Human Trafficking: It’s Not Just a Crime

Human trafficking, although commonly conceived of as a crime, is also a matter for the fields of health and public health. Trafficked individuals suffering physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse can experience acute and chronic health sequelae, bringing them to the attention of health and/or mental health professionals. Communicable infections affect many trafficked individuals and can be transmitted to those not trafficked. The factors that contribute to people being trafficked, like poverty, educational disparities, and systematic oppression based upon identities, are multifaceted and interlinked with other trauma experiences. Incorporation of public health principles into anti-trafficking efforts facilitates a comprehensive and holistic prevention/intervention anti-trafficking strategy. This commentary illustrates how both the health care and public health sectors can contribute to improving the health and well-being of trafficked people, the general public, and to anti-trafficking efforts

Prevention needs to be a priority

Over one-quarter of the total health burden in Australia is estimated to be due to five key modifiable lifestyle-related risk factors: tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake, high body mass, and physical inactivity (Begg et al 2007). Internationally, governments are grasping the overwhelming importance of prioritising prevention and, although Australian data are used as examples in this Editorial, the issues and principles to rectify them are relevant to most countries. In Australia a national preventive health agency (ANPHA) has recently been established. The purpose of the ANPHA is to promote effective primary prevention by contributing to policy and practice through the better use of evidence and collaboration. The ANPHA ‘Knowledge Hub’ will provide links to online resources to assist physiotherapists to promote prevention to their clients, while the US Department of Health and Human Services provides tips for primary care professionals to raise prevention issues with their clients. National authorities are providing online resources aimed at the community to promote prevention. Physiotherapists have traditionally been enthusiastic advocates of healthy lifestyles and the new focus on prevention in Australia and internationally creates a window of opportunity for physiotherapy to renew efforts to improve the nation’s health through prevention

Application of DOT-MORSE coupling to the analysis of three-dimensional SNAP shielding problems

The use of discrete ordinates and Monte Carlo techniques to solve radiation transport problems is discussed. A general discussion of two possible coupling schemes is given for the two methods. The calculation of the reactor radiation scattered from a docked service and command module is used as an example of coupling discrete ordinates (DOT) and Monte Carlo (MORSE) calculations

Meanings of 'the Outdoors': Shaping outdoor education in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract The issue of human-nature relationships has become increasingly important given the environmental issues affecting the world. Thus, education which can encourage students to positively engage and connect with the world around them is vital. Outdoor education offers one way to help build relationships, but only if outdoor educators have an understanding and appreciation of the ways 'the outdoors' influences their pedagogy. Over the years, growing emphasis on adventure activities, social and personal development, and experiential learning styles, has subsumed the role of 'the outdoors' within outdoor education. Using an interpretive narrative framework, this research focuses on 'the outdoors' as a defining feature of outdoor education. A series of three semi-structured interviews with 11 outdoor educators provided opportunities to explore meanings of the outdoors and how those meanings influenced their understandings and practices of outdoor education. An inductive analysis of the interviews identified five primary themes; locations, activities, living simply, emotional responses, and relationships, and these were used to unpack the participants' beliefs and experiences of 'the outdoors' and outdoor education. In order to retain the richness and complexity of the meanings the participants shared, the findings are presented in a variety of formats including vignettes and poetic text. The findings are multi-layered, something that reflected the dynamic nature of 'the outdoors' and the ensuing opportunities offered for creative and critical thinking. There was also evidence that the participants were vigilant about adopting a multi-dimensional approach to outdoor education. This required integrating pragmatic pro-environmental actions, experiential opportunities, challenge activities, spontaneous learning moments, and quiet time into many of their sessions. In so doing, they ensured experiences for their students were holistic, meaningful, and engaging, as well as promoting a respectful relationship with 'the outdoors'. Some of these practices were constrained at times by the expectations of current secondary school educational orthodoxies, especially those relating to assessing pre-determined outcomes. Nonetheless, there was an unreserved belief that outdoor education has an increasingly distinct and important role to play in the school curriculum. How this will be enacted depends on the challenges and opportunities that rise and fall with changing social, political, and economic agendas

Towards regional interdisciplinary green infrastructure in Metro Vancouver

Green infrastructure (GI) and nature-based solutions (NbS) have been identified as an important strategy to assist in delivering key infrastructure services in Metro Vancouver, particularly when considering predicted and observed climate change impacts such as increased extreme weather, flooding, sea level rise, and urban heat for the region. Municipalities within Metro Vancouver are increasingly planning and deploying GI, though efforts are largely disjointed and are primarily planned and executed at the local government scale. Recent global initiatives to address biodiversity loss and climate change are recommending more integrated governance that incorporate planning between jurisdictions and disciplines highlighting the potential to achieve greater collective benefits including ecosystem services, biodiversity protection, and human health and wellbeing. However, a transformation to more integrated work is challenged by a variety of complex structural, cultural, and conceptual barriers common of wicked social-ecological problems. This research deployed social innovation techniques to engage professionals and stakeholders within the Metro Vancouver area to identify these barriers and reflect on potential solutions to deploy GI more intentionally and effectively at a regional scale. The results of the research demonstrate a strong preference towards greater integration between professions as well as between municipalities and governmental jurisdictions

PRE-COLLEGE ACCESS AND FINANCIAL LITERACY

Student loan debt within the United States has reached insurmountable default rates worth trillions of dollars. While the federal government debate lingers on student loan debt reauthorization legislation known as Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity Through Education Reform (PROSPER ACT), a vote must pass to finalize the provision for this legislative policy (Baime, 2018). Meanwhile the issue of high student default rates disproportionately affects minoritized, first-generation, low-income students attending public and private institutions of higher education. This exploratory qualitative case study research approach (Yin, 2009) of the Upward Bound Program, aims to examine the sense of awareness of financial literacy knowledge of high school college prep alumni. The goal is to acknowledge the importance of pre-college prep programs that promote financial literacy education among first generation student populations as applied to making sound financial decisions. The study begins by assessing alumni awareness of financial literacy, which includes any knowledge they have about their financial aid award packages, loans, scholarships, and grants. The study will investigate how involvement in TRIO’s Upward Bound program assists first-generation low-income students in recognizing the pitfalls of attaining high student loan debt as the result of exposure to content specific programs and workshops. This study is comprised of an in-depth analysis of twelve multiple cases with Upward Bound alumni, representing four target high schools, in addition to one administrative staff, two workshop leaders and two parents. The intent was to examine how the effect of being exposed to financial literacy concepts had on alumni’s decision-making process regarding their college acceptances and financial aid packages. Drawing from interviews, through field notes, observation, conversations, photos and pertinent documents. These findings will provide insight into first-generation gender and ethnic differences regarding financial education literacy. Additionally, this study will call attention to the importance of exploring the systemic changes to government and institutional policies including the approaches to student loan repayment and default policies that will curtail student loan interest rates and repayment amounts. Keywords: first generation, low-income, student loans, financial literacy, financial capability, racial capitalis

Airport car parking strategy : lessons from the non-airport sector

Despite September 11th 2001, many international airports are operating close to capacity, a problem that is likely to become more acute given the projected long-term growth in air traffic. This growth is likely to have major implications on runway, terminal and surface access capacity, infrastructure which is already experiencing constraints. The area of surface access is as much, if not more an issue in terms of employees accessing the airport as it is for passengers. Typically, one third of access traffic can be attributed to employees. Employees represent a particular problem for airports in terms of surface access due to the frequent, peak hour nature of trips made and their higher usage rates of the car compared to passengers. A range of initiatives exist to encourage the use of modes other than the private car by employees but overall these measures tend to be ‘soft’ in nature and one generally has to look to the non-airport sector to see examples of more innovative ‘harder’ initiatives such as financial incentive and disincentive car parking measures direct to employees. This thesis utilises a series of carefully selected interviews and focus groups at Heathrow Airport and three best practice non-airport organisations, underpinned by a process grounded in the concept and methodology of best practice benchmarking, to suggest areas where BAA, and potentially airport authorities around the world, could learn from other organisations in the area of employee surface access and specifically car parking . It is concluded that there are four key areas airports should focus on to explore the issues surrounding the implementation of a car parking charge or car parking cash out direct to employees, namely: the use of a package approach; a requirement for top management support; gaining acceptance from employees, and; the issues surrounding the process of implementation. The thesis contributes to knowledge in a number of areas, predominantly the use of benchmarking in the area of car parking and the airport sector, an industry which has thus far not adopted the technique to any great extent