We are what we eat: Gauging the effects of nutritional choices on the cognitive performance of an educational interpreter

Item

Title
We are what we eat: Gauging the effects of nutritional choices on the cognitive performance of an educational interpreter
Creator
Nicole Larson
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies
Project Type
action_research
Date
11/5/2020
Abstract
The purpose of this action research specifically relates to new educational interpreters working with Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) students. This study provides information about American Sign Language (ASL)/English Educational Interpreting professionals’ practice in self-care to reduce role strain, increase alertness, emotional wellbeing, and cognitive performance. Nutritional intake of my own was documented, analyzed and used to describe how that has had a perceived impact on my work in interpreting. The results of this data provide comparisons between recommended amounts of specific nutrients (e.g., calories and carbs), actual consumption, alertness, and identified emotions from an educational interpreter. The analyzed data includes a phone app called MyFitnessPal that had been used to document a nutritional intake log of an educational interpreter, documented perceived alertness during the interpretation by use of a Likert Scale as well as the Junto Institution’s Emotion Wheel (Chadha, 2020) to track perceived effectiveness, satisfaction, and overall feeling during the end of each work day. Further studies would benefit future and current interpreters as this research indicates a need to experiment with an adequate use of self-care by healthier intake of nutrition in our bodies, and note what kind of impact specific nutritional intake has on our ability to focus and interpreter’s note whether they interpret with a higher perceived efficacy rate compared to inadequate self-care and poor nutrition.
Committee Member
Elisa Maroney, Amanda Smith
Rights
Western Oregon University Library has determined, as of 6/10/2022, this item is in copyright, which is held by the author. Users may use the item in accordance with copyright limitations and exceptions, including fair use. For other uses, please ask permission from the author at the email address listed above.
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Language
eng
Date Available
6/10/2022
Type
Text
Identifier
theses/144