LAIR: Lenoir-Rhyne Academic Institutional Repository

The Lenoir-Rhyne Academic Institutional Repository (LAIR) is managed by the University Libraries and has been established to preserve and make broadly available the scholarly works of the LR community. LAIR is appropriate for article pre-prints and manuscripts, conference papers, instructional material, as well as student projects, theses, and dissertations. The repository also provides a digital home for the university’s historical and cultural collections.

The repository is currently accepting submissions by faculty, staff, and students who want to share their work with a worldwide audience. Go to LAIR LibGuide for information on how to deposit materials to the repository. Use this form to start the submission process (you must first be logged into the LRU portal to access the form).

Please contact us at refdesk@lr.edu with any questions about LAIR or about submitting your work.

Recent Submissions

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    A Comprehensive Process Evaluation of the Solmaz Institute: A Non-Clinical Childhood Obesity Program in Hickory, NC
    (2025-05-28) Crooks, Blaikley
    Background: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern in the U.S., affecting nearly 20% of children, with projections suggesting over half may be impacted by 2050. This complex condition results from behavioral, environmental, genetic, and socioeconomic factors, leading to serious physical and mental health risks. Diagnosis typically involves Body Mass Index (BMI) and other health indicators. Key risk factors include poor diet, inactivity, food insecurity, mental health issues, and genetics. Treatment includes both clinical approaches in outpatient settings and non-clinical, community-based interventions focused on prevention and lifestyle change. This paper evaluates the Solmaz Institute, a free, non-clinical program at Lenoir-Rhyne University that provides nutrition counseling and fitness coaching to children with obesity. Methodology: Through chart reviews, interviews, and statistical analysis, this evaluation examined program adherence to best practices and the relationships between various indicators of client engagement. Results: Linear regression showed no significant relationship between response times and either office staff presence (R = -0.01, p = 0.88) or initial parent meeting attendance (R = -0.06, p = 0.43). However, strong, significant correlations were found between parent meeting attendance and RD meeting attendance (R = 0.91, p = 0.00), and between RD and fitness session attendance (R = 0.83, p = 0.00), accounting for 82% and 68% of the variance, respectively. No correlation was found between the number of fitness interns and fitness session attendance (R = 0.04, p = 0.64). Conclusion: The findings indicate that while the Solmaz Institute largely aligns with evidence-based guidelines, there are opportunities for improved coordination and client follow-through. With continued enhancement, the Institute is well-positioned to support longterm health outcomes for children affected by obesity in Catawba County.
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    Measuring the Benefits and Impacts of the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation (NCLHDA) Program: A Qualitative Analysis
    (2025-05) Osborne, Devin; Bergman, Randall; Bracey, Melissa; Greene, Jennifer
    Background: Local health departments (LHDs) are at the core of the public health system. With the first LHD in NC being established in 1912, the state now boasts 86 (with some operating as district/multi-county) departments that cover all 100 counties. To ensure that LHDs in the state are extending their services to all communities in a proper manner, and to hold them accountable, LHD health directors, combined with the state legislature, developed and passed an official accreditation process; Senate Bill 804. As a result, the process of LHD accreditation in NC became law in 2006, making NC the first state to require such. This legislation led to the creation of the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation board and program. The NCLHDA program has established 5 standards, 41 benchmarks, and 147 activities that LHDs are expected to meet. According to Subchapter 48A, “Local Public Health Department Accreditation” of Title 10A, “Health and Human Services”, of the North Carolina Administrative Code, to achieve the status of accredited, an LHD must satisfy all 5 of the standards and 41 benchmarks, as well as numerous activities within each standard. The purpose of this research was to measure the benefits and impacts of the NCLHDA program. Methods: Participants: The participants in this study included the 106 Local Health Department Health Directors in North Carolina, as well as the 86 NC LHD Agency Accreditation Coordinators (AACs). Procedures: This research used a cross-sectional design with a 7-question survey as the instrument of measure. The survey was sent 4 times over a span of 7 weeks to all NC LHD Health Directors and Agency Accreditation Coordinators. Analysis: A complete thematic analysis of survey responses was conducted. Keywords and phrases were extracted from survey responses and placed into a Microsoft Excel sheet. These keywords and phrases were assigned to codes and were then read and re-read in order to allow for themes to inductively emerge from the data. Results: At the end of the data collection period, 67 survey responses were recorded in total. Of the 67 responses, there were 3 LHDs who submitted two responses and one LHD who submitted a blank response for each question. Taking these responses into account, there were 63 unique LHD responses, which represents 73% of all LHDs in NC. The thematic analysis resulted in over 300 codes assigned to responses, with 8 total themes and several counterthemes emerging from the data which highlighted the various benefits and impacts of the NCLHDA program. The most potent of these benefits being an increased ability to recognize internal weaknesses, and an increased accountability to adhere to the 10 EPHS. Analysis of the data also reveals that the accreditation process can be used as a tool to foster better engagement with LHD governing bodies, as well as a tool for the development of essential policies. Conclusion: The themes that emerged from the survey responses collected clearly identified that there are various benefits of the NCLHDA program, and the process involved with accreditation, as well as potential drawbacks and negative impacts.
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    Perceptions of the Army Combat Fitness Test
    (2025-05) Lowery, Quinlan
    This study provides soldier and coach perceptions of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) as it pertains to the challenges of training for and administration of the ACFT. This study also addresses potential solutions to these challenges moving forward.
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    Testing 123
    (2025-05-14) Rob Cagna
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    Lenoir-Rhyne University Men’s Soccer Analysis 2023-2025
    (2025-05) Leiting, Keith
    This paper is a summary report of the physical and physiological characteristics of Lenoir-Rhyne University men's soccer players from 2023-2025.

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