Police officers have more mental health issues than the general population and face barriers to seeking help, such as stigma, organizational masculinity, and concerns about confidentiality. This project took place in an urban police department in Arizona and aimed to increase the frequency of officers seeking peer support or counseling and reduce mental health stigma. Peer support volunteers increased officer contact following exposure to traumatic incidents. Officers viewed an educational video on mental health and available resources, and sergeants were provided with a quick reference guide on mental health warning signs. Rates of counselor fund utilization by officers pre-and post-intervention were monitored, and all officers were emailed a Likert-scale peer support satisfaction survey. Survey results (n=39) showed officers were moderately satisfied with peer support and knowledge, but many were not comfortable contacting peer support for personal issues. Of officers surveyed, 74.4% (n=29) did not seek counselor services after contact with peer support. Counselor fund utilization slightly increased post-intervention, but further study is needed to determine the correlation to interventions. This project was unable to definitively demonstrate that peer support and education for officers and leadership increases help-seeking behaviors. Future projects should focus on improving peer support volunteer training and education.

Substance use among adolescents is incessantly problematic, but its recent collision with a rising opioid epidemic has exponentiated deaths in this age group. Despite opioids being a major contributor, indications remain that adolescent prevention efforts should focus on total substance abstinence. Evidence consistently highlights adverse childhood experiences and mental dysfunction as the strongest predictors of youth substance use initiation, and parent-focused interventions as the most significant prevention model. Participants in this project included five parents, with a teen between 11 and 16 years of age, who had recently experienced homelessness or where currently living in a transitional shelter. Guided by the Transtheoretical Model, this project assessed the impact of an evidence-based parenting program among high-risk families. Participants completed the Teen Triple P Online program from home while receiving weekly text message support. Each parent completed a pre-and post- Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (r=.86) and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (r =.71–.81), and a Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. A two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test was performed on the matched pairs of pre- and post- measures with the mean scores compared. Though statistically insignificant results were yielded, this quality improvement project found a clinically significant decrease in conflict behavior and parental anxiety, depression, and stress after completing the Teen Triple P Online program. Participant satisfaction with the program and subsequent family improvements was also found. These results suggest that interventions that decrease family conflict and improve a parent’s mental health, directly impact major family factors that contribute to adolescent substance use and adverse childhood experiences. This project contributes to the evidence that positive parenting programs have an impact at the individual, family, and societal levels.

Objective: Nearly 90% of sex trafficking victims will come into contact with an emergency department healthcare provider during his or her period of exploitation. Yet, victim identification by healthcare providers remains inadequate. The purpose of this quality improvement project is to improve emergency department healthcare providers’ confidence and ability to identify sex trafficking victims through staff education centered around sex trafficking. Method: A quality improvement project, guided by the Social Cognitive Theory, was implemented in an Arizona emergency department. ED staff were provided with a 40-minute education video about sex trafficking, including victim identification and appropriate responses. Participation in this project was open to all current healthcare workers employed at this emergency department. Stakeholders within the facility assisted with recruitment via weekly staff emails over a three-week period. A pre- and post-survey, consisting of a self-evaluation Likert scale, was used to assess confidence in identifying victims. Case studies were included to measure the participants’ ability to identify victims of trafficking. All aspects of this project were approved by Arizona State University’s and the organization’s Institutional Review Board. Results: One hundred percent of staff agreed to feeling confident in their ability to identify sex trafficking victims post intervention. However, there was no improvement in staff’s actual ability to identify victims through case studies post intervention. Conclusions: Education can be a valuable tool to improve confidence in identifying victims of sex trafficking in an emergency setting.

Background: The global prevalence of all types of diabetes increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (Nazir et al., 2018). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) ranks diabetes as the 7th leading cause of death in the United States with an estimated annual expense of $327 billion. Within the rural setting, patients typically have less resources available for the treatment and self-management of their diseases. It is important to explore self-management techniques that can be utilized by patients with type 2 diabetes living in rural areas. Research demonstrating the importance of education, exercise, diet, glucose monitoring, medications, and supportive measures is prominent throughout the literature.

Objective: The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) applied project is to investigate the effects of delivering biweekly text messages containing diabetes self-management education (DSME) materials to patients in an effort to support successful self-care.

Methods: During an 8 week period, DSME was provided via text messaging, bi-weekly (Sunday and Wednesday), to 23 rural participants with type 2 diabetes, in a family clinic in Payson, Arizona. Participants were asked to complete the Skills, Confidence, and Preparedness Index both pre- and post-intervention to evaluate their knowledge of diabetes self-management.

Results: Twenty-three adults aged 52 to 78 years (M = 64.91) participated in the project. Of the participants, 57% (13/23) were female. The majority of participants had T2DM diagnosis less than 10 years (M=13.8 years). There was a statistical difference between the pre- and post-Skills, Confidence and Preparedness Index questionnaire (p < .001) indicating an improvement in self-efficacy scores post- intervention.

Conclusion: DSME delivered via text message is a cost-effective way to increase patients' self-efficacy and potentially improve their ability to successfully self-manage their disease.