...a little something for the weekend

Guest Commentary: Encouraging Actuaries to Engage in Population Health

Robert Lieberthal
Instructor
Jefferson School of Population Health

“What’s population health? What’s a school of population health? And how many schools of population health are there?” My inquisitor was Sara Teppema, staff fellow for health at the Society of Actuaries. After I answered her questions, she asked me to write a newsletter article for actuaries that would be informative about population health, the Jefferson School of Population Health, and how my background and research interests led me here. My article is forthcoming in the January 2011 issue of the Society of Actuaries’ Health Watch newsletter.

Writing the article was also a learning process for me thanks to my editor, Karin Swenson-Moore. She pointed out that actuaries are already working in population health. I agreed with her, and tried hard not to give the impression that I thought actuaries were not already doing work in population health. I have spoken to actuaries who are already using predictive modeling to determine who could benefit from disease management programs, but they cannot always publish their results (for an exception, click here). I have only seen a small slice of the actuarial world, so I know that I have a lot more to learn about how I can make population health relevant for actuaries.

I argued in the article that it is in actuaries’ interest to learn more about population health, but that is not the whole story. Part of my motivation at JSPH is personal. I am trying to figure out how I can best contribute to the world, specifically the health of different groups in our society. At JSPH, I have already collaborated with doctors, nurses, pharmacists, doctors of public health and PhDs in other population health disciplines, and research staff with a variety of backgrounds. I want to collaborate with actuaries, too. Conversely, I am offering myself up to be part of their collaborative efforts with academia.

I am enthusiastic about the possible good that actuaries can do as a part of population health efforts by using the skills they have already learned applied to a new set of problems. I hope that my quest may lead to productive collaborations that also make us all healthier.

Healthy Hair Feature: MsKibibi

{Length retention from wearing wigs}

1) Are you natural, relaxed, texlaxed, or transitioning?
Texlaxed

... If texlaxed, what is your method?
My stylist texlaxes my hair now but when I self-texlaxed, I would do the half and half method. I did not add anything to the relaxer, but I reduced the relaxer time and did not smooth or let the relaxer just sit on my hair.

{Current length}

2) What mistakes have you made in your hair care journey?
The biggest mistakes I've made was usually the result of me diverting from my usual routine. I had a major setback when I tried to dye my hair black with henna and indigo. It was a disaster. Also, not doing a strand test before I tried new products all over my hair. I've had allergic reactions to hair dyes (which was why I tried henna/indigo) and even some shampoos. Also, not paying attention to ingredients. I had protein overload once because I use 3 protein products on the same wash day. It was another time that I didn't follow my usual regimen.

{Scalp shot of waistlength hair}

3) What is your current HEALTHY HAIR routine?
I'm doing my winter regimen right now, which entails me wearing a wig. I wash, and deep condition weekly, moisturize daily with a liquid moisturizer. My regular routine is pretty much the same except I use a creamy moisturizer daily instead of a liquid moisturizer.

4) Do you have a HEALTHY BODY routine? If so, what is it?
I need exercise to be fun and challenging so I don't get bored. Hence the gym is not a viable option for me. So I take ballet classes, horseback riding lessons and play tennis (when the weather permits). I also try to eat a balanced diet and take vitamin supplements.

{Winter wig}

5) Do you have any advice for those seeking healthy tresses?
Write out a regimen and be consistent. The best thing you can do is be consistent with your regimen. The one method that I believe people overlook is moisturizing their hair daily. Regardless of whether your hair is natural or relaxed, we can all use more moisture.

You can find MsKibibi at:
www.KibibiHair.com. My sister is also a guest blogger and she has natural hair.

For My Fine-Hair Ladies ...

{2008; First career; big chop; believe it or not,
my hair still shrinks up to a TWA-ish size if I allow it.}

Bear with me.  These next couple of weeks are insane outside of cyberspace.  In the meantime, check out these youtube videos of fine-haired women in twists.  Feel free to ask them questions as well.  (I have a possible fine-haired interview coming soon as well):

Braiding twists forward for volume: Niafloda
Pinned up bantu knots for volume: blackhairchronicles

And as one of my awesome fine-haired subscribers came to realize, perhaps focusing on accessorizing is best.  Though I'm not fine-haired, I understand what it's like to work with what you have (for me, it was and has been crazy shrinkage).  Sometimes it's about the accessories!

Henna Melt Giveaway!

The owner of The Hair Shebang has graciously offered two ROOI Henna Melts for this giveaway.  These melts are easy, ready-to-use henna treatments molded into beautiful rosy heart shapes, rectangles or squares. They are perfect for those who are shy when it comes to experimenting with henna or Ayurvedic powders.  The ROOI ones, in particular, yield beautiful, wine burgundy highlights.

So how do you enter the giveaway contest?  Well just leave a comment below stating how you strengthen and protect your tresses.*   The entries will close on February 14 (Valentine's Day) at 11:59pm EST.  On February 15, two lucky winners will be announced.

*Only subscribers to (or followers of) the blog will be allowed to enter.

About The Hair Shebang:  

The Hair Shebang is a

"one-stop shop for all your haircare needs, from shampooing to styling! This shop will cater to those who wish to use all-natural products for their skin and hair, as well as finding supplies for DIY (do-it-yourself) haircare and maintenance. Although hair products are our niche, many items are multipurpose, and can be used on the body, hands, feet and face."

Homemade Shampoo Recipes

Recipes that are less stripping than your average shampoo, yet cleansing.  Many of the ingredients below can be found in health food stores.


CHAMOMILE TEA
chamomile tea (or fresh chamomile flowers)
pure soap flakes
glycerin
Recipe & Instructions

SOAPWART SHAMPOO
distilled water
soapwart root
lemon verbena or catnip
Recipe & Instructions

Film Show, Training, Residencies, Congratulations, Statistics and a Big Walk...

Witam wszystkich zainteresowanych sztuką i zdrowiem. Dziękuję że odwiedziliście mój blog. Jeżeli macie jakieś pytania odnośnie naszej działalności, piszcie do mnie. Pozdrawiam, Clive

Looking at the traffic on the blog, and who stayed on line to read the last article on 'happiness,' it's interesting to see that whilst the UK (green 83%) accounted for just over three-quarters of traffic, the USA followed next (blue 9%), followed Australia (red 4%); Poland (yellow 3%) and France (purple 2%). We also had traffic from Russia; China; South Korea; India; Puerto Rico: Germany and the Netherlands.

Whoever you are...if you're interested and want to get involved, please get in touch at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk

Thank you to everyone who left comments and all those who got in touch via email. 

Now: those opportunities!


MUSIC FOR HEALTH TRAINING OPPORTUNITY AT THE ROYAL MANCHESTER CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
RNCM Music for Health is delighted to be running a programme of music residencies at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital throughout 2011. The project, Medical Notes, is funded by Youth Music.

We are looking to appoint three vocalists or instrumentalists of graduate or comparable musical level and with previous experience of making music with people in health care settings to train alongside our lead musicians. The training will comprise observation of lead musicians, workshop sessions, one-to-one mentoring and supervision, artistic exchange with guest artists and running three mentored 10-week residencies at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

This is a unique opportunity for musicians with initial Music for Health experience to further develop their skills and to develop an expertise of working with hospitalised children and young people.

A training fee of £1825 is available for each trainee.

To apply, please submit your CV and expression of interest by Thursday 17 February 12 o’clock noon. Interviews and auditions for shortlisted candidates will be held on Tuesday 8 March at RNCM.

For full details, contact: Lilli Brodner-Francis

lilli.brodner-francis@rncm.ac.uk

              Thanks to Melissa Laishley and Rob Vale
LIME Artist Residencies

Lime is offering free work space for up to 4 artists, one shared studio and two desk spaces in a single office/room.   Artists will have access to resources including broadband, shared use of a van, office equipment, health and arts networks, research material and information. The term of occupancy is two years with a 4 month probationary period and selected artists will be offered a contract. By way of exchange each artist will give the equivalent of 1 day per month of their time, e.g. workshop delivery, work produced or mentoring less experienced artists. 


This offer will afford the opportunity for the artist to have a physical base to work from, to work alongside other artists, to explore the arts and health context and to communicate their work within the health service to a very large and diverse audience.

All art forms will be considered. In the past we have hosted visual artists, sculptor/makers, a drama worker and a creative writer. Applications from BME artists will be of particular interest. The studio space to be shared by two artists measures 4m by 10m and has natural light on one side, power points, band saw and mixed tools and equipment. The two desk spaces will share one room.  Lime is accessed by a single double door entrance on the ground floor. The building is old and not yet converted for wheelchair access.

Selection and interviews will be conducted by Lime Lead artists and Director with one external representative.

Application

There is no formal application pack. Please send an expression of interest via email to lime@limeart.org. Your application should include: 

• An outline of your creative practice and how this opportunity may enhance it (max 2 sides A4)
• Six examples of your best work
• A current CV

Application Deadline: 15^th February 2011

Interview date: 8^th March 2011

Start Date: 5^th April

Lime information: www.limeart.org

A BIG Walk

In May 1986, during half time at the F.A. Cup Final Tony Russell completed a lap of honour before embarking on a mammoth 2,355 mile unique charity walk (pictures  featured below)  to every professional Football Club in England and Wales, before his triumphant return to Wembley Stadium at half-time on Charity Shield day three months later in August.

In 2011, 25 years later, at the age of 56, Tony plans to complete another epic walk. Last time, his twin aims were to raise money for Cancer Research and to improve the image of football fans following the Heysel Stadium tragedy. This time, Tony wants to raise awareness of mental health issues and the value of the creative arts as an aid to recovery; and to pay a personal tribute to the bravery of the nation’s Armed Forces, many of whom now experience severe mental distress.

Tony will raise funds for  art in mental health, mental health causes and Help for Heroes. Just as before Tony plans to encourage friends, colleagues and celebrities to join him during the course of his walk, whilst he searches for the answer to "What’s It all About "http://breakthroughmhart.com/an-epic-walk 

(SMALL PRINT: Clive will be joining Tony on the part of the Northern leg of the journey)

CONGRATULATIONS to the artist Claire Ford! Following her Internship at Arts for Health, she has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship to expand her knowledge in the field of Arts/Health/Dementia and will be working closely with Arts for Health and colleagues in the USA. More details to follow.

The Lost Generation Film Project (DADAA Inc)

6:00pm to 8:30pm, Thursday 31st March 2011

At Manchester Metropolitan University

This is a unique opportunity to experience the work of DADAA and thanks to Durham University’s Centre for Medical Humanities, who have supported this event.

DADAA Inc.

DADAA Inc. began as an acronym for Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts, Australia in 1994 and has been at the forefront of the Australian Arts and Disability movement over the past 16 years. It began with project work, developing its practice and approach within large residential health care settings in the suburbs of Perth. This is where DADAA’s first staff trialled the development of Arts and Disability practices through a combination of community theatre, visual and public art, CCD projects, video production and community writing. http://www.dadaawa.org.au/front-page

The Lost Generation Project is about finding the lost stories of people with intellectual disabilities, many institutionalised for most of their lives. It is about hearing these stories and recognising and celebrating people who have traditionally been socially isolated and aims to assist these people to connect to their communities through arts and culture.

The Lost Generation Project has found unique people from across Australia and provided them with the technology and skills to tell their stories on film. Each core project participant or storyteller is offered the opportunity to make a short film that tells their story.

Simone Flavelle is the Manager/Executive Producer of this project and she will be giving us the opportunity to see some of these films, an experience that cannot be underestimated.

To register for this event or get more details, email artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk

Details of the venue and confirmation of place will be emailed out a minimum of 48 hours prior to the event. There will be a small charge of £2 on the evening for this event.

This event will happen instead of the networking evening planned for the 24th March