Health TheatRe

Author(s):  
Susan Cox ◽  
George Belliveau

Research-based theater is increasingly valued as a means of enhancing understanding of lived experience in different groups and communities. This innovative use of theater is being applied within various disciplines, including health research. In this chapter, we explore the use of research-based theater in three health-related projects, each of which focuses on a different application of research-based theater. The first highlights the use of theater to disseminate research findings; the second looks at the use of theater in developing a therapeutic intervention; and the third is concerned with the use of theater as a means of engaging citizens in health policy development. We conclude the chapter by discussing two salient ethical and methodological issues arising from the use of research-based theater in these three projects: (1) artistic expertise or professionalism and (2) authorship and its attribution in collaborative, creative work.

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Meiwita Budiharsana

In February 2016, the Minister of Health decided to increase the use of research findings in improving the quality of the national health policy and planning. The Ministry of Health has instructed the National Institute of Health Research and Development or NIHRD to play a stronger role of monitoring and evaluating all health programs, because “their opinion and research findings should be the basis for changes in national health policies and planning”. Compared to the past, the Ministry of Health has increased the research budget for evidence-based research tremendously. However, there is a gap between the information needs of program and policy-makers and the information offered by researchers. A close dialogue is needed between the users (program managers, policy makers and planners) and the suppliers (researchers and evaluators) to ensure that the evidence-based supplied by research is useful for programs, planning and health policy.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 27-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Baumann

SummaryThe shift towards a rights-based approach to health which has taken place over the past decade has strengthened the role of civil society and their organizations in raising and claiming the entitlements of different social groups. It has become obvious that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are central to any successful multi-stakeholder partnership, and they have become more recognized as key actors in health policy and programme development and implementation. There is a broad spectrum of NGOs active in the area of mental health in Europe which aim to empower people with mental health problems and their families, give them a voice in health policy development and implementation and in service design and delivery, to raise awareness and fight stigma and discrimination, and foster implementation of obligations set by internationally agreed mental health policy documents. With the endorsement of the Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 (20) and the European Mental Health Action Plan (19) stakeholders agree to strengthen capacity of service user and family advocacy groups and to secure their participation as partners in activities for mental health promotion, disorder prevention and improving mental health services.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Armstrong ◽  
Lorna Hogg ◽  
Pamela Charlotte Jacobsen

The first stage of this project aims to identify assessment measures which include items on voice-hearing by way of a systematic review. The second stage is the development of a brief framework of categories of positive experiences of voice hearing, using a triangulated approach, drawing on views from both professionals and people with lived experience. The third stage will involve using the framework to identify any positve aspects of voice-hearing included in the voice hearing assessments identified in stage 1.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3572
Author(s):  
Lavinia-Maria Pop ◽  
Magdalena Iorga ◽  
Iulia-Diana Muraru ◽  
Florin-Dumitru Petrariu

A busy schedule and demanding tasks challenge medical students to adjust their lifestyle and dietary habits. The aim of this study was to identify dietary habits and health-related behaviours among students. A number of 403 students (80.40% female, aged M = 21.21 ± 4.56) enrolled in a medical university provided answers to a questionnaire constructed especially for this research, which was divided into three parts: the first part collected socio-demographic, anthropometric, and medical data; the second part inquired about dietary habits, lifestyle, sleep, physical activity, water intake, and use of alcohol and cigarettes; and the third part collected information about nutrition-related data and the consumption of fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, and sweets. Data were analysed using SPSS v24. Students usually slept M = 6.71 ± 1.52 h/day, and one-third had self-imposed diet restrictions to control their weight. For both genders, the most important meal was lunch, and one-third of students had breakfast each morning. On average, the students consumed 1.64 ± 0.88 l of water per day and had 220 min of physical activity per week. Data about the consumption of fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, sweets, fast food, coffee, tea, alcohol, or carbohydrate drinks were presented. The results of our study proved that medical students have knowledge about how to maintain a healthy life and they practice it, which is important for their subsequent professional life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 670-671
Author(s):  
Phillip Clark ◽  
Margaret Perkinson

Abstract Gerontology is a unique field of scientific inquiry, because it embodies both professional and personal dimensions of experience and poses questions for its researchers. How does our work help us understand our own personal experience of aging? How does the reality of growing older change our teaching and research? As gerontologists, we embody two narratives of the aging experience, one academic and professional (with its dependence on theory and scientific research), the other intimately personal (with its own lived experience and practical insight acquired over the life course). How this dynamic unfolds is as personal as each of us as individuals, and embodies our own disciplinary backgrounds; yet collectively it has implications for how we approach an understanding of what it means to grow old. This symposium explores different facets of this dynamic from four perspectives of different individuals and differing disciplines. The first paper assesses the limitations of both quantitative and qualitative research paradigms in revealing the deeply idiosyncratic nature of personal aging. The second develops the metaphor of “double agent of aging” to characterize the two narratives of professional and personal aging. The third uses Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development to weave together the professional, practical, and personal dimensions of gerontology. Finally, the last develops the metaphor of arcs and stages in conceptualizing a gerontological career. The symposium concludes with recommendations for the integration of theoretical, practical, and personal insights into teaching, research, and service in a way that embraces, enhances, and extends the field of gerontology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen O’Gorman ◽  
Eberhard Schatz

Abstract Background A range of civil society organisations (CSOs) such as drug user groups, non-governmental/third sector organisations and networks of existing organisations, seek to shape the development of drugs policy at national and international levels. However, their capacity to do so is shaped by the contexts in which they operate nationally and internationally. The aim of this paper is to explore the lived experience of civil society participation in these contexts, both from the perspective of CSOs engaged in harm reduction advocacy, and the institutions they engage with, in order to inform future policy development. Methods This paper is based on the presentations and discussions from a workshop on ‘Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy hosted by the Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network at the International Society for the Study of Drugs Policy (ISSDP) annual conference in Paris, 2019. In the aftermath of the workshop, the authors analysed the papers and discussions and identified the key themes arising to inform CSI in developing future harm reduction policy and practice. Results Civil society involvement (CSI) in policy decision-making and implementation is acknowledged as an important benefit to representative democracy. Yet, the accounts of CSOs demonstrate the challenges they experience in seeking to shape the contested field of drug policy. Negotiating the complex workings of political institutions, often in adversarial and heavily bureaucratic environments, proved difficult. Nonetheless, an increase in structures which formalised and resourced CSI enabled more meaningful participation at different levels and at different stages of policy making. Conclusions Civil society spaces are colonised by a broad range of civil society actors lobbying from different ideological standpoints including those advocating for a ‘drug free world’ and those advocating for harm reduction. In these competitive arena, it may be difficult for harm reduction orientated CSOs to influence the policy process. However, the current COVID-19 public health crisis clearly demonstrates the benefits of partnership between CSOs and political institutions to address the harm reduction needs of people who use drugs. The lessons drawn from our workshop serve to inform all partners on this pathway.


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