The Role of Horticultural Therapy in the Treatment of Refugees with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cites that there are an unprecedented number of refugees. As of 2017, over 68.5 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes, with 25.4 million of this group being classified as refugees (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2018). Often, mental health issues arise from the trauma that they face. Recently, the use of horticultural therapy, which uses gardening and plant-based activities as a form of treatment, has shown mental health improvements in military veterans and active duty soldiers diagnosed with stress related disorders. This paper will describe the role of horticultural therapy use in military veterans and active duty soldiers diagnosed with PTSD and apply these findings to refugee populations suffering from PTSD

Co-operation in Health and Safety: A Game Theory Analysis

[Excerpt] “Health and safety managers face complex challenges in today’s production environments. They are confronted with increasingly flexible, autonomous and polyvalent contexts. Asymmetry of information on the workplace is widespread because various intervening parties rely on information lacking conformity. Social partners generate and use information which supports or benefits their pursuit of differing goals. Ascertaining and controlling this information can prove both difficult and costly. When addressing health and safety issues, one intervening partner alters or changes behavior in response to changes introduced by the other side. Strategic behaviors result, based on post-contract opportunism (moral hazard) and alliances with partners who can reasonably be expected to deliver predictable and effective contributions toward individual goals (adverse selection). These behaviors arise out of diagnostic problems, difficulty in determining acceptable risk, asymmetries in the information used in risk taking decisions on the part of social partners and the operation of health and safety systems. . . . Inevitably, effective and efficient management of health and safety must spring from an understanding of the dynamics governing the intervening parties. This paper makes use of non-cooperative game theory to identify conditions fostering cooperation between managers and workers as social partners in the workplace.

Improving Awareness of Colon Cancer Screening in the Homeless Population of Burlington, Vermont

Homeless populations are significantly less likely to access preventative cancer screening, yet this is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this population. In the general population, colorectal cancer affects 1 in 20 people and is the number 2 cancer killer. Rates of colorectal cancer screening are particularly low in homeless populations. A poster was developed and posted in the waiting room of Safe Harbor clinic, a homeless health care program center, in order to increase education and awareness about colon cancer screening and colonoscopy.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1449/thumbnail.jp

Re-Thinking James Buchanan

On Saturday, September 19th, local citizens, historians, Civil War enthusiasts, and the rare college student alike converged at the LancasterHistory.org Campus of History for the second day of the President James Buchanan National Symposium. The theme for the symposium was The Worlds of Thaddeus Stevens and James Buchanan: Race, Gender, and Politics in the Civil War Era, thus it featured the lives of two of Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s most prominent historical residents and two of the most colorful characters of the Civil War era [excerpt

Tactical Insight and Sick Burns from a Woman at War: The Diary of Nadine Turchin

On June 27th, 1863, while camped at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Nadine Turchin, wife of Brigadier General John Turchin of the Army of the Cumberland, wrote an irate entry in her journal. Really, I think that the commanding general should take me as his chief of staff, she began, or at least as his personal advisor. She went on to discuss the movements of her husband’s regiment as they campaigned in the west, criticizing the orders given to him by his superiors that had resulted in several deaths within the regiment and offering her own take on how they should have proceeded. Oh, uncivilized beasts! she concluded, in reference to the army’s leaders: They are dedicated to sacrificing this unfortunate army. [excerpt

From Russia with Love: John and Nadine Turchin

In August 1856, Ivan Vasilievitch Turchaninov and Nedezhda Dmitrievna Lvow arrived in the United States. The two had been married for only three months, and were both natives of the Russian Empire. Ivan was descended from a family of Cossacks with a strong military background in whose footsteps he followed by attending military school in St. Petersburg. He had served as an army captain during the Crimean War, stationed in the critical port city of Sevastopol, and was part of the forces sent to put down rebellions in both Poland and Hungary. It was while stationed in Russia that he had met Nedezhda, a highly educated and articulate woman with ties to the aristocracy. [excerpt

Joshua Chamberlain on Mars: Chambermania and Beyond!

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to observe one fact about Mars: it has a lot of rocks. While each is typically given a name based on protocols of scientific classification, many are known by informal, often humorous names like Grandma and Space Ghost. And now on Mars, there’s a rock for fans of Civil War history— Chamberlain, named of course for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top [excerpt]

The Clash of Storytelling and History

One of the most enduring archetypes of heroic storytelling is the triumph of the underdog: a figure who overcomes great and powerful foes due to their innate virtues, the nobility of their goal, or the hubris of their arrogant and highly flawed enemy. Their triumph illustrates the existence of greater forces of fairness, justice, and righteousness in their story world: a world in which they who are truly deserving of victory find it, and they who are unworthy are cast down – a story which has a spotty record at best in the real world. The narrative does not necessarily have to be so grand, either (the casting down of an enemy is completely optional). The enduring narrative of the self-made-man, for instance, follows a similar path: here is a person who has no material advantages to speak of, but is able to rise to the top of society through their own virtue and skill, triumphing against all odds [excerpt]

Confederate Flag Memory in Gettysburg, PA

Few towns in the United States can claim to be as in touch with its Civil War history as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. As the site of one of the war’s most significant battles, Gettysburg today lives and breathes the Civil War every day through the historical tourism that Gettysburg National Military Park encourages, which itself has bred a Civil War merchandise economy in the town itself. As such, the town naturally becomes a new battleground for contemporary issues regarding the memory of the Civil War—including, most significantly, the interpretation and presentation of the Confederate battle flag. As the nation passed the 150th anniversary of the war itself, reigniting discussion on its purpose and legacy, controversies flared nationally and locally on display of the Confederate battle flag and its meaning as a symbol of racial hatred or southern heritage. During the summer of 2016, 11 members of the Gettysburg community with a stake in these discussions were interviewed on their thoughts and feelings towards the Confederate flag