “3Cs” have no single meaning as a normative testing regime, but rather acquire (differential) meaning (and import) during their implementation. Indeed, unless policy makers and analysts know something about this, interventions developed from afar are unlikely to have their intended effects on the ground.