Psychosocial peer mediation as sustainable method for conflict prevention and management among refugee communities in Germany

Following the arrival of over 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers since the 2015 European refugee crisis, Germany has faced enormous humanitarian and societal challenges, with direct implications for participatory peace-building efforts at the local community level. A multitude of postmigration stressors and high prevalence of mental health conditions among refugees contribute to the substantial burden of daily conflicts in refugee shelters and communities. Ongoing exposure to a conflict-prone environment, psychological distress and stigmatization among community members can severely impair the quality of life and aggravate existing health-related, socio-economic and integrational challenges. Previous research has demonstrated the feasibility of individual alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and mental health literacy (MHL) interventions in refugee settings. As interpersonal conflict and psychological well-being constitute mutually interdependent phenomena, integrated methodologies combining ADR with MHL may offer unique value to affected vulnerable populations. However, systemic implementation of such mechanisms in refugee shelters has remained largely unexplored. In recognition of this unmet need and as part of the nonprofit organization R3SOLUTE, we have developed a tailored educational curriculum directed at equipping refugees in shelters and their local neighbor citizens with peer mediation-based ADR and MHL skills. In this multidisciplinary bottom-up approach, termed psychosocial peer mediation (PPM), participants learn to effectively manage and prevent conflicts in their own communities. Based on our field experience with implementing PPM in numerous refugee shelters across Germany between 2018 and 2021, we here provide relevant practical insights and discuss best practices, with a focus on addressing existing challenges and opportunities in the field

Adolescent hockey players’ predispositions to adopt sport and exercise behaviours: an ecological perspective

Organized sport yields many cognitive, social and physical benefits and is one of the most popular types of physical activity for children and adolescents. Despite the benefits of sports participation, a substantial proportion of adolescents fail to meet Canadian guidelines regarding physical activity. In this regard, it is relevant to understand the mechanisms underlying the adoption of various active behaviours. This study aims to identify the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors that potentially influence 4 categories of active behaviours using the Youth Physical Activity Promotion model (YPAP). Data was drawn from 416 male adolescent hockey players (Mage = 15.4; SD = 2) who completed a pre-validated questionnaire. Structural equation modeling and interaction analyses were performed to explain the contribution of each determinant. Findings reveal that there are different behavioural patterns based on the type of activity. The interaction between attitudes and environmental factors was a key predictor for each type of behaviour. Perceived competence was associated with more recreational activities, whereas the support of parents and coaches determined involvement in ice hockey. This study refined our understanding of physical activity participation among adolescents already involved in organized sports and emphasized the importance of considering multiple factors surrounding their environment. Several practical recommendations are made to improve young athletes’ predisposition to practice physical activity in an organized sports setting. © 2020 Huard Pelletier et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Creating cultures between arctics and deserts

Climato-economic theorizing explains why and how inhabitants adapt culturallyto their habitat. In demandingly cold or hot habitats with poor monetaryresources, inhabitants create threat appraisals, survival goals, ingroup agency,and autocracy, converging into a cultural threat syndrome. In demandingly coldor hot habitats with rich monetary resources, inhabitants create challengeappraisals, self-expression goals, individual agency, and democracy, converginginto a cultural challenge syndrome. In between, in undemandingly temperateclimates, inhabitants create comfort appraisals, easygoing goals, convenientagency, and laissez-faire outcomes, converging into a cultural comfort syndrome.This review culminates with a regression equation that accounts for 56% of thevariation in threat-based versus challenge-based cultural syndromes across 129countries. On the basis of that regression equation and data from theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a plan is sketched to forecastworldwide changes in culture

Factors Impacting Habitable Volume Requirements: Results from the 2011 Habitable Volume Workshop

This report documents the results of the Habitable Volume Workshop held April 18-21, 2011 in Houston, TX at the Center for Advanced Space Studies-Universities Space Research Association. The workshop was convened by NASA to examine the factors that feed into understanding minimum habitable volume requirements for long duration space missions. While there have been confinement studies and analogs that have provided the basis for the guidance found in current habitability standards, determining the adequacy of the volume for future long duration exploration missions is a more complicated endeavor. It was determined that an improved understanding of the relationship between behavioral and psychosocial stressors, available habitable and net habitable volume, and interior layouts was needed to judge the adequacy of long duration habitat designs. The workshop brought together a multi-disciplinary group of experts from the medical and behavioral sciences, spaceflight, human habitability disciplines and design professionals. These subject matter experts identified the most salient design-related stressors anticipated for a long duration exploration mission. The selected stressors were based on scientific evidence, as well as personal experiences from spaceflight and analogs. They were organized into eight major categories: allocation of space; workspace; general and individual control of environment; sensory deprivation; social monotony; crew composition; physical and medical issues; and contingency readiness. Mitigation strategies for the identified stressors and their subsequent impact to habitat design were identified. Recommendations for future research to address the stressors and mitigating design impacts are presented

Understanding The Role of a Regional Magnet School in Creative Identity Development of Ethnically and Culturally Diverse Adolescents: A Case Study

The purpose of this dissertation exploratory case study was to examine the creativity-supportive practices at an innovative regional magnet school shaping Ethnically & Culturally Diverse (ECD) students’ creative identity development as perceived by different stakeholders including ECD students enrolled in the first three cohorts, teachers, and school administrators of RichTech Regional Magnet High School [RRMHS] (pseudonym). This single qualitative case study employed a small component of a quantitative survey, the results of which guided in part the design of interview protocols and sampling procedures for recruiting qualitative participants. Using a pragmatic research lens, I obtained and analyzed the diverse qualitative data including interviews with ECD students, teachers, and school administrators, open-ended qualitative survey responses, my field notes, and reflective memos. The findings of this dissertation study demonstrated that the creative identity development of ECD students can be supported in the context of an innovative regional magnet high school in three ways: (a) through facilitation of creative learning opportunities encompassing open-endedness and flexibility, non-linear synergy, student-centered future orientation as well as productive interactions of diverse perspectives; (b) through augmenting unique strengths of an innovative regional magnet school entailing limited size of student enrollment, intentional design of integrated diverse learning environment, as well as formulation of an innovative curricular and pedagogical model; and (c) through the promotion of teacher autonomy, the sustainable rapport between teachers and school administrators, development of sound beliefs by teachers and school administrators about student creativity as well as through leveraging teachers’ prior practical experiences of teaching ECD adolescent students. These key findings, recommendations, and implications for practice and future research are discussed in light of the limitations of the present study. With the limited research on the role of unique learning environments such as an innovative magnet school in promoting ECD adolescents\u27 creativity, this study is a small first attempt to better understand the magnet school-based salient opportunities for and experiences of ECD students’ creative identity development

Help-seeking attitudes and behaviours among humanitarian aid workers

Due to the nature of their work and operating environments, humanitarian aid workers experience higher rates of psychological distress, burnout and mental health conditions than other emergency service worker populations. Fourteen international humanitarian workers were interviewed to examine whether they seek help from others in the context of work-related distress, specifically, their attitudes and behaviors regarding personal help-seeking at such times, their preferred sources of support and factors that enable or constrain effective help-seeking. Thematic analysis of the data derived five superordinate themes: (1) cultural aspects of help-seeking; (2) risks with formal, internal support; (3) lack of shared understanding of humanitarian context; (4) self-censoring and withdrawal; and (5) role maturity. There is high, in principle, support for personal help-seeking but its use is highly selective. Work colleagues are regarded as the most trusted and effective source of help in high stress periods, while barriers that exist with family and friends mean they are rarely sought out at such times. Trust and confidentiality concerns limit the use of internal agency supports and psychosocial services. External psychological services are preferred but are often found to be unsatisfactory. These findings can support aid organisations to address stigma perceptions that are commonly associated with personal help-seeking, particularly among early career practitioners, and normalise its use as a form of occupational self-care

A Comparison of Physical Nursing Home Environment for Older Adults and Their Families

Globally, aging populations and increases in chronic diseases mean that more people will need long-term care in the next decade. Providing appropriate care to meet the needs of older adults and their families is a key consideration. This move to create a home-like environment in nursing homes has become extensive this past decade. Having an appropriate atmosphere where residents feel like they belong can help elderly people to age healthfully. This systematic literature analysis will address older adult residents\u27 and their families\u27 needs for nursing home physical environments and identify key elements of the physical nursing home environment for older adults and their families as reported by residents and relatives. This structured literature analysis will also investigate key models for establishing the physical nursing home environment. This analysis integrates knowledge from evidence based data collection by the research studies reviewed that investigated physical nursing home environment of older adults and their families\u27 needs and models for establishing the physical nursing home environment. From the research reviewed in this study it was clear and consistent throughout the reading that my hypothesis was accepted; home-like physical nursing home environment is a kind of the physical nursing home environment that older adults and their families favor. The Culture Change model, The Eden Alternative, and The Green House Project are key models for establishing the physical nursing home environment to promote home-like environment

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationChildren with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) have organizational skills deficits. Organizational skills include the ability to manage materials (e.g., belongings, books, homework) and temporal skills such as organizing, planning, and managing tasks to completion. This study was a usability test of a prototype mobile technology designed to improve organizational skills. The prototype was assessed for usability and feasibility for future development. A field-based mixed methods usability test was conducted. Sixteen children with ADHD and HFASD aged 8 to 12 years and their parents participated. The study was conducted in an 8-week summer treatment program. The usability test lasted 15 days, with data collected via observation, child and parent daily logs, surveys, and focus groups. During the usability test, children brought the prototype technology to camp 95% of the time and used it to record items to bring to camp 85% of the time. Parents completed a daily log simulating mobile functions 88% of the time. Using the prototype device for homework tracking resulted in three times the likelihood that homework was completed. Establishing a contingency between device game time and homework completion resulted in four times the likelihood that homework was completed. Qualitative results suggested that children valued carrying the device and children were motivated by having game time on the device as a reward. In addition, qualitative results showed that parents valued the device as a contingent reward, desired novelty in the device's games and features, and expressed an urgent need for help with their children's organizational skills. Children will utilize a mobile technology intended for task tracking with game time having a high reward value. Parents value the concept of using a mobile technology to improve their children's organizational skills. The use of mobile technology for building and sustaining organizational skills via performance rewards is a promising intervention for effective home and school-related task management. The effectiveness of a more fully developed mobile technology needs to be assessed in future research