With recent reports indicating that there is a relatively low number of pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States (~30% per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October, 2021), this study aims to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the pregnant population in the state of Arizona. Using a mixed-methods approach, this cross-sectional study employs both semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 40) and a quantitative survey instrument (n = 400) to better understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people, with data collected over the course of a few months. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are employed to analyze the quantitative data and the semi-structured interviews are inductively coded to analyze themes across participant interviews. The results from this study are not only able to help better address disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations among pregnant people, but they also provide implications for vaccine hesitancy overall in order to develop interventions to address vaccine hesitancy. Future research is warranted to better understand regional differences in vaccine hesitancy and differences across populations.

“Bridging Success: Reviewing Effectiveness and Implementing Additional Programming” focuses on partnering with Arizona State University’s Bridging Success program to evaluate effective program components and propose additional programming for the upcoming Bridging Success Early Start (BSES) program. To effectively evaluate Bridging Success, this thesis is broken down into several sections: methods, literary analysis, landscaping, presentation of results, discussion of results, recommendations, and conclusions to ultimately address our central research questions: How is Bridging Success Early Start valued by previous program members, and does the program contribute to a successful transition to college for students who were formerly in foster care?

“Bridging Success: Reviewing Effectiveness and Implementing Additional Programming” focuses on partnering with Arizona State University’s Bridging Success program to evaluate effective program components and propose additional programming for the upcoming Bridging Success Early Start (BSES) program. To effectively evaluate Bridging Success, this thesis is broken down into several sections: methods, literary analysis, landscaping, presentation of results, discussion of results, recommendations, and conclusions to ultimately address our central research questions: How is Bridging Success Early Start valued by previous program members, and does the program contribute to a successful transition to college for students who were formerly in foster care?

With recent reports indicating that there is a relatively low number of pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States (~30% per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October, 2021), this study aims to understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among the pregnant population in the state of Arizona. Using a mixed-methods approach, this cross-sectional study employs both semi-structured qualitative interviews (n = 40) and a quantitative survey instrument (n = 400) to better understand the reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among pregnant people, with data collected over the course of a few months. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are employed to analyze the quantitative data and the semi-structured interviews are inductively coded to analyze themes across participant interviews. The results from this study are not only able to help better address disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations among pregnant people, but they also provide implications for vaccine hesitancy overall in order to develop interventions to address vaccine hesitancy. Future research is warranted to better understand regional differences in vaccine hesitancy and differences across populations.