Kalamazoo College Guilds: Heath SIPs
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This collection includes Senior Individualized Projects (SIPs) that deal with issues of health. Abstracts are generally available to the public, but PDF files are available only to current Kalamazoo College students, faculty, and staff.
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Item Expansion of DNA Databases in the United States: An Analysis(2005-01-28) Yourchock, Kimberly; Einspahr, Jennifer E., 1974-The powerful technology of the CODIS system is a potentially invaluable crime-fighting tool but at the same time a potentially devastating encroachment on the very freedoms we seek to protect through law enforcement. To examine this paradox fully, we must trace the roots of the CODIS system beginning at its inception and various legislative roots at both the state and national levels. From there, we will examine constitutional challenges and judicial rulings regarding the system. Finally, we will examine the continued objections to the program and where the United States is heading in terms of genetic typing, crime-fighting and civil liberties.Item Spirituality in Medicine: A Study on Writing the Autobiography to Promote Emotional Healing for Cancer Patients(Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College, 2007) Fowler, Kelsey; Shattuck, CybelleModern day methods of medical practice and patient care show an incredible advance in technology and success since even one hundred years ago. With the coming of the Age of Enlightenment and an increasing amount of followers in scientific thought, answers to questions of science are unveiled through new machines, research and experiments. Although society has progressed greatly in the care and treatment of illnesses, along the way, "unscientific" patient care has received less and less attention. With such an emphasis on surgery, medicine, and other treatments, some medical personnel have begun to consider their patients not as individual souls, but as mechanical bodies that need to be "fixed". The aspects of human life, including religion and spirituality, that used to be considered central to healing have been set aside as unreliable in the context of medicine. Unlike the scientific method's ability to physically prove some of life's mysteries, blind faith has no such tactic for verifying a God or spiritual phenomena. Nevertheless, spirituality is still an important part of human life; the modern concepts of medicine need to reintegrate spiritual and emotional healing. One of the ways in which society can bring spiritual and emotional healing into the curriculum of medicine is by creating therapy groups focused on writing the autobiography. Through storytelling, discussion, and a deep analysis of what life experiences really teach them, patients can address the missing aspects of medicine. What medicine does not tell us are the answers to all of the questions we ask about life when we are faced with an illness. One way we can try to answer those questions for ourselves is by going back into our individual histories to discover what we really find important in life that gives it meaning. Medicine may be able to repair our bodies, but it is our souls that need more thought and attention through other methods of therapy. Taking medicine definitely helps patients, but it is a very passive form of healing. By introducing programs centered on creative expression, patients will initiate self-led emotionally curative methods that can sustain with or without the help of a doctor. In an internship with the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, I put this theory to test by creating a writing curriculum for a pilot group of women who either have cancer or are cancer survivors. In a few sessions, we were able to write and identify common life themes that give life a great importance. These themes exhibit the morals, values, and beliefs that are contained in the experiences of life and can be referred to as common mythologies. I call them mythologies because, although each individual's story may differ in plot, setting or character, they universally speak to a collective group of people about life beliefs that span the generations. What we value in life affects who we are, how we deal with our ups and downs, and also how we come to terms with illness and the possibility of death. This project is a collective analysis of modern medicine and why spiritual healing is important in the realm of medicine. I will begin by providing a research overview on the topics of the Age of Enlightenment and modern medical curricula in America. Second, I will describe my internship and the processes by which the writing sessions were organized and carried out. Third, I will evaluate how some of the journal entries provided by the patients reveal common mythologies on the notable aspects of life.Item Social Support Among Homeless Adults(Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College, 2001) Dallas, Amey; Batsell, W. Robert, 1963-; Toro, Paul A.This paper provides reviews of the research conducted on both social support and homelessness, indicating areas of possible future study; especially important are longitudinal and experimental designs. The current study examines the relationship between social support and physical and mental health outcomes among a sample of homeless adults (N= 150). Taking in to account the accuracy of the buffering and direct effects models of social support among this population, it was expected that both models would be supported depending on the measure of social support. Furthermore, this study offers suggestions in the designs of future longitudinal and experimental designs.Item Predictors of Income among Youth Aged Out of Foster Care(Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College, 2008) Thomson, Rebecca N.; Batsell, W. Robert, 1963-; Toro, Paul A.Foster care youth face considerable difficulties as a result of their birth family histories, their experiences within the foster care system, as well as the unstable environments into which they exit care. With all of the obstacles present, it is not surprising that many foster youth are not economically successful after aging out of care. The current study investigates the predictors of income within a sample of aged out youth in the Detroit metropolitan area. The sample included 262 participants who all participated in phone interviews approximately 30 min. in length. The interview questions addressed the functioning of the former foster youth in a variety of domains: living arrangements, family,education, work and public assistance, criminal history, service utilization, physical and sexual victimization, substance abuse, illegal behaviors, psychological symptoms, and risky sexual behaviors. Numerous predictor variables were analyzed for possible relationships with average monthly job income. It was assumed that the males in the sample would have significantly higher incomes than the females, and this hypothesis was accurate. In addition, it was presumed that the number of days a participant spent homeless, their frequency of school attendance after aging out of care, and the number of placements they experienced as a foster child would be significantly correlated with average monthly job income; however, these variables did not reveal any effects on income level. Significant relationships are reported and discussed, but the study did not target any specific issue that should be addressed over others to help foster youth reach successful economic outcomes. Stable adult mentors are proposed as a method for supporting foster youth before and after aging out of care on any matter of importance that may arise.Item Elementary HIV Prevention in a Community Based Setting(Kalamazoo, Mich. : Kalamazoo College, 2005) Urbiel, Claire E.The proposed study is a modified replication of the 1995 study conducted by Schonfeld et al. and aims to determine whether an elementary AIDS education prevention program in a community setting can advance young children's understanding of this illness. Children (N = 85; ages 5-7; 98 % African-American) attending Project Challenge Camp Hope, a community summer camp for children ages 5-20 infected or affected by HIV / AIDS will take part in a randomized, controlled trial used to measure the impact of a 3-week, multifaceted AIDS education program on conceptual understanding, factual knowledge, and fears about AIDS. Children in the control group will not receive the AIDS education program, but will receive the original lesson plans written by the camp. Children in the intervention groups are expected to achieve significant gains in the level of understanding of the concepts of causality and prevention of AIDS (equivalent to 2 years growth in the level of conceptual sophistication), and to accurately identify causes of AIDS in response to open-ended questions after the intervention. The proposed study seeks to ascertain whether significant advances in conceptual understanding about AIDS can be achieved through direct educational interventions in a community setting.