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In the spring of 2021, I was invited to assist on a global health project, supported by the Scottish Funding Council Global Challenges Research Fund grant, that sought to address key pervasive health inequities in Brazil through the use of innovative creative methodologies. The project afforded me the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills I had developed from the recent MSc Research in Health Humanities and Arts  course I completed at the University of Edinburgh. I was hired as a research assistant on the project; which partnered the University of Edinburgh with the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Universidade Federal do Rio [...]

How can we radically change the way places in Scotland are planned?  How can we re-imagine the future of Scotland?   These questions have been on our mind as we’ve been inspired by the power of art and artists coming together in North Lanarkshire through Art is Everywhere. We asked Jim MacDonald, CEO of Architecture & Design Scotland (A&DS) for his reflections… As someone nearly said once, places have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody. Sadly, that’s not really how we do things which means not all of our places do work for [...]

Since January 2022, we’ve been immersed in Measuring Humanity’s latest project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Active and Creative Communities Arts Development: Social Prescribing, Sustainable Strategic Planning and Breaking Down Barriers across Sectors in North Lanarkshire – now called Art is Everywhere – one of nine place-based Knowledge Exchange awards across the UK. Place matters. We’re mindful and critical of empty agendas that turn their gaze away from structural and commercial determinants of health. Art matters. It gives us access to a person's unique circumstances, their anxieties – often linked to structural and commercial determinants of health – and [...]

by Leah S Public Health, Humanities and Magical Realism came into the published world on July 29, 2022. An essential read for any public health researcher, it sets out to challenge traditional research methodologies and its definitions of “evidence” using magical realism as a vessel to ask necessary questions. The day it was available online, I happily congratulated Marisa—the author, my old supervisor on the MScR Health Humanities and Arts programme at the University of Edinburgh, and the proud parent of the new piece of work (did that make me the midwife? Maybe I was more like the doula? Or the family member [...]

In 2018-19, Measuring Humanity worked with Behind The Noise, a real-world music and business education programme that works with around 100 young people in Glasgow and Renfrewshire. The project aims to inspire, encourage and support young people with a keen interest in music and the various career opportunities that exist within the industry. The project consists of nine workshops, three rehearsals, two open days, a recording session and two live shows that take participants through the process of forming a band, writing and recording an original track, rehearsing and promoting a show. The project culminates in a live performance in front of 500 [...]

Words cast spells: and why this matters in Parkinson’s In this, the first of three blogs, Alison Williams explores the impact that quality of life assessments can have on Parkinson’s patients, the values informing those measurements, the words that are used, and how those words can invoke the ‘nocebo effect’ – what one colleague calls ‘the evil twin of the placebo effect’. Any medical treatment has two elements – the specific effect of the treatment itself (whether pharmacological or non-pharmacological), and the non-specific effect upon the patient of perceiving that they are undergoing treatment (Colloca & Benedetti 2005). Beneficial nonspecific effects are well [...]

Evaluating and Evidencing Asset-Based Approaches and Co-Production in Health Inequalities In a new article published in Critical Public Health, Measuring Humanity PI, Marisa de Andrade, along with Nikolina Angelova, explores how public health interventions are designed, delivered and evaluated. They address calls to ‘revitalise’ the evidence-base by progressing evaluations using asset-based approaches and co-production. Utilising empirical and methodological findings, the authors examine how these approaches can be used to define, implement, evaluate and measure impacts of creative community engagement on health and inequalities. They seek to do this via the development, critique and implementation of a co-produced methodological evaluation framework – the Asset [...]

Measuring Humanity with the Deaf Community through Comedy Historically, the difficulties facing the Deaf community when attempting to access health and mental health services have not been adequately recognised. Many individuals face barriers, with health services primarily organised around hearing and talking. This poses challenges for both the Deaf population and medical professionals. Evidence suggests that Deaf people are three times more likely to have mental health problems than the general population, due to isolation, lack of language skills, poor education and risk of abuse. These issues, which were highlighted in our recent blog post by a member of the Deaf community, emphasise the [...]

Ignoring all the Signs - Mental Health and Wellbeing Implications for the Deaf Community Measuring Humanity has been working with the Deaf Community (people born Deaf or who become Deaf during their infant years), whose primary language is British Sign Language (BSL), to help address the range of barriers they face and to explore ways of co-producing appropriate services. To emphasise the importance of this forthcoming work, which has been funded by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC), a Deaf community member, who wishes to remain anonymous, highlights some of the barriers Deaf individuals face when attempting to access health services. The insightful blog, [...]