Evaluation of edna: arts and dance for older people

Purpose To evaluate the impact on health and wellbeing of participation in dance and arts activities by older people living in the community. Design A small-scale, mixed methods research design comprising pretest-posttest evaluation of a three month dance and arts programme. Two groups of older people underwent physical measures and completed a self-report quality of life questionnaire. Written comments and interview data were also gathered. Findings Physical tests (n=14) demonstrated improvements in posture, shoulder mobility and balance in both groups following the intervention, with some measures reaching statistical significance. Quality of life evaluations (n=21) also showed improvement, with the mental health subscale reaching statistical significance. Qualitative data showed that participants enjoyed the programme and felt physical, psychological and social benefits. Research limitations The research involved only a small sample of volunteers and a limited programme length which limits its generalizability. The absence of a control group means that causality cannot be inferred. Future research should extend recruitment to a wider geographical area and a longer intervention which includes a control group. Practical and social implications Future arts interventions for older people should include consultation prior to, and throughout the project. Commissioners should consider supporting arts for health projects, building in additional funding for evaluative work. Originality This study has added to the evidence base through combining art forms within a mixed methods framework, illustrating the interplay between the art forms, the outcomes and the potential role of social context. Keywords: Dance, arts, older people, health, wellbeing. Paper type: Research paper

Edna: energise dance nourish art

The vital need to maximise the health and wellbeing potential of the growing numbers within the older population is acknowledged at government level and among health professionals. A certain amount of research evidence exists to suggest that both visual arts and creative dance confer benefits to older people. In April 2013, North Kent Local Authorities Arts Partnership (NKLAAP) funded and produced edna – energise dance nourish art; a dance, arts, health and wellbeing project. The aim of the pilot project was to evaluate the benefits to health and wellbeing of dance and arts activities that were stimulating and developed for and with older people in Medway and Gravesend. Medway Older People’s Partnership (MOPP) and two professional artists were commissioned to support and deliver edna. Two groups of people over 50 years were formed in outreach community settings in the NKLAAP region (Local and Unitary Authority areas of Gravesham and Medway). NKLAAP also jointly commissioned The Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health (SDH) and the Dance Science department of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (TL) to undertake an empirical evaluation of edna. The research team included a Senior Researcher from SDH and a Graduate Intern from TL’s Dance Science Department. Specific physiological and psychosocial areas of health and wellbeing were chosen for assessment. The overall design involved a pretest-posttest descriptive study, incorporating validated research measures plus semi-structured interviews. Physiological assessments included postural assessment, range of shoulder mobility and balance. Psychosocial measures were collected using the World Health Organisation’s WHOQOL BREF, a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire1. A specially designed questionnaire was also used to capture general attitudes towards the project as a whole. Physiological research findings demonstrated statistically significant improvement of the left shoulder mobility within both groups and a trend towards improvement in the right shoulder mobility. Both groups saw a significant improvement in posture with the Medway group significantly improving in upper body and the Gravesend group in the lower body. For both groups there was a significant improvement in balance scores. Overall mean post-intervention QoL measures showed higher scores than at baseline, with a significant post-intervention difference in the psychological domain when compared to baseline. For participants in Medway the greatest change was in psychological and social domains. For Gravesend participants the greatest change was in the physical and psychological domains. Findings from this small scale pilot project suggest that dance and arts programmes have the potential to improve both physiological and psychosocial wellbeing of older people. It is recommended that commissioning agencies should consider including funding for such interventions in future plans and also support continuing evaluation to increase generalizability and to look at other variables in the physiological and psychological domains

Historical marine population estimates: triggers or targets for conservation? The dugong case study

Recent studies have estimated the historical abundance of large marine vertebrates to determine potential targets for conservation. We evaluated this approach using 1990s aerial survey estimates of dugong abundance and an estimate of the decline in dugong numbers since the 1960s based on changes in the catch per unit effort of dugong bycatch in a government shark control program on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. This analysis indicated that the catch rate of dugongs caught in shark nets, at six locations between latitudes 16.5° S and 28° S, declined at an average of 8.7% per year between 1962 and 1999. This represents a decline to 3.1% of initial catch rates over the sampling period. If the changes in the populations sampled by the shark nets and aerial surveys were equivalent, this result suggests that the region supported 72 000 dugongs in the early 1960s compared with an estimated 4220 dugongs in the mid-1990s. The seagrass habitat in the region is currently insufficient to support 72 000 dugongs, suggesting that our hindcast estimate may be an unrealistic target for recovery. Nonetheless, the evidence of serious dugong decline from the shark-net data and other sources has triggered significant conservation initiatives. This case study indicates that comparisons between historical and contemporary estimates of the abundance of large marine vertebrates can be powerful qualitative triggers for conservation action, but that quantitative targets for recovery require systematic testing of the assumptions underlying hindcast estimates, scientific evaluation of the current carrying capacity of the ecosystem for the target species, and consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. For some species, it may be more productive to set anthropogenic mortality targets that are designed to enable the population to recover to its optimum sustainable population than to set recovery targets per se

A diver-operated hyperspectral imaging and topographic surveying system for automated mapping of benthic habitats

We developed a novel integrated technology for diver-operated surveying of shallow marine ecosystems. The HyperDiver system captures rich multifaceted data in each transect: hyperspectral and color imagery, topographic profiles, incident irradiance and water chemistry at a rate of 15-30 m(2) per minute. From surveys in a coral reef following standard diver protocols, we show how the rich optical detail can be leveraged to generate photopigment abundance and benthic composition maps. We applied machine learning techniques, with a minor annotation effort (<2% of pixels), to automatically generate cm-scale benthic habitat maps of high taxonomic resolution and accuracy (93-97%). The ability to efficiently map benthic composition, photopigment densities and rugosity at reef scales is a compelling contribution to modernize reef monitoring. Seafloor-level hyperspectral images can be used for automated mapping, avoiding operator bias in the analysis and deliver the degree of detail necessary for standardized environmental monitoring. The technique can deliver fast, objective and economic reef survey results, making it a valuable tool for coastal managers and reef ecologists. Underwater hyperspectral surveying shares the vantage point of the high spatial and taxonomic resolution restricted to field surveys, with analytical techniques of remote sensing and provides targeted validation for aerial monitoring

Development of a 'millimanipulation' device to study the removal of soft solid fouling layers from solid substrates and its application to cooked lard deposits

A mm-scale scraping device was developed to study the removal behaviour of soft solid fouling layers (thickness 0.5 to 10 mm) from solid substrates. A blade is dragged through the circular or rectangular samples at controlled speed and the resistance forces measured. Tests with a viscous liquid (honey) and viscoplastic material (a Vaseline-carbon black paste) indicated that cohesive deformation dominated the measured force. Two model food soils were: (i) unbaked lard, and (ii) lard baked for different times with and without added ovalbumin. The cohesive strength of the baked lard, and its removal behaviour, changed noticeably following autoxidative polymerisation. Ovalbumin delayed the onset of polymerisation.An EPSRC studentship for AA is gratefully acknowledged, as it project support and a summer studentship for JP from Proctor & Gamble.This is the final version. It was first published by Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960308514000972

Modelling cardiac dysfunction following traumatic haemorrhage injury: impact on myocardial integrity

Cardiac dysfunction (CD) importantly contributes to mortality in trauma patients, who survive their initial injuries following successful hemostatic resuscitation. This poor outcome has been correlated with elevated biomarkers of myocardial injury, but the pathophysiology triggering this CD remains unknown. We investigated the pathophysiology of acute CD after trauma using a mouse model of trauma hemorrhage shock (THS)-induced CD with echocardiographic guidance of fluid resuscitation, to assess the THS impact on myocardial integrity and function. Mice were subjected to trauma (soft tissue and bone fracture) and different degrees of hemorrhage severity (pressure controlled ~MABP < 35 mmHg or <65 mmHg) for 1 h, to characterize the acute impact on cardiac function. In a second study, mice were subjected to trauma and hemorrhage (MABP < 35 mmHg) for 1 h, then underwent two echocardiographic-guided resuscitations to baseline stroke volume at 60 and 120 min, and were monitored up to 180 min to study the longer impact of THS following resuscitation. Naïve and sham animals were used as controls. At 60 min post-THS injury, animals showed a lower cardiac output (CO) and stroke volume (SV) and an early rise of heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP = 167 ± 38 ng/ml; 90% increase from shams, 3.54 ± 3.06 ng/ml), when subjected to severe hemorrhage and injury. Despite resuscitation, these animals maintained lower CO (6 ml/min vs. 23 ml/min), lower SV (10 μl vs. 46 μl; both ~75% decreased), and higher H-FABP (levels (340 ± 115 ng/ml vs. 10.3 ± 0.2 ng/ml; all THS vs. shams, P < 0.001) at 180 min post-THS injury. Histopathological and flow-cytometry analysis of the heart confirmed an influx of circulatory leukocytes, compared to non-injured hearts. Myocardial injury was supported by an increase of troponin I and h-FABP and the widespread ultrastructural disorganization of the morphology of sarcomeres and mitochondria. DNA fragmentation and chromatin condensation driven by leakage of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) may suggest a mitochondria-driven progressive cell death. THS modeling in the mouse results in cardiomyocyte damage and reduced myocardial function, which mimics the cardiac dysfunction seen in trauma patients. This CD model may, therefore, provide further understanding to the mechanisms underlying CD and act as a tool for developing cardioprotective therapeutics to improve survival after injury