Networking, Dementia, Australia and a Breakthrough...

Networking Evening
I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who came along last night and took part in this session. I really enjoyed the very animated conversation and am keen to take some of the ideas we discussed forward. For those of you who didn't attend the ares we really got to grips with were focused on the relationship between artists who work in the broad field of Arts/Health and colleagues in the Arts Therapy field. An outcome of this discussion will be to form a small group who'll pull together a statement that best encapsulates this relationship allowing for synergy and difference, but crucially, offering dialogue and mutuality.


We had some very passionate and interesting discussions around dementia and the arts and I'm sure all who came along last night would want to give a huge thanks to Zoe Keenan who shared her personal experiences around caring for her mum and her creative response to this experience. On the basis of this exciting work and suggestions form the group, we are going to explore some very interesting work in the region. I very much look forward to our next meeting and thanks again for everyone in making this such an enjoyable and inspirational evening.


Australia Calling
I am thrilled to be speaking at this conference. If you want to know more about it, or hear from Arts for Health Australia’s inspirational leader, please come along and meet Margret Meagher at the Head to Head here at MMU on June 30th (full details over the next two weeks). My paper this year at the Canberra conference will explore the relationship between Design, the Arts and Health with a specific focus on how the last days of our lives are often far removed than what we’d hope they might be like.

“The Aboriginal Memorial 1987-88, Ramingining Artists, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, photographer credit John Gollings
3rd Annual International Arts and Health Conference:
The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing
14 - 18 November 2011
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT

The Art of Good Health and Wellbeing, 3rd Annual International Arts and Health Conference, will present best practice and innovative arts and health programs, effective health promotion and prevention campaigns, methods of project evaluation and scientific research. The 2011 Conference will continue to have a special focus on mental health and creative ageing, including programs for people with dementia and their carers; as well as workplace wellbeing programs; arts and health programs for Aboriginal communities; the built environment, design and health; medical education and medical humanities. http://www.artsandhealth.org/ 



Breakthrough: Art in Mental Health
Damian Hebron and Mike Farrer will both be speaking at Breakthrough’s third ARTS in Health Event:
‘Where to Next…?’
Location : NHS North West, 3 Piccadilly Place, Manchester
Date: 10th of June, 2011. 9:30-3pm
http://breakthroughmhart.com/


Towards a National Forum for Arts and Health Many of you will know that I sit on a group that has been looking at the notion of a National Forum for Arts and Health, following the collapse of the NNAH in 2007. I’ve been working with colleagues around the country to explore ways forward, and the linked report has been made by the external consultants Globe to help inform this direction. I would be grateful for any thoughts on this linked document, which I will feed into the forum at our next meeting. http://www.artsforhealth.org/resources/final_national_forum_report.pdf
If you would like me to email a copy of the SUMMARY REPORT, please email me directly.
at

Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part IV

What is Food Reward?

After reading comments on my recent posts, I realized I need to do a better job of defining the term "food reward".  I'm going to take a moment to do that here.  Reward is a psychology term with a specific definition: "a process that reinforces behavior" (1).  Rewarding food is not the same thing as food that tastes good, although they often occur together. 

Read more »
at

Healthy Skeptic Podcast

Chris Kresser has just posted our recent interview/discussion on his blog The Healthy Skeptic.  You can listen to it on Chris's blog here.  The discussion mostly centered around body fat and food reward.  I also answered a few reader questions.  Here are some highlights:
  • How does the food reward system work? Why did it evolve?
  • Why do certain flavors we don’t initially like become appealing over time?
  • How does industrially processed food affect the food reward system?
  • What’s the most effective diet used to make rats obese in a research setting? What does this tell us about human diet and weight regulation?
  • Do we know why highly rewarding food increases the set point in some people but not in others?
  • How does the food reward theory explain the effectiveness of popular fat loss diets?
  • Does the food reward theory tell us anything about why traditional cultures are generally lean?
  • What does cooking temperature have to do with health?
  • Reader question: How does one lose fat?
  • Reader question: What do I (Stephan) eat?
  • Reader question: Why do many people gain fat with age, especially postmenopausal women?
The podcast is a sneak preview of some of the things I'll be discussing in the near future.  Enjoy!
at

Fast Food, Weight Gain and Insulin Resistance

CarbSane just posted an interesting new study that fits in nicely with what we're discussing here.  It's part of the US Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study, which is a long-term observational study that is publishing many interesting findings.  The new study is titled "Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15-year prospective analysis" (1).  The results speak for themselves, loud and clear (I've edited some numbers out of the quote for clarity):
Read more »
at

Job opportunities, and an Opera

Fables – A Film Opera
VENUE: Zion Arts Centre, Hulme (screening and live theatrical event)
DATE & TIME: 30th June, 7-8pm

Step into a magical world of legend and folklore with Streetwise Opera’s Fables - A Film Opera, a group of four short films interspersed with live performance and theatre, created by some of the UK's leading composers and filmmakers working with 125 Streetwise performers who have experienced homelessness. Composers Mira Calix, Emily Hall, Orlando Gough and Paul Sartin/Andy Mellon, and filmmakers Gaëlle Denis, Tom Marshall, Flat-e and Iain Finlay have created short films based on traditional fables ranging from the classic The Boy Who Cried Wolf to Shinishi Hoshi's contemporary tale, Hey! Come on Out!
This special event at Zion Arts Centre is part of the fringe Not Part of Festival, and involves a screening of the films, around which there will be live performance and theatre created by director Emma Bernard and led by a sizzling folk musicians. They will be joined by Streetwise Opera’s award-winning singers from the Booth Centre in Manchester, the ICC in Nottingham and narrator Neil Allen. The evening will include some rousing opera, folk, hidden performers and uplifting audience participation.

More details HERE.

Arts and Health Practitioners required for exciting dementia project in Merseyside http://www.collective-encounters.org.uk/  
at

Food Reward: a Dominant Factor in Obesity, Part III

Low-Fat Diets

In 2000, the International Journal of Obesity published a nice review article of low-fat diet trials.  It included data from 16 controlled trials lasting from 2-12 months and enrolling 1,910 participants (1).  What sets this review apart is it only covered studies that did not include instructions to restrict calorie intake (ad libitum diets).  On average, low-fat dieters reduced their fat intake from 37.7 to 27.5 percent of calories.  Here's what they found:
Read more »
at

Clarifications About Carbohydrate and Insulin

My statements about carbohydrate and insulin in the previous post seem to have kicked up some dust!  Some people are even suggesting I've gone low-fat!  I'm going to take this opportunity to be more specific about my positions.

I do not think that post-meal insulin spikes contribute to obesity, and they may even oppose it. Elevated fasting insulin is a separate issue-- that's a marker of insulin resistance.  It's important not to confuse the two.  Does insulin resistance contribute to obesity?  I don't know, but it's hypothetically possible since insulin acts like leptin's kid brother in some ways.  As far as I can tell, starch per se and post-meal insulin spikes do not lead to insulin resistance.
Read more »
at

Healthy Skeptic Podcast and Reader Questions

Chris Kresser, Danny Roddy and I just finished recording the podcast that will be released on May 24th.  It went really well, and we think you'll find it informative and maybe even practical!

Unfortunately, we only got around to answering three of the questions I had selected:
  1. How does one lose fat?
  2. What do I (Stephan) eat?
  3. Why do many people gain fat with age, especially postmenopausal women?
I feel guilty about that, so I'm going to answer three more right now.

Read more »
at

m a n i f e s t o update and much, much more...

Head to Head
In my last blog posting, I told you a little about the free event on June 30th that will see a host of international figures from the arts/health world, sharing some of their practice and engaging in conversation. I’ve been overwhelmed by the response and it looks like it will be fully booked well ahead of the event. I have to reiterate that I can’t guarantee anyone a place yet, but thanks for the emails. I will confirm places/agenda/venue/times at the beginning of June.

Towards a National Forum for Arts and Health
Many of you will know that I sit on a group that has been looking at the notion of a National Forum for Arts and Health, following the collapse of the NNAH in 2007. I’ve been working with colleagues around the country to explore ways forward, and the linked report has been made by the external consultants Globe to help inform this direction. I would be grateful for any thoughts on this linked document, which I will feed into the forum at our next meeting.
http://www.artsforhealth.org/resources/final_national_forum_report.pdf

Networking evening
I’m discussing with a number of network members, the possibility of the next session here at MMU on the evening of 26th May, being an opportunity to share ongoing work, frustration, needs and ideas. The simple idea being that a small number of artists/health practitioners get in touch with me if they’re interested and on the evening, they can share what it is they’d like to discuss…then we can pitch in with constructive criticism and support. This could be really helpful to all of us and I’m pleased to say that the artist Zoe Keenan is happy to share some of her work around dementia and young people who find themselves in the position of being a carer. Zoe has produced some really exciting work around this and would be happy to share it and get feedback.

Anyway, if you’re interested in sharing something, or if you just want to attend, please email me at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk
(Venue details will be emailed next week)

M A N I F E S T O update
Since the first session last September, just under 400 people around the region have contributed to the emerging m a n i f e s t o and over May and June we’ll be holding the last sessions of the first stage of conversations. In June, I’ll be working with colleagues from all over the North West and others from as far as Durham, Yorkshire, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and the USA, who’ll all be feeding into the discussion. The final event of 2011 will be at MMU in September…then, we go public! Don’t forget, we’ll be getting some high-profile input into the m a n i f e s t o from the art, media, health sectors too, but the core of this work is about our shared vision. On the 9th May I facilitated an event in Cumbria that was over-subscribed. As usual, if you wanted to contribute but weren’t able to attend, please get in touch via email. And for the 3 people who left comments in my ‘composting thoughts bag’ in Cumbria, a particularly big THANK YOU. Your comments will feed into the mix and I really liked the illustrations too.


m a n i f e s t o on Prezi
at

Ask Me a Question

On May 13th, I'll be recording a podcast with Chris Kresser of The Healthy Skeptic. Chris interviewed me about a year ago, and I thought it went well. Chris is a good host and asks interesting questions.

This time around, we're going to do things a bit differently. I'll start with a little overview of my current thoughts on obesity, then we'll answer reader questions. The show is going to be mostly about obesity and related matters, but I may answer a couple of questions that aren't related to obesity if they're especially interesting. There are two ways to leave questions: either in the comments section of this post, or the comments section of Chris's post. The show will air on May 24th.
Read more »
at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)