Sweet Music to Patients' Ears, Musicians Help Physicians Tune in to Patients at University of Western Ontario, Schulich School of Medicine

Music and medicine is in the news today at The University of Western Ontario this Tuesday, April 15, with London Free Press reporter John Miner's article, "Sweet Music to Patients' Ears." Miner reports that James McKay, Professor at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, brought music students to the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry to help train medical students how to listen to their patients.

In the article, Dr. Terri Paul, Assistant Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry explains,

"We physicians tend to talk a lot and talk quickly, and usually interrupt patients within about 18 seconds of them starting to tell us their story. This is learning to sit back and listen. It's also about learning to read patients' non-verbal signals."

Dr. Terri Paul

(A recent report on health literacy from the Canadian Public Health Association, found communication between doctors and patients wasn’t as effective as it could be. Western’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and The Don Wright Faculty of Music teamed up to provide medical students with ways to improve their lines of communication. “The Sound of Silence: Developing Effective Patient Partnerships” was one of a series of lectures given by Professors in Music and Medicine which focused on listening and speaking with patients as equal partners and illustrated the skills that musicians use playing in a small group to communicate both verbally and non-verbally. )
source: http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/news/index.php?article=000439


I have published posts about a number of programmes in Canada that use the arts in medical education. This is yet another indication that the arts in many forms when applied in education and training can help increase sensitivity and understanding in the physician, patient relationship. CM

"We Think" and other innovative projects underway

Tonight we think....

with the focus on creativity, community,



democracy and new forms of idea sharing.

Youtube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiP79vYsfbo

(Thanks to Robert Kelly, Fine Arts, University of Calgary, for sharing this cool video inspired by Charles Leadbeater's new book, "We Think".)

Just off the press....Robert Kelly, as we speak, is creating a hot new book which will will examine the process of creativity (no small task) and idea generation and development.This book will target teachers and parents in accessible language presenting a case for creativity with close to 20 creative thinkers sharing their experiences and bearing witness to acts of creativity in practice. Now that's a progressive concept for a new book that could open the way for new methodologies, innovation and change. Congrats, Bob. Save a copy for me.

CM.

Oliver Sacks, Music Therapy and Parkinson's Disease

Tonight Oliver Sacks author of "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "An Anthropologist on Mars" discusses the effect of music therapy on Parkinson's disease patients.

Front row seats at Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nnLTPPDRXI&feature=related

Arts and Aging Featured at Edmonton's Creative Age Festival

We recently heard from CCAHTE subscriber Pamela Brett-MacLean, Co-Director of The Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program, University of Alberta, about a new festival in Edmonton taking place this June celebrating the many contributions of the arts in work in aging and health.



The Creative Age Festival, Edmonton’s newest festival, celebrates arts and aging by showcasing arts-based workshops, performances and events, including special film screenings and an Arts Café. This week-long celebration of creative aging has been organized to recognize the vital contributions of the arts in relation to lifelong learning, creative expression, health and well-being in later life.



A symposium has been organized as part of the Creative Age Festival offering a unique training and development opportunity for senior-serving agencies, health providers, seniors, students, and researchers.

Presentations and workshops will be showcased that explore the significance of arts and aging, in terms of cultural contributions, lifelong learning, community connections, social service and health care. This symposium will also provide a forum for sharing experience, innovative program models, best practices and research.

As part of this symposium, we are pleased to have Susan Perlstein, Director of Education and Training, National Center on Creative Aging (Washington DC) as keynote speaker. Susan will consider the significance of “creative aging” in relation to everyday life, and also summarize findings from a study she collaborated on with Dr. Gene Cohen from the Centre of Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University which provides evidence about positive benefits associated with involvement in arts and cultural programs.

Creative Age Festival June 2-8, 2008
Edmonton, AB (Various Locations)

1st Celebration of Creative Aging Symposium, June 3, 2008
Telus Centre (University of Alberta Campus)
Edmonton, AB

Call for Presentations - Submission Deadline: May 14, 2008

Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier offers Sandtray Therapy Workshop

Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University,

Workshop

Sandtray Worldplay Therapy: Exploring the Possibilities

We are continuing to accept registrations for our 2-day introductory workshop; Sandtray Worldplay Therapy: Exploring the Possibilities, April 16 and 17.

This program will combine theory, experiential exercises and demonstrations with Dr. Gisela Schubach de Domenico, developer of the Sandtray/Worldplay method. She has taught this method in a variety of countries and a variety of contexts, working with adults as well as children in psychotherapy, play therapy and education.

For information contact:

Brenda Mann, Continuing Education
Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier

Email: bmann@wlu.ca

One Woman Show "Crazy" True Stories Based on Experiences With Anxiety and Depression

March 25, 2008
There were a few days between entries, almost two weeks in fact, having just returned from a "singing" vacation in Maui, Hawaii. It seems I am still not quite landed as I find myself still standing in my dreams at the summit of the volcano Haleakala.




Back in the real world there are other views and vistas to inspire as I am filled with optimism reading about the many new projects currently underway in arts and health.

New Drama by Gail Schwartz About Realities of Anxiety and Depression

We recently received a note from dramatist Gail Schwartz of Vermont:

"I'm really looking forward to spending time at the site (blog "Arts and Health Crossing Borders) I've already enjoyed my visits there and am amazed and encouraged by how much work is happening in this field. I am currently touring my solo show, "Crazy," based on my experiences as a person diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I'm currently collaborating with VSA Arts of Vermont who received a grant to tour my piece with a community panel discussion and creative arts workshop as part of an anti-stigma campaign. We are completely immersed in the work and it's been incredible."

Gail Schwartz Creator of the One Woman Show"Crazy"

I asked Gail about her process developing the one woman show "Crazy" and she told me she began work in 2001 as part of her graduate studies.

"The preliminary creating was done without any final project in mind; I was dealing with my own crises through my artwork, a process that was brand new to me at the time (a suggestion from an advisor). Only later, once out of the crisis, did I begin to envision putting some of the pieces and stories together to create the show that is now "Crazy."

"I decided that I would commit to seeing this project through to its maturity, as long as it took to ripen and blossom. It is now 2008 and it is in its 30th draft. I feel the script is finished and I am starting to tour the piece on a larger scale. Through working on the stories, transforming my own struggles into art, as well as through sharing them as an activist and learning more about alternative ways of relating to my pain, I've found new ways of being that promote a positive sense of myself and encourage staying connected, both to myself and to the larger society and world. My current tour, a statewide tour of Vermont communities, produced by VSA Arts of Vermont and funded by the Vermont Community Foundation, is a manifestation of my transformation. "

"I am no longer out in the world doing my work alone; rather, I'm working in community, in collaboration with a team. What an amazingly wonderful change!"

Find out more about Gail Schwartz and her work in drama and health at: Third Story Window

Visit us again for more news updates at "Arts and Health Crossing Borders" with more posts to come about the arts in health, training and education.

Cheryl McLean

Arts, Mental Health and Autonomy

"Socialized fences, isolating human beings behind "us" and "them" notions, confining individuals behind ideas such as "the elderly" can be cleared in the act of learning as one becomes the other fully animated and performing the "stories" of life. A performance can raise awareness educating well beyond the podium conveying "lived experience" in action with elements visual, emotional, physical and spiritual. In this field process we are told and we tell stories engaging in one of the most primal, meaningful and universal of human connections."

C. McLean

Click here for more information about the performance "Remember Me for Birds"