Displaying the Head of Victory

Here I discuss my responses as an artist to a sculpture from the archive, Henry Fehr's 'Head of Victory', which was loaned for the exhibition 'Thought Positions in Sculpture' at Huddersfield Art Gallery from 16 October 2015 to 9 January 2016, curated by Rowan Bailey. The Head of Victory is the only remaining section of the winged statue of Victory that once stood triumphantly at the top of the Leeds War Memorial. Created by the sculptor Henry Charles Fehr (1867-1940), the monument was installed in 1922 to commemorate those who died in the First World War. However in the decades that followed, the figure of Victory began to corrode and became increasingly unstable. It was removed from the memorial in the 1960s to avoid risk to the public. The head is now in the collection of Leeds Art Gallery and was kindly loaned for the exhibition. In my installation, the head was raised once more above viewers, flanked by two artworks that responded to the dual aspects of the memorial’s intended function

Alpha # 4: scheme for a drawing experiment

Alpha #4 is part of a continuing project to investigate and retrace a drawing experiment. Hunched over a desk, studying publications gathered from the ‘withdrawn’ stock of libraries, the artist/researcher delves into the history of comparative psychology. The aim is to unearth the records of one particular test subject, a female chimpanzee named Alpha, born in the 1930s. During her life in captivity Alpha developed a drawing habit that became the topic of experiment, written up and published in 1951. In this retrieval project, traces of Alpha including scientific texts, photographs, charts, diagrams and, strangest of all, reproductions of the marks drawn by the animal herself, are brought to light and re-examined. Alpha becomes a figure with which to investigate the liminal status, instrumental value and captive existence of generations of laboratory animals, bred and raised to serve as surrogates in the quest for human self-knowledge. The act of retracing Alpha’s marks becomes an obsessive labour of biography

STREET CHILDREN‟S STORIES OF ESCAPING TO, AND SURVIVING ON, THE STREET – “SLUMDOG” LIFE AND “MILLIONAIRE” ENDING?

Most movie enthusiasts were intrigued by the film Slumdog Millionaire. This story reflects, amongst other issues, the survival strategies of kids living on the streets in towns in India and the happy ending for one of them. The findings of the research on which this article was based could likewise have been dramatised into a script with similar story lines. It would reflect stories of kids trying to escape deprivation and violence and getting caught up in drugs and criminal activities. The authors of such a script could, however, argue that the researchers‟ interpretation of the findings would not substantiate any story with a “millionaire” ending. Nevertheless, according to the perspectives of research participants, street life could indeed be likened to a “millionaire‟s life”, compared to their home circumstances.The discussion that follows clarifies and substantiates this introductory statement. The rationale for, and the goal of the study, are presented, followed by a summary of the research methodology. The article then reports core findings in an inductive, narrative style and concludes with a summary and certain recommendations. Relevant literature is compared to the findings of the study

Street children’s perceptions and experiences of the cycle of recidivism

Magister Public Health - MPHIncludes bibliographic references (leaves 70-80)."The goal of this research was to explore and describe the experiences and perceptions of the street children about the cyclical pattern of recidivism. To gain in- depth information regarding this issue, a qualitative research approach was followed. Data were collected by means of story-telling, guided by two foundational question themes. Firstly, experiences of family life and schooling and secondly, experiences of survival on the street and repeated criminal involvement. Data were analyzed according to the guideline discussed in Creswell (l998). Data were verified by means of measures suggested by Creswell (l998). Findings indicated that participants in this study suffered severe emotional and physical and material deprivation in their family contexts before moving to the street. Survival on the street depended on befriending other street children; begging on the street; abusing substances and getting involved in crime. Motivational factors for repeatedly being involved in crime were peer pressure, substance abuse, no fear of prosecution and opportunity/mischief. It was clear that participants were caught up in a “sub-culture” of life on the street

Inhalation

As Leverhulme Artist in Residence, Juliet MacDonald worked with First World War material from the Liddle Collection, held by Special Collections at Leeds University Library. This Collection, founded by the historian Dr Peter Liddle, includes recorded interviews, diaries, letters, official documents, sketchbooks and other items of personal significance relating to both world wars. The Collection has been awarded designated status for its international significance. The exhibition 'Inhalation' at The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery opened in June 2015. It showed artworks that MacDonald made in direct response to the archive during the period of her residency. Alongside the artworks there were archive objects and documents selected by the artist. MacDonald used drawing as her primary means to study the Collection, paying close attention to visual material such as group photographs, postcards and printed manuals. The site of the archive was a focus of interest, but by way of contrast to the ordered atmosphere of the library she also explored the site of a former munitions factory, now demolished and overgrown. Pieces of ferrous metal found there are contrasted with the fragile paper documents that survive in the Collection. The exhibition incorporated drawing, digital images, digital video and installation. The artist’s residency was in co-operation with Special Collections and Legacies of War, the WW1 Centenary project at the University of Leeds

The rapid development of a novel kidney-specific digital intervention for self-management of physical activity and emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Kidney Beam

King's College Hospital; Kidney Research UK; Beam; National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under (NIHR301893), (NIHR301593), and (ICA-CL-2017-03-020)

Achieving consensus on psychosocial and physical rehabilitation management for people living with kidney disease

From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2023-05-19, issued 2023-05-19Article version: AMPublication status: PublishedPelagia Koufaki - ORCID: 0000-0002-1406-3729 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1406-3729Background People living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) need to be able to live well with their condition. The provision of psychosocial interventions (psychological, psychiatric, and social care) and physical rehabilitation management is variable across England, as well as the rest of the United Kingdom. There is a need for clear recommendations for standards of psychosocial and physical rehabilitation care for people living with CKD, and guidance for the commissioning and measurement of these services. The NHS England Renal Services Transformation Programme (RSTP) supported a programme of work and modified Delphi process to address the management of psychosocial and physical rehabilitation care as part of a larger body of work to formulate a comprehensive commissioning toolkit for renal care services across England. We sought to achieve expert consensus regarding the psychosocial and physical rehabilitation management of people living with CKD in England and the rest of the UK. Method A Delphi consensus method was used to gather and refine expert opinions of senior members of the kidney multi-disciplinary team (MDT) and other key stakeholders in the UK. An agreement was sought on 16 statements reflecting aspects of psychosocial and physical rehabilitation management for people living with CKD. Results Twenty-six expert practitioners and other key stakeholders, including lived experience representatives, participated in the process. The consensus (>80% affirmative votes) amongst the respondents for all 16 statements was high. Nine recommendation statements were discussed and refined further to be included in the final iteration of the ‘Systems’ section of the NHS England RSTP commissioning toolkit. These priority recommendations reflect pragmatic solutions that can be implemented in renal care and include recommendations for a holistic well-being assessment for all people living with CKD who are approaching dialysis, or who are at listing for kidney transplantation, which includes the use of validated measurement tools to assess the need for further intervention in psychosocial and physical rehabilitation management. It is recommended that the scores from these measurement tools be included in the NHS England Renal Data Dashboard. There was also a recommendation for referral as appropriate to NHS Talking therapies, psychology, counselling or psychotherapy, social work or liaison psychiatry for those with identified psychosocial needs. The use of digital resources was recommended to be used in addition to face-to-face care to provide physical rehabilitation, and all healthcare professionals should be educated to recognise psychosocial and physical rehabilitation needs and refer/sign-post people with CKD to appropriate services. Conclusion There was high consensus amongst senior members of the kidney MDT and other key stakeholders, including those with lived experience, in the UK on all aspects of the psychosocial and physical rehabilitation management of people living with CKD. The results of this process will be used by NHS England to inform the ‘Systems’ section of the commissioning toolkit and data dashboard and to inform the National Standards of Care for people living with CKD.inpressinpres