Browsing by Author "Kaminski, Karen, committee member"
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Item Open Access Adjunct faculty experiences in a comprehensive development program: a single-site case study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Wells, Christopher Alan, author; Timpson, William, advisor; Davies, Timothy, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee memberAdjunct faculty have come to represent an increasingly larger portion of the overall faculty population in American community colleges and according to recent studies now account for approximately 70% of the instructors in these institutions. Definitions of adjunct faculty vary considerably, but they are generally part-time instructors whose course load is less than the full-time faculty requirement. There has been limited attention paid in the literature to the training and development needs of this faculty group. In addition, we know even less about the needs of the individual types or categories of adjunct or part-time faculty and their experiences in training and development programs. This study examines the experiences of a sub-set of adjunct faculty who are practicing professionals outside of higher education and who teach on a part-time basis. I have labeled this group practitioner adjunct faculty. For this study, I chose to complete a single-site case study of a part-time faculty training and development program at community college in the southeastern United States. My primary data source came from interviews with 10 practitioner adjunct faculty who had completed either the 2010 or 2011 version of the college's centerpiece course in their efforts to support and develop their part-time faculty, the Summer Certification Program. In addition to interview data, I also collected data from internal college documents and the college web site, interviews with academic and professional development leaders, and my own direct observations of training and support programs for the college's part-time faculty. The data from this study have provided an overview of the practitioner adjunct faculty study participants' perspectives on their experiences with the college's training and support efforts. The results show that while these faculty are not fully aware of and are largely not taking advantage of many of the training and support programs offered by the college, the Summer Certification Program was seen as a valuable resource by most of the study participants and does appear to have had an impact on their classroom practice.Item Open Access An analysis of discourse markers and discourse labels as cohesive devices in ESL student writing(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Yuhas, Brandon J., author; Delahunty, Gerald, advisor; Reid, Stephen, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee memberThis study analyzes the use of two types of cohesive device, discourse markers (Fraser, 2005) and discourse labels (Francis, 1994), in the academic arguments of native-speaking (L1) Chinese English as a second language (ESL) first-year composition (FYC) students. Discourse markers (DMs) are lexical expressions which signal that a semantic relationship of elaboration, contrast, inference, or temporality holds between adjacent discourse segments. Discourse labels are a type of nominal group lexical cohesion which makes use of unspecific abstract nouns to label and organize stretches of discourse. Using a qualitative text analysis, the use of these cohesive devices is examined in each case in terms of the discourse requirements of the text in question. An analysis of native speaker (NS) writing is used for comparative purposes to determine possible gaps between these two groups of student writers in the ability to use these devices to construct cohesive texts, as well as to determine potential similarities and/or differences in instructional foci for these two groups of student writers. The result of this study suggests that these ESL student writers do not tend to have problems using DMs or retrospective labels, but that they do tend to underuse advance discourse labels in their writing. Underuse of advance labels was not found to be a problem in the NS arguments analyzed. These results indicate that a knowledge gap does in fact exist between these non-native speakers (NNSs) and NSs with regard to the tools available to them in English for constructing cohesive academic texts. Annotated examples from the samples analyzed and specific teaching suggestions are provided to help FYC instructors address this knowledge gap.Item Open Access Assessment of nutrition education strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease in U.S. Army hospitals(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Bukhari, Asma Sultana, author; Jennifer Anderson, advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Gould, Susan, committee memberCardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States with an estimated 79,400,000 adults diagnosed with this disease in 2004 and costs of $431.8 billion projected this year. As a result there is an increased emphasis on early detection and treatment of risk factors. Military personnel are vulnerable to this killer disease due to indulgence in unhealthy behaviors such as cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and increased stress. These behaviors can have a profound impact on the military readiness and mission accomplishment. The purpose of this study was to identify strategies to enhance nutrition education provided to the military personnel at US Anny hospitals to manage CVD. The results will be used to identify weaknesses and gaps in an existing program and facilitate improvement of CVD nutrition education. It was hypothesized that nutrition education can be enhanced by aligning the existing CVD management programs with evidenced based guidelines that will provide program consistency. The target audience for this study was Registered Dietitians in clinical leadership positions at U.S Anny hospitals and outpatient clinics. The study was approved by the Colorado State University Human Research Committee and the U.S Anny Medical Research and Material Command Human Research Protection Office. Survey validity was established by obtaining information from a review of literature and feedback from expert Army dietitians and CSU faculty. Survey reliability was established by a test and re-test during a pilot test on a subset of Army dietitians. The responses were analyzed using computer software and reported as mean, standard deviations and frequencies. The survey response rate was 70% (n=21). The primary educators of CVD risk reduction were dietitian. Sixty-two percent of the hospitals provided nutrition education based on current guidelines. The current program was rated either "very good" or "good" by 67% of the dietitians. Eighty-one percent of dietitians experienced variation in the program at their hospitals. Only 24% of the dietitians indicated a mechanism to reach deployed soldiers with hypercholesterolemia. A web-based resource center was selected by 43% of the dietitians followed by 23% who suggested development of a self-paced web-based education program for deployed or remotely located soldiers. Caution is advised while interpreting the results because the findings are based on dietitians' knowledge and opinions and may not have captured all the services offered to the patients. The survey provided insight into current program and suggestions for future program improvements. Cost effectiveness and improved patient satisfaction of medical nutrition therapy by Registered Dietitians is already established. Army dietitians need to take the lead in designing and implementing programs to reduce the CVD risks among military personnel. Such interventions will improve the quality of life of soldiers by providing long term health benefits; and that, in tum, will save resources from reduction in mortality and morbidity associated with CVD events. It is important to explore various communication media for information dissemination.Item Open Access Community college presidents' core internal metaphors(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) DeBraak, LaRonna S., author; Littrell, John, advisor; Banning, James, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Bundy-Fazioli, Kimberly, committee memberThis study identified the core internal metaphors of 8 community college presidents, 4 females and 4 males. The participants of this study resided in both rural and metropolitan communities. Core internal metaphors were adopted due to a strong association to a primary conceptual metaphor, which the participants had internalized as a result of their perceptions of historical associations, events, ideas, and values. Each participant's core internal metaphor was identified by thematic coding of narrations in order to answer two questions: (1) What are community college presidents' core internal metaphors? and (2) What is the relationship between described leadership and the core internal metaphors? Attention was paid to how participants' word choices and actions were directly associated to core internal metaphors in the various narrations. Findings indicated that core internal metaphors were symbolic, illustrative, and pictographic internalizations that affected the presidents' internal and external environments. Females' core internal metaphors were: biologist as an organism residing in the laboratory, equestrian, army general, and enlightened traveler. Males' core internal metaphors were: gardener, progressive and strategic opportunist, advocate for social equality and opportunity, and squadron commander. Core internal metaphors are highly idiosyncratic in nature, meaning they became a unique and distinctive characteristic of the individual. They serve the purpose of providing the individual with a distinct lens through which to view and participate in the world. Individuals' memories of events served as a catalyst for the adoption of their core internal metaphors.Item Open Access Dissemination and implementation of the Cooking with Kids tasting curriculum(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Diker, Ann, author; Cunningham-Sabo, Leslie Derry, advisor; Anderson, Jennifer, advisor; Baker, Susan S., committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Most, David E., committee memberNumerous school health education programs, including nutrition education curricula have been developed. To improve dissemination and implementation of nutrition education curricula in schools, research is needed to identify and measure factors that facilitate and hinder the dissemination and implementation processes. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify strategies and practices that aided dissemination, adoption, and implementation of the Cooking with Kids (CWK) tasting curriculum by paraprofessional Nutrition Educators (NE). The study used a mixed methods time-series design. Formative assessment data were collected from two web-based surveys (n=313) and 27 interviews. The assessment results and constructs of Diffusion of Innovations and Social Cognitive Theory were used to develop a three-hour training introducing CWK to NE and their supervisors. Intervention data were collected from paraprofessional NE (n=49) and their supervisors (n=21) using a series of surveys, interviews, and implementation reports. Quantitative data analysis included descriptive analysis, factor analysis, analysis of variance, paired samples t-tests, correlations, and multiple regression. Qualitative data were analyzed for themes. Formative assessment revealed active participation, lesson observation, and pilot-testing as essential features of effective paraprofessional NE training. From pre- to post-training, NE and supervisors reported improved knowledge about teaching the curriculum (t=5.12, p<0.01 and t=8.31, p<0.01, respectively), confidence (t=3.93, p<0.01 and t=3.62, p<0.01, respectively), motivation (t=3.71, p<0.01 and t=2.63, p<0.05, respectively), and information (t=7.17, p<0.01 and t=4.15, p<0.01, respectively) to teach the curriculum. Gains in NE knowledge, confidence, motivation, and communication skills were sustained eight months post-training. Gains in supervisor knowledge were sustained eight months post-training. Supervisor motivation to use CWK returned to pre-training levels, which were relatively high to begin with so there was limited room for improvement. Although supervisor confidence was higher at eight months post-training, it was not statistically different from pre-training levels. These results may be attributed to the fact that supervisors did not teach the tasting lessons. High levels of curriculum adoption and implementation by NE were attributed to strong implementation expectations, experiential and observational learning training elements, and perceived curriculum compatibility with existing programming. Environmental factors such as time constraints, personnel turnover and scheduling conflicts proved challenging. Study results underscore the importance of combining theory and formative assessment for successful development and implementation of training and, in turn, curriculum implementation. In addition, results indicate that perceived simplicity, compatibility, and trialability are important attributes that should be maximized when introducing new curricula to potential adopters.Item Open Access Effectiveness of a Web-based nutrition education program to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among U.S. Army personnel and their families ("Defend your heart" study)(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Bukhari, Asma Sultana, author; Jennifer Anderson, advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Harris, Mary, committee member; Gould, Susa Martin, committee memberCardiovascular disease (CVD) continues to be the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Military personnel are also vulnerable to this killer disease due to indulgence in unhealthy behaviors such as cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and high stress. Formative assessment identified a need for web-based resources for the Army registered dietitians (RDs) and for deployed or remotely located military beneficiaries. The purpose of the current study was to create and assess the effectiveness of a web-site "Defend Your Heart". This web-site was targeted to two audiences: RDs and a self care program for the military beneficiaries. This self care program was created using the framework of Rosenstock's Expanded Health Belief Model (EHBM). The effectiveness of a web-based self care program was evaluated using a randomized 4-month study with participants either in the web-based group (n=17) or the usual care (n=13) at a U.S. Army hospital. Data were collected at baseline, two months and four months. Variables measured were anthropometric, blood pressure, lipid profile, fasting glucose, C-reactive protein, nutrient intake, physical activity, and EHBM constructs. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and using baseline means to adjust the two and four month data. Results indicated a significant reduction of total blood cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, predicted body fat percent, and estimated body mass index (P<0.05) in the web-based group. The usual group demonstrated a significant increase in self-efficacy score at month four (p<0.05). Significant within group changes for both groups were demonstrated for the reduction in waist circumference and serum triglycerides (p<0.05). Due to a smaller sample size caution is required while interpreting the results. The results of the web-site usability showed that a majority of the RDs (n=34) and web-based participants (n=8) were satisfied with the content and ease of navigation. RDs and web-based groups suggested enhancing web-site eye appeal, interactivity, and printing capability. Web-based programs may serve as an effective alternate mechanism of delivering CVD risk reduction education. The U.S Army needs to invest in further research to launch an effective web-based program for military beneficiaries to reduce CVD risk factors.Item Open Access Examining factors that influence alumni giving from traditional and online MBA alumni at Colorado State University(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Guild, Erin, author; Kuk, Linda, advisor; Kaiser, Leann, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Weiss, John, committee memberIncreasingly, institutions of higher education seek out alumni support to help offset budget cuts and look toward technological advances to lower costs of instruction and create new revenue streams. In light of the desire to increase funding for university programs and the potential giving-power of MBA alumni, this study investigates factors that influence alumni giving from traditional and online MBA alumni. The relationship between sense of community, alumni demographics and donor behavior and attitudes is explored to consider factors that might predict alumni giving behavior and attitudes. This quantitative study uses logistic regression and independent samples test statistical methods to reveal that the odds of an alumnus making a financial donation are increasingly greater as age increases and as gender is female. Analysis also suggests that the odds of an alumnus making a financial donation are increasingly greater as sense of community increases. Statistical analysis shows that online CSU MBA alumni are different than traditional face-to-face CSU MBA alumni on sense of community, whereby the sense of community score for the online alumni is significantly lower than the score for traditional face-to-face alumni. Analysis in this study also demonstrates, however, that online alumni do not differ from face-to-face alumni on the following characteristics: age; donor status; attitude toward giving; gender; citizenship; and race/ethnicity.Item Open Access Exploring the Lenses© Framework: regenerative design for the built environment(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Greenwell, Craig Russell, author; Makela, Carole, advisor; Bohren, Lenora, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Timpson, William, committee memberThe Living Environment Natural, Social, and Economic Systems (LENSES©) Framework is a process-based decision support tool promoting regenerative built environment design, surpassing current sustainability tools. Regenerative design is important because it restores ecosystems to pre-built environment levels. A constant comparative analysis reduced obscurity for regenerative criteria on eleven content specific Flow--Land Use, Transportation, Money, Energy, Water, Materials, Education, Ecosystems, Well-Being, Culture, and Beauty-- producing more concrete realities. A 2013 pilot study better informed the method of inquiry and coding scheme, after it was found that criteria were too broad, and findings could not be replicated using three-step coding without first delineating criteria into subjective or prescriptive topics. In this analysis, the first coding step delineated criteria into major topics, which were then refined into respective industry roles and tangible, usable design realities. Findings yielded two types of realities, subjective (i.e., Education, Money, Well-Being, Culture, and Beauty) and prescriptive (i.e., Land Use, Transportation, Energy, Water, Materials, and Ecosystems). Lessening obscurity of criteria reduced the need for facilitators to implement and use the tool, permitting stakeholders to self-guide regenerative design. Limitations of realities prevented the presentation of precision standards. Parameters for subjective realities should be established, as should standards for prescriptive realities. Designs can be regenerative following yielded realities presuming local building codes allow them and stakeholders desire to do so.Item Open Access Factors affecting course satisfaction of online Malaysian university students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Khalid, Nasir M., author; Timpson, William M., advisor; Quick, Don, advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Unnithan, N Prabha, committee memberCourse satisfaction in online learning has grown into a concern among online educators, in order to prevent students from dropping, withdrawing, or otherwise leaving their course of study online. Researchers have established three main factors that have an influence on online students' course satisfaction: social, teaching, and cognitive presence. Adapting the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model, this study investigated the association between these presences and other possibly related factors, and their influence on students' course satisfaction with online courses just completed at a University in Malaysia. Concurrently, it also attempted to weigh these constructs and variables according to their impact on course satisfaction. Results show that all presences and age were significantly associated with course satisfaction. Also, course satisfaction was found to differ by gender, undergraduate and postgraduate students but was not by core and elective courses. Teaching presence, social presence, and age were found to be significant predictors of course satisfaction when statistically analyzed by a series of two-step hierarchical linear regressions.Item Open Access Factors influencing nontraditional students' persistence in online programs for nontraditional students attending a Wisconsin technical college(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Hurtienne, Matthew W., author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; Hogler, Raymond, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Lynham, Sue, committee memberThe purpose of this study was to determine the factors that play a significant part in online students’ intent to persist at a Wisconsin Technical College. Specifically, this project focused on the relationships between intent to persist and the following variables: GPA, academic advising (concern), academic advising (appointment), education usefulness, student satisfaction, commitment, academic stress, outside encouragement from parents/spouse, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friends, and financial certainty. Data were collected through an online survey of FLEx students at Moraine Park Technical College in Wisconsin. The nontraditional student attrition questionnaire developed by Metzner (1983) and Bean (Metzner & Bean, 1987) was the instrument for the study. The instrument was used to examine the factors affecting intent to persist for both online and face-to-face students. Because the study included factors that the college may not have direct influence over, a separate analysis was conducted for factors that the college can directly affect. The results of this study showed that education usefulness, outside encouragement from employer, outside encouragement from friend, and financial certainty played important roles in online students’ intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables. For face-to-face students, financial certainty, student satisfaction, academic stress, and outside encouragement by parents or spouse were the most important factors in intent to persist for both internal and external college-controllable variables.Item Open Access Gender, race, year in school and five co-occurring health related behaviors of Colorado State University students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Wells, Katelyn, author; Makela, Carole, advisor; Kennedy, Catherine, advisor; Hutcheson, Katherine, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee memberThe incidence of premature morbidity and mortality reduces when individuals practice protective health related behaviors (HRBs) such as not smoking cigarettes or marijuana, limiting alcohol consumption, participating in regular physical activity, and consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Research indicates that many college students do not practice multiple protective HRBs, yet most educational interventions are aimed at changing only one HRB. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate college student's co-occurring risk and protective health behaviors in order to provide insight to health educators regarding what HRBs to include in multiple health behavior change (MHBC) interventions and how to tailor and target the interventions based on race, gender, and year in school. This study assessed Colorado State University (CSU) students' pairs and clustering HRBs by gender, race, and year in school via an analysis of a pre-collected National College Health Assessment (NCHA). The final sample consisted of 928 undergraduate students aged 18-23 years old who were enrolled in one of eight class sections of an elective Health and Wellness class in the spring 2009 semester, who attended class the day the NCHA was administered, and who volunteered to participate. The sample was not representative of the total CSU population when considering major of study, year in school and age, but was representative by gender and race. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used to explore the relationship between co-occurring HRBs and gender, race, and year in school of students at one point in time. Descriptive statistics revealed that 39% of the students practiced at least three of five risk HRBs. Cluster analysis showed 27 patterns of risk and protective HRBs with 63% of students in five clusters. Regression demonstrated that more females than males were likely to be in three of the five HRB clusters, and upperclassman were less likely to be in two of the five clusters. Phi statistical test showed a significant association between five of the ten HRB pair combinations, and regression demonstrated that more females than males practiced one risk pair and males more than females practiced three risk pairs. The study helps improve the understanding of how health behaviors co-occur in college students and provides college administrators and health educators insights into the behaviors to include in MHBC interventions, how to prioritize interventions, which students to target and how to tailor the interventions. Findings from the study will help plan interventions aimed at preventing clusters and pairs of risk HRBs in college students, which may potentially be more effective, more economical and less demanding for health educators than interventions targeted to single HRBs.Item Open Access Online high-definition video adoption among college students(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Song, Bevin Xu, author; Hallahan, Kirk, advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Long, Marilee, committee memberAs more online video products are available in high-definition format, online high-definition video (online HD video), as a specific application of HD IPTV, has become more appealing to consumers. This study applied Rogers' (2003) diffusion of innovation theory to analyze the decision-making processes used in the adoption of the new technology. College students (n=242) completed a survey that examined the effects of technology use, media consumption, demographics (gender and family income), personality traits (innovativeness-venturesomeness and social integration), awarenessknowledge, perceptions about characteristics of online HD video, and perceptions about the benefits and risks of adoption. Dependent variables included attitudes among all respondents, satisfaction among adopters, and behavioral intent among non-adopters. Favorable attitudes were positively related to being male, more knowledge, more time spent with the broadband Internet, more innovative and venturesome in personality, more perceptions about benefits and fewer perceptions about risks, more perceptions about the five characteristics of online HD video. Satisfaction among adopters (n=187) was positively related to being male, innovativeness-venturesomeness and social integration personality, knowledge, perceived characteristics of online HD video, and perceptions about more benefits and less risks. Findings related to behavioral intent among nonadopters were difficult to analyze due to the small number of respondents (n=55), who were predominantly female. Behavioral intent was positively related to Rogers' notions about relative advantage, compatibility and observability, and perceptions about benefits and risks, but negatively related to a focus on social integration. No differences based on family income were found for attitude, behavioral intent or satisfaction.Item Open Access The lived experience of applied science graduates who complete the applied baccalaureate(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Kujawa, Tricia A., author; Davies, Timothy, advisor; Carlson, Laurie, committee member; Hall, Bruce, committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee memberThe enrollment and transfer behaviors of college students are diverse. As a result college students travel various pathways to the baccalaureate degree. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the lived experience of students who entered higher education through an associate of applied science (AAS) program and then continued in higher education to earn a bachelor of applied science (BAS) degree. To explore this phenomenon, eight participants completed two in-depth interviews regarding their lived experience as students on this educational pathway. Five structures emerged from the data to frame the participants' experiences on the AAS to BAS pathway: disengagement, doubt, knowledge of something different, significant relationships, and transformation. These five structures interacted in discrete ways to characterize the participants' experiences as pushing through disillusionment related to education, the profession, and self. The participants' moving through three dimensions of disillusionment along the pathway formed the meaning and the essence of the phenomenon, dogged determinism. Dogged determinism denotes the willful attitude assumed by the participants as they pushed through their illusions. Dogged determinism explains how the direction chosen when the participants encountered their illusions was the most probable option for the participants, at that particular time, and under that set of circumstances.Item Open Access The role of frequency and cross-ability peer tutoring on student performance in a collegiate, developmental mathematics classroom(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Dame, Nadine Filosi, author; Gloeckner, Gene W., advisor; Kennedy, Paul A., advisor; Kaminski, Karen, committee member; Chappell, Kelly, committee memberThis study examines the differences between spacing of instruction and the classroom involvement of a cross-ability peer tutor on mathematical achievement in a developmental mathematics course. Grounded in spacing effect theory, this study examines how variations in the frequency of instruction affect student learning. The study consists of two segments conducted sequentially, specifically a quantitative analysis that was further supported by a qualitative inquiry. Results of the strong quasi-experimental study show that the mathematical achievement of students whose class met once per week for two hours was significantly lower than those students whose class met for one hour, twice per week. Through the use of student panel interviews, an interview with the cross-ability peer tutor and another with the faculty member, the qualitative findings suggest that many students may prefer the convenience of condensed class schedules that minimize their time spent on campus. For students enrolled in a developmental mathematics program at the collegiate level, these condensed scheduling options, however, may sacrifice learning for convenience.Item Open Access Understanding the nature of medication adherence issues with the HIV infected patient in the family practice setting(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2005) Prutch, Peter Thomas, author; Banning, James H., advisor; Quick, Donald Gene, advisor; Buchan, Victoria V., committee member; Kaminski, Karen, committee memberOne of the greatest challenges in managing the medication therapy in any chronic disease is how to influence human behavior, such as adherence to antiretroviral therapy in the Human Immune Virus (HIV) positive patient. Although data demonstrate significant viral suppression and immunologic benefits of therapy when taking antiretroviral medication at a 95% adherence, non-adherence remains a problem in the HIV or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) population. Past literature indicates it may relate to the quality of information given, the impact of the regimen on daily life, the physical or the incapacity of patients, or their social isolation. This is a basic qualitative research study. The purpose of this study is to have a basic interpretive qualitative understanding of the nature of non-adherence to mediation in the HIV infected patient in a family practice setting. During interviewing, each participant had their own personal story about being HIV positive and why they adhere or do not adhere to their medication regimen. It appears that adherence to any highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) revolves around the well being and the understanding of lifelong commitment of the HIV patient. A hypothetical model has been constructed relating the Health Belief Model to HIV medication adherence as found in this study. The educational opportunities for the HIV infected person have improved over the past 10 years. Many private and government organizations provide training and learning materials and the healthcare providers are more aware of the needs of the HIV positive person. The lifestyles of HIV positive people are no different then the non-infected person. However, the side effects of the HAART have been shown to affect the adherence. Seeing HIV in a more positive light contributes to the well being of the infected person. Patients find it easier to cope with their disease if they see it as an opportunity for personal growth or can attach some other positive meaning to it. The outlook on HIV disease has gone from a death sentence to one of guarded optimism. It is viewed as a life long commitment.