A Brightly Coloured Bell-Jar

I gave this paper to colleagues at the Centre for Medical Humanities last week and they are uploading it onto their Blog in three parts @ http://medicalhumanities.wordpress.com  
(thanks again to Polly Morgan)

Clore Fellowships; just what happened next to the Sneezing Man and Who Cares?

An invitation to apply for a Fellowship on the Clore Leadership Programme

The Clore Leadership Programme is currently inviting applications from exceptional individuals with the potential to take on significant leadership roles within culture. Sponsored by the Cultural Leadership Programme, these Fellowships are open to candidates with at least 5 years' paid work experience either in employment, self-employed or freelance, usually in the cultural sector. Applicants should be able to demonstrate a knowledge, understanding and passion for culture. The Fellowship Programme aims to shape emerging creative leaders through in-depth learning, tailored as far as possible to the needs, aspirations and circumstances of about 20 individuals a year. Fellows also benefit from unparalleled access to senior cultural leaders and to extensive networks.

The closing date for all applications is by 12 noon, 11 March 2011. For further details on the Programme and to access the online application form, please visit http://www.cloreleadership.org/

Who Cares?

Friday 15 April 1 – 4.30pm, Whitworth Art Gallery

Free but booking is required as places are limited

Museums, health and wellbeing is a partnership between healthcare professionals, six major museums in the North West and researchers from the Psychosocial Research Unit at the University of Central Lancashire. The programme is showing how museums can help to improve the health and wellbeing of participants. Some of the work is about enriching lives through handling objects, looking at art or making art. Other projects, when working closely with health professionals, directly address the participants’ mental state.

For more information contact: Myna Trustram: m.trustram@manchester.gov.uk

To book: whitworth@manchester.ac.uk 0161 275 7450

Comics and Medicine Conference

(In the USA, but very interesting)

http://graphicmedicine.org/#/conference-2011/4546507879

Dr Langley Brown

Arts for Health is thrilled to be working with Dr Langley Brown on the development of its International Arts and Health Archive which is now housed within the Faculty of Art and Design’s Righton Building. We very much hope that this resource will be available to the public very soon.

Online arts funding sites

Art projects are showcased for funding by the public, and receive online sponsorship/pledges from the public to secure funding (known as crowd funding). A useful development in online networking for supporting of the arts.

http://wedidthis.org.uk/

http://www.kickstarter.com/

http://www.indiegogo.com/

http://www.pledgemusic.com/

http://www.wefund.co.uk/

A plea for Final Cut Studio training for Clive

If anyone offers introductory training in Final Cut Studio, please can you email Clive with the details? Many thanks.

What happened next to the sneezing man?

 

Caring for the Mental Health of Your College Student

By Roberto A. Blanco, M.D.

A recently released national survey on the state of mental health for entering college students revealed that this year's freshmen class has the highest stress levels in the history of the 25 year survey.  There are several reasons.  According to study authors, students face increased competitiveness and demands in high school as well as more financial challenges due to today's economy.

Although it's an exciting time, your child's transition to college can be a difficult one - especially if he or she suffers from a mental illness.  Here are some things that you and your prospective college student should be thinking about prior to choosing a university and heading off to school:

1.    What can I do to ease the college transition? 

Some schools offer an orientation program over the summer to help students become comfortable with the campus and surroundings, learn organizational and study skills and socialize with fellow freshmen.  

Apart from these organized programs, it is important that, as a parent, you work on transition issues and independence.  Make sure that your child has all materials needed for school including an organizer and a computer.  If your child is getting psychiatric treatment, teach your son or daughter the importance of their medicines, therapy and attending their appointments regularly.  If they haven’t yet been self-administering their medications, before going to college, it is important that they learn and start taking their medicines without supervision.

If you have serious concerns about how your child will do with the college transition, you may want to consider schools close to home.  Depending on the amount of concern, it may be best to choose a school which would allow your child to drive home for the weekend if needed.

2.   What’s the quality of the college's mental health program?

Some colleges and universities do not have mental health services available through the school.  If they don’t, you need to understand how a student can go about getting help.  If the school is not in a major city, you need to make sure that there are enough providers close by so that your child can get the services that he or she needs in a timely manner.

Some universities have therapists but no psychiatric providers on staff.  Others offer both counseling and psychiatric services but put a cap on the number of appointments at the university mental health center prior to referring students out to the community.  All of this information should be provided by each individual school.  And you should know all of this information prior to committing to a particular school, especially if your child is likely to use mental health services.

3.    What is the educational environment of the university?

Some universities are known to be high-pressure, unforgiving environments.  This could be due to the rigor, expectations or challenges of courses.  Sometimes, this can be eased by a strong academic support team or advising system.  Often, peers can make the university culture overly competitive in unhealthy ways.  Some places are notorious for students stealing other students’ lecture materials and notes or not helping out when needed.  If your child is particularly sensitive to stress, it may be best to go to a school where the environment is more collegial and supportive.

Other schools are notorious for having easy access to drugs or alcohol on campus.  While drugs and alcohol are available at most schools, they are easier to get at some schools which are located in major cities or areas of high accessibility.  If your child has a history of drug or alcohol abuse, you should be extra considerate of these location factors.

4.    Will the financing of this school put my child in overwhelming debt?

While a good college education is one of the most important investments, your child should not mortgage his or her future by creating large amounts of unnecessary debt.  In addition, universities with higher tuition may necessitate your child working during school to avoid excessive debt.  This can also add stress.  If schools are relatively equivalent in meeting your child’s long-term career goals, choose the college which will put your child in a better financial position after he or she graduates.

Of course, after your children go to college, you will want to monitor how they are doing intermittently.  Particularly stressful times are usually at the beginning of school, around exam time (midterms and finals) and anytime a romantic relationship ends.  Checking in around these times may be the most beneficial.  If it turns out that they need more help than some parental TLC, make sure that they see a professional.

I hope that these suggestions have been helpful.  Feel free to leave comments or questions for further discussion.

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...a little something for the weekend

Film Show, Training, Residencies, Congratulations, Statistics and a Big Walk...

Witam wszystkich zainteresowanych sztuką i zdrowiem. Dziękuję że odwiedziliście mój blog. Jeżeli macie jakieś pytania odnośnie naszej działalności, piszcie do mnie. Pozdrawiam, Clive

Looking at the traffic on the blog, and who stayed on line to read the last article on 'happiness,' it's interesting to see that whilst the UK (green 83%) accounted for just over three-quarters of traffic, the USA followed next (blue 9%), followed Australia (red 4%); Poland (yellow 3%) and France (purple 2%). We also had traffic from Russia; China; South Korea; India; Puerto Rico: Germany and the Netherlands.

Whoever you are...if you're interested and want to get involved, please get in touch at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk

Thank you to everyone who left comments and all those who got in touch via email. 

Now: those opportunities!


MUSIC FOR HEALTH TRAINING OPPORTUNITY AT THE ROYAL MANCHESTER CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
RNCM Music for Health is delighted to be running a programme of music residencies at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital throughout 2011. The project, Medical Notes, is funded by Youth Music.

We are looking to appoint three vocalists or instrumentalists of graduate or comparable musical level and with previous experience of making music with people in health care settings to train alongside our lead musicians. The training will comprise observation of lead musicians, workshop sessions, one-to-one mentoring and supervision, artistic exchange with guest artists and running three mentored 10-week residencies at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

This is a unique opportunity for musicians with initial Music for Health experience to further develop their skills and to develop an expertise of working with hospitalised children and young people.

A training fee of £1825 is available for each trainee.

To apply, please submit your CV and expression of interest by Thursday 17 February 12 o’clock noon. Interviews and auditions for shortlisted candidates will be held on Tuesday 8 March at RNCM.

For full details, contact: Lilli Brodner-Francis

lilli.brodner-francis@rncm.ac.uk

              Thanks to Melissa Laishley and Rob Vale
LIME Artist Residencies

Lime is offering free work space for up to 4 artists, one shared studio and two desk spaces in a single office/room.   Artists will have access to resources including broadband, shared use of a van, office equipment, health and arts networks, research material and information. The term of occupancy is two years with a 4 month probationary period and selected artists will be offered a contract. By way of exchange each artist will give the equivalent of 1 day per month of their time, e.g. workshop delivery, work produced or mentoring less experienced artists. 


This offer will afford the opportunity for the artist to have a physical base to work from, to work alongside other artists, to explore the arts and health context and to communicate their work within the health service to a very large and diverse audience.

All art forms will be considered. In the past we have hosted visual artists, sculptor/makers, a drama worker and a creative writer. Applications from BME artists will be of particular interest. The studio space to be shared by two artists measures 4m by 10m and has natural light on one side, power points, band saw and mixed tools and equipment. The two desk spaces will share one room.  Lime is accessed by a single double door entrance on the ground floor. The building is old and not yet converted for wheelchair access.

Selection and interviews will be conducted by Lime Lead artists and Director with one external representative.

Application

There is no formal application pack. Please send an expression of interest via email to lime@limeart.org. Your application should include: 

• An outline of your creative practice and how this opportunity may enhance it (max 2 sides A4)
• Six examples of your best work
• A current CV

Application Deadline: 15^th February 2011

Interview date: 8^th March 2011

Start Date: 5^th April

Lime information: www.limeart.org

A BIG Walk

In May 1986, during half time at the F.A. Cup Final Tony Russell completed a lap of honour before embarking on a mammoth 2,355 mile unique charity walk (pictures  featured below)  to every professional Football Club in England and Wales, before his triumphant return to Wembley Stadium at half-time on Charity Shield day three months later in August.

In 2011, 25 years later, at the age of 56, Tony plans to complete another epic walk. Last time, his twin aims were to raise money for Cancer Research and to improve the image of football fans following the Heysel Stadium tragedy. This time, Tony wants to raise awareness of mental health issues and the value of the creative arts as an aid to recovery; and to pay a personal tribute to the bravery of the nation’s Armed Forces, many of whom now experience severe mental distress.

Tony will raise funds for  art in mental health, mental health causes and Help for Heroes. Just as before Tony plans to encourage friends, colleagues and celebrities to join him during the course of his walk, whilst he searches for the answer to "What’s It all About "http://breakthroughmhart.com/an-epic-walk 

(SMALL PRINT: Clive will be joining Tony on the part of the Northern leg of the journey)

CONGRATULATIONS to the artist Claire Ford! Following her Internship at Arts for Health, she has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship to expand her knowledge in the field of Arts/Health/Dementia and will be working closely with Arts for Health and colleagues in the USA. More details to follow.

The Lost Generation Film Project (DADAA Inc)

6:00pm to 8:30pm, Thursday 31st March 2011

At Manchester Metropolitan University

This is a unique opportunity to experience the work of DADAA and thanks to Durham University’s Centre for Medical Humanities, who have supported this event.

DADAA Inc.

DADAA Inc. began as an acronym for Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts, Australia in 1994 and has been at the forefront of the Australian Arts and Disability movement over the past 16 years. It began with project work, developing its practice and approach within large residential health care settings in the suburbs of Perth. This is where DADAA’s first staff trialled the development of Arts and Disability practices through a combination of community theatre, visual and public art, CCD projects, video production and community writing. http://www.dadaawa.org.au/front-page

The Lost Generation Project is about finding the lost stories of people with intellectual disabilities, many institutionalised for most of their lives. It is about hearing these stories and recognising and celebrating people who have traditionally been socially isolated and aims to assist these people to connect to their communities through arts and culture.

The Lost Generation Project has found unique people from across Australia and provided them with the technology and skills to tell their stories on film. Each core project participant or storyteller is offered the opportunity to make a short film that tells their story.

Simone Flavelle is the Manager/Executive Producer of this project and she will be giving us the opportunity to see some of these films, an experience that cannot be underestimated.

To register for this event or get more details, email artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk

Details of the venue and confirmation of place will be emailed out a minimum of 48 hours prior to the event. There will be a small charge of £2 on the evening for this event.

This event will happen instead of the networking evening planned for the 24th March

Yoga Helps Heal Heart & Emotional Scars of Cancer

By Felicia Wong, M.D.

“Cancer is a very alienating and existential disease. I know of no other common disease that immediately causes so much fear, anxiety, depression, confusion, and a sense of impending disaster in a patient or his/her significant others when they hear the word “cancer” for the first time.” --- Murray Krelstein, MD, a psychiatrist and cancer survivor.

Although oncologists, family members, and friends can provide significant sources of support, adding a mental health professional to a cancer patient’s treatment team is often helpful. Talking about the emotions and worries associated with cancer can be difficult, and it is important to have a therapist who is familiar with these situations. Additionally, cancer patients and survivors often suffer from sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and other mood changes.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that among patients receiving chemotherapy, over three-quarters suffer from insomnia. Those who suffer from insomnia are, in turn, more likely to suffer from fatigue and depression. For 65% of cancer survivors, insomnia continues even after the completion of chemotherapy.

Cancer is a diagnosis that affects both body and mind. So, it makes sense that cancer patients and survivors practice yoga to improve their quality of life.

While research on the use of yoga for cancer is relatively new, there have been recent studies confirming yoga’s mental health benefits. A Harvard Health Publication highlights the benefits of yoga for stress, depression, and anxiety:

- By reducing perceived anxiety, yoga appears to adjust stress response systems. This, in turn, reduces heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and can make breathing easier.

- There is evidence that yoga practices helps increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body's ability to respond to stress more flexibly.

Optimizing wellness after a cancer diagnosis and beyond involves a complex integration of interventions that address both the mind and the body. Ideally, a psychiatrist is part of the cancer treatment team. However, if this is not available, please ask your doctor for referrals.

For additional resources on coping with cancer:

http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/live.html

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Talking To Kids About Disappointment In Sports

By Claudia Reardon, M.D.



Participating in sports is generally thought of as a physically and emotionally healthy activity for children and teenagers. However, it is inevitable that children who play sports will at some point deal with disappointment. Not every play or game will go their way. While dealing with this disappointment can be difficult for children, it's also a great opportunity for growth. The excitement of the Super Bowl and other winter sporting events provide a chance to talk with your children about disappointment.

Here are some tips to keep in mind if you parent or coach a child or teenager who is dealing with disappointment in sports:



1. Acknowledge your child’s feelings about what happened. For example, you can say, “I understand that you are feeling really upset that you didn’t win the race.” Of course, this does not mean that you should agree with catastrophic statements that they might make, such as that they are the worst player that ever played or that their life is ruined because of a bad game.



2. It’s okay if kids don’t want to talk about a disappointing game or event immediately. You might simply acknowledge their feelings and tell them that you’re there for them to talk whenever they want to.



3. Help your children shift focus to what they did RIGHT on the playing field. This is especially important if your child is a perfectionist, in which case he or she is likely to focus on the one mistake rather than seeing the “big picture” of everything he or she has done right.



4. It’s certainly okay if your children’s disappointment leads them to want to improve their sports skills. Help them figure out exactly what skill they would like to improve, and then brainstorm ways to improve in that area. They might even ask for suggestions from the coach. Help your children set realistic goals and then give them praise as they work toward those goals.



5. Ask your children if they think their favorite athletes ever make mistakes in their sport. If these athletes said that they were terrible players and wanted to quit after one bad play or bad game, would your children agree with that? Of course not!



6. Disappointment is a great opportunity to reinforce resilience and determination. Remind your child that he or she is “the kind of person who doesn’t give up easily.”



7. If a child is disappointed in his or her sporting performance, that is not an excuse for poor sportsmanship. It is not okay for them to express their disappointment as anger toward the winner.



8. Remind your children that failing to make a good play or to win a game does not mean that they’re a failure overall. There still are lots of great things about them, and everyone fails sometimes. Remind them of all the things they have done well recently.

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