AP Research Week 1 (Roadmap And 1st Blog Entry)

Hi fellow students and faculty members! My name is Oliver Kuo and it’s my pleasure to be documenting my journey through my AP Research project. AP Research is similar to the senior project except I have to write a research paper in addition to the end-of-year presentation. For my project, I’m creating a research screener to better understand which combination of variables and markers are the strongest predictors of which veterans with PTSD would benefit most from certain types of equine-assisted therapy in combination with other types of traditional PTSD therapies. Equine-assisted therapy is a psychotherapy that utilizes horseback riding to improve mental and physical health. In the upcoming weeks, I will be documenting any progress or intriguing findings that my screener may provide along with further insight into the benefits of Equine-assisted therapy. Not only will I be updating you all the progress of my screener but I will also be documenting how Equine-assisted therapy is utilized at the stables I have volunteered at for the past 4 years. By the end of my project, I hope to provide a quantitative and robust way for veterans to identify which type of equine therapies may best support their needs. Currently, I have already interviewed veterans who have already participated in Equine-assisted therapy and will be distributing my screener to veterans in the coming week. For now, this is all of the info I can provide but I should be able to have some interesting info to share with you in the next weeks. Until then please take a look at this really cute photo of a horse who lives at the stables I volunteer at. P.S if you’re interested in learning more about the stables I’ve been working at for this project, it’s called GallopNYC. Until next time, Oliver Kuo