UofT Health Humanities Student Society

Students taking a neuroanatomy course as part of University of Toronto Mississauga's biomedical communications program were challenged to draw both an accurate representation of the brain – & themselves. 🧠 uoft.me/7Jr

Experience the power and culture of disability with #CripRitual – Breakfast Television

The Centre for Global Disability Studies () and the UofT Health Humanities Student Society () are very excited in welcoming ReelAbilitiesTO for a workshop in disability in filmmaking! This will be a 2-hour virtual workshop on the topic(s) of disability storytelling and documentary technique, led by Ophira Calof and Michelle Asgarali, on February 8, 2022 from 3-5 PM EST.

Live captioning and ASL will be provided.

Please register for the event at: https://forms.gle/GSw7qM5BqFdu79dj6

'I feel forgotten': Patients in Ontario wait for surgeries postponed due to COVID-19 Shelley Brownlee, who's been diagnosed with a form of abdomen cancer, has been waiting months to undergo surgery at a hospital in Toronto. Her doctor said he had hoped to proceed with it next month but the Ontario government's pause on all non-urgent surgeries and procedures amid soaring COVID-19 ca...

What can the face reveal and conceal about pain?

In short – a lot. But not everyone’s pain is easily recognizable. And in healthcare, misinterpreting pain can come with serious consequences. bit.ly/3pPkvBi

Hello UofT students! Are you interested in taking an exciting health humanities course next semester? There is still room in HLTD56 - Workshop in Documentary and Memoir. Students will also have an opportunity to work on a faculty-led documentary project.

Students who have a sufficient background in health humanities but do not have all the prerequisites for this course, may contact the course instructor (Dr. Cassandra Hartblay), in order to discuss obtaining enrolment.

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist famous for her installation pieces like infinity Mirrored Room that have been shown in renowned galleries around the world. Her work which is immensely popular, is heavily influenced by her mental illness. Kusama has experienced both auditory and visual hallucinations her entire life and has drawn heavily from that experience as well as the experiences of being an outsider in the art world (both because of her s*x and race) in her work. She is 92 years old and has been living in a mental health insertion in Japan since 1977. Kusama’s work and her story dealing with her mental health highlight the importance of mental health resources and inclusion within the art world, they tell the story of being alienated from a larger community due to one’s experiences and health.

Title: This is Happy (2018)
Medium: Watercolour on Paper
Artist: Vivian Gu

Art can be a great tool to aid in the understanding of illness. As well, it can make the relationship between health and disease clear. Art allows the subjective experience of disease and illness to been seen through the lens of the individual viewing it. The art piece above displays the individual experience of miscarriage and postpartum depression. The woman feels as if she is drowning, her senses becoming muffled. The feeling of drowning is similar to that of the feeling of depression, thereby serving as a metaphor.

“The guilt associated with not meeting “mothering expectations,” depicted by the mother clutching her baby close despite her situation and surroundings. The palpable space of absent-yet-expected happiness left by postpartum depression, depicted by the negative space of the baby.”

Artist Name: Francisco Goya​
Name of Art Piece: Seated Giant​
​
Fransico Goya (1746-1828), an official painter for the Spanish crown, began his career by drawing cartoons for the King's tapestry factory. In addition to this he would recreate art pieces from almost a century before his time, incorporating his own strange and perplexing twist to the original. ​ Although Goya's earlier work could be seen as Joyous and relating to the "normal", his later pieces would shed light on mental illness and the ineliminable sadness that one feels when left to their lonely.​
​
In the late 1700s, Goya would suffer from an undiagnosed illness which catapulted him into a severe depression. ​ He would spend the later years of his life fully isolated and painting for no one, but himself; and it was believed the these "dark" paintings were never supposed to be seen by the public. ​ The Seated Giant is a visual representation of depression and the loneliness one feels when in this state. ​ Through the use of a dark color palette and confounding imagery, an individual gets an interpersonal view of Goya's mind. ​ ​
​
Source for the picture: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/334002

FIRST PERSON | My toddler loved her autistic sister before learning about their differences | CBC News When Jina Lee’s daughter was diagnosed with autism, she feared Mimi might be excluded. Instead, she’s learned to unravel her own ableism by watching her daughters interact.

Hello UofT HHSS members! We have a very special event happening on Monday Oct 4th, 2021. UofT HHSS is very excited to be hosting an Admissions Information Session for the Biomedical Communications MSc program; a special program offered by the UofT Faculty of Medicine.

Please use the Zoom details below to access the event:

Topic: Admissions Session: Biomedical Communications
Time: Oct 4, 2021 02:00 PM America/Toronto
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COVID-19 has impacted and intensified a number of aspects in life, including personal trauma. The Artful Practices for Well-Being program focuses on taking that personal trauma and directing it into art, as art has the power to heal. One of the first projects within this program incorporated an audio playlist with collaborations from individuals within the healthcare field. This included a neuroscientist, therapist, psychiatrist and mindful instructors. The idea was that art can heal even if it’s not a direct substitute for medication or surgery. It still holds power over your experiences and interests.

The picture below for example, 10/27/69, is by Sam Gilliam. It represents centring your life into the colour around it. Having those colours be incorporated into your daily activities and having them resonate with you to feel its energy. The artwork was based off of the practices and principles of guided meditation.

Art helps individuals experience insight and can provide hope. It’s one of the reasons why doctors encourage pursuing creative practices, including art classes or museum visits. Art provides itself as an outlet and paves the way to trauma recovery.

link: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/629

Mark the date! UofT HHSS is very excited to announce the second event which will be taking place in Fall 2021! Erin Gross from Sunnybrook, will be joining us for a presentation on the Creative Arts Therapy program offered at the hospital.

Zoom info:
Topic: Sunnybrook Hospital: Creative Arts Therapy
Time: Nov 15, 2021 01:00 PM America/Toronto

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 898 4436 1062
Passcode: 859017
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Mark the date! UofT HHSS is very excited to announce the first event which will be taking place in Fall 2021! Dr. Jodie Jenkinson will be joining us for an Admissions Session and Q&A for the MSc in Biomedical Communications, offered by the Faculty of Medicine at UofT.

"The Master of Science in Biomedical Communication (MScBMC), unique in Canada, is one of 4 internationally accredited programs of its kind. Our graduate program combines theoretical and applied approaches to the profession of medical and scientific visualization."

Zoom info:
Topic: Admissions Session: Biomedical Communications
Time: Oct 4, 2021 02:00 PM America/Toronto

Join Zoom Meeting
https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/89020253324

Meeting ID: 890 2025 3324
Passcode: 196353
One tap mobile
+17866351003,,89020253324 #,,,,*196353 # US (Miami)
+19712471195,,89020253324 #,,,,*196353 # US (Portland)

Dial by your location
+1 786 635 1003 US (Miami)
+1 971 247 1195 US (Portland)
+1 206 337 9723 US (Seattle)
+1 213 338 8477 US (Los Angeles)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 267 831 0333 US (Philadelphia)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 470 250 9358 US (Atlanta)
+1 470 381 2552 US (Atlanta)
+1 602 753 0140 US (Phoenix)
+1 646 518 9805 US (New York)
+1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
+1 651 372 8299 US (Minnesota)
+1 669 219 2599 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 720 928 9299 US (Denver)
Meeting ID: 890 2025 3324
Passcode: 196353
Find your local number: https://utoronto.zoom.us/u/kC84MyzF6

Join by SIP
[email protected]

Join by H.323
162.255.37.11 (US West)
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Meeting ID: 890 2025 3324
Passcode: 196353

Join by Skype for Business
https://utoronto.zoom.us/skype/89020253324

FIRST PERSON | As a teenage girl with Asperger's syndrome, I'm tired of trying to be someone I'm not | CBC News I've realized that my problem was never with my diagnosis — it was with the impossible-to-achieve norms I had set for myself, trying so hard to be normal in a social setting and just ending up even more lost than I was before.

FIRST PERSON | 'I may look different, but inside I'm a lot like you' | CBC News I don’t look like other teenagers because I have Treacher Collins Syndrome (TCS), explains Zack Hodge Takacs, 16, who communicates through his computer. He writes about what it's like to look and talk differently, especially during the pandemic.

Hello UofT students! If you are interested in course offerings which will explore topics in health humanities, check out some of these courses being offered in the upcoming 2021-2022 academic school year! Also be sure to check out the Health Humanities Program on the UTSC Calendar for further information about course selection.

We are hiring for the 2021-2022 academic year! The following positions are available:

Please fill out this Google form by the July 31st, 2021 deadline. https://forms.gle/kN62ewdXFjepACCS6

Questions can be directed to [email protected]

Good storytellers get better health care — but childhood trauma confuses the narrative Adults who experienced trauma in childhood may get poor medical care because they have trouble telling a clear story about their health.

Large pop-up vaccine clinic opens in Highland Hall at U of T Scarborough U of T Scarborough is helping with the push to get as many people as possible in the region vaccinated by hosting a weekly pop-up clinic on campus. The University is collaborating with the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) to open the large pop-up clinic in Highland Hall, which until recently acted a...

Artist John McNaught had a stroke in 2010. Prior to the stroke he was a full-time painter and decorator. After his stoke he lost movement on the right-hand side of his body and he was recommended to join art class as part of his rehabilitation. John had to start learning to do everything using his left hand and soon he discovered his passion for art, and he started creating work in his shed in his garden everyday.“ John has spent the last decade painting and considers it one of the reasons he is here today”.

link: https://www.project-ability.co.uk/blog/featured-artist-john-mcnaught/

The Unforgotten, a film about Indigenous health - The Unforgotten A five-part film exploring the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples living in Canada.

Hello members, please be sure to check out RAFFTO, a film festival organized by ReelAbilities which showcases disability culture and conversations.

Congratulations to Dr. Andrea Charise and the researchers who worked on the Resemblage Project! It won a 2020 Digital Humanities Award for "Best Public Engagement".

Hello everyone! There is an opportunity for Graduate Students to apply for a Fellowship at UofT in Digital Humanities. Further details for the application can be found in the attached link.

https://dhn.utoronto.ca/call-for-funding-graduate-fellowship-in-critical-digital-humanities/

Professor Hartblay (assistant professor of anthropology and health humanities at U of T Scarborough) and Director, shares some remarks about the new Centre for Global Disability Studies at UTSC!

https://utsc.utoronto.ca/news-events/our-community/new-centre-disability-studies-u-t-scarborough?fbclid=IwAR2LsgzteB0MCpXS8R1KzUaMZnoF11C_pCRoal96CbRCze9TQYk7I5N-UGk

A new centre for disability studies at U of T Scarborough Launched in 2020 at U of T Scarborough, the Centre for Global Disability Studies brings together faculty, researchers and graduate students from the three campuses conducting anti-ableist research in any discipline. “Ableism” refers to discriminatory attitudes in society that devalue the potenti...

Who is included? One day last fall, Alex Lu was surprised to see some new equipment in his lab in the department of computer science. It wasn’t expensive or especially leading edge, but it meant so much to him that he felt compelled to tweet about it. “My PhD supervisor brought in a whole box of transparent mask...

Chronic conditions are increasingly becoming the inevitable part of human life but what are the causes to various physical health issues? Many individuals are likely to not associate mental illness for the underlying cause of the problem. Those with poor mental health are at risk of developing chronic physical conditions, and it will lead to a more poor health experience later down the road. In order to manage these health outcomes, we must consider the connection between physical and mental health; it’s sometimes held at the opposite ends, but in reality they are a system that works together hand in hand. A better physical lifestyle can lead to a healthy mental state.

link: https://enhancephysiotherapyaw.com.au/2020/07/29/the-link-between-physical-and-mental-health/

Artists: Charlie and Eddie Proudfoot
Medium: Mixed Media

This portrait displays a fragmented face created from pieces of old magazines and newspapers. Shown in the portrait is an unclear face due to the splatters of paint, depicting evasiveness in the individual. The piece represents an exploration in mental health, created by the Proudfoot brothers.

"The link between creativity and mental illness has been romanticized, mythologized and studied by psychiatrists and artists alike for decades. What is often left out of the conversation is art’s capacity to transform, heal and strengthen."

link: https://www.hungertv.com/feature/five-contemporary-artists-exploring-mental-health/

Prune Nourry is a multidisciplinary artist who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, at the age of 31, Nourry used different art forms such as film and sculpture to work through the physical and mental changes that her cancer induced. One of Nurry’s works is The Amazon (2018) Nourry created this massive sculpture to help reclaim the identity she felt she lost while undergoing her mastectomy. The Amazon is a representation of a wild tribe of women, who would cut off their breasts to better wield a bow and arrow according to mythology. This inspired the artist to build her own Amazonian woman sculpture. Nourry culminated the artistic journey by covering her artwork with incense sticks in order to represent acupuncture needles which aided the her recovery. In 2018 she performed a two-part performance in front of her friends and family so that they can witness the lighting of the incense sticks and, at the climax, and watch her cut off the sculpture’s breasts. “This final, cathartic act symbolized Nourry’s transition from a sick person back to sculptor”.

link: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/breast-cancer-art-1912124

Poetry therapy is a way of expressing the pain one goes through with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other health conditions. When it's hard to express your emotions and feelings, this form of expressive writing can help improve conditions that can be both mental and physical. Studies have shown that those who participate in such activities have better health outcomes. This form of therapy allows more communication between individuals because it not only shows that they're not alone, but it shows them that their feelings are valid and is worth discussing.

link: https://www.insider.com/poetry-therapy

How poetry therapy can help you tap your creative side to overcome depression, PTSD, and more Poetry therapy uses poems, stories, song lyrics, imagery, and more to help people overcome a range of conditions including suicidal thoughts.

The art depicted displays post-traumatic stress disorder in many individuals. There is a certain stigma when it comes to PTSD, and it is evident within the healthcare field. Whether it be a public stigma, a self stigma or a structural stigma. Analyzing artwork on mental health can allow us to better support patients suffering with PTSD.

Artist: Louise Williams

link: https://www.everydayhealth.com/ptsd/ptsd-stigma/

This creative art piece depicts 'examining the eyes to evaluate hidden mental conditions', in order to investigate biomarkers which can diagnose schizophrenia. Retinal changes are being used to diagnose the onset and progress of various mental disorders. The eyes are powerful to study because they are the lenses to our closed book; when examined, hidden medical conditions can be evaluated.

link: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01114-9

A coping mechanism for healthcare workers, such as nurses and doctors to deal with the pandemic, is by using art. Dr. C. Michael Gibson created an oil painting titled the Tunnel of COVID. Depicted in this piece is an array of bleak paint slashes arranged in circular motion, almost like an abyss with no end in sight.

“During the pandemic, Gibson has created about 10 paintings. About half are directly related to the pandemic. He was particularly inspired by a nurse in a Dove commercial, struck by her exhaustion and the marks the mask left on her face. He said it captured “not just the outward appearance but the inward appearance of so many healthcare workers who’ve been traumatized by the violence.”

Many healthcare practitioners have engaged in this activity. It has helped them put a meaning to their suffering and acted as an outlet to express their feelings and emotions.

link: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2021-02-22/healthcare-workers-coping-covid-pandemic-art

A warm thank you to Sir Oliver Mowat Collegiate Institute for the opportunity to present to students, on an introduction to health humanities! Our club is thrilled for the chance to be involved with the youth in our community, and inform them about the health humanities field, as well as the different program and course offerings at the Department of Health & Society - UTSC!

It is something nurses such as Kathy have become very familiar with. As a nurse of many years, Kathy, (whose name was changed to protect her identity) now works in the private sector, in a facility that is home to a number of elderly people with dementia. It is one of the 69 care homes in Northern Ireland affected by Covid-19.

"The circumstances are very challenging and most of my patients would be very mobile, ambulant, and would walk freely about the building," she said. "But the thing is, when you think of patients with Covid-19 who are walking about, they are effectively human aerosols.

"You get them sneezing into your face and then they're talking to you; they have a runny nose, like the cold, and they just wipe their nose then wipe it on the desk or, you know, anywhere and everywhere."

There are hygiene policies in place to protect everyone in the home, especially at this time. There is also national guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE), which indicates that staff should wear a fluid-resistant mask when in a situation where a two-meter distance is not possible.

Kathy is not sure that is enough.

link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-52465643

Coronavirus: Working with dementia patients in a lockdown A nurse talks about caring for dementia patients during the coronavirus lockdown.

Portraits in Light
Artist: Laura Ferguson

When we have scars or reminders of our time shared with the illnesses we shared a significant amount of time with, it can bring back a lot of traumatic or soul crushing memories. Through using a creative outlet to understand disease, it can help get past the feeling of falling victim to the negative, and rather look at it as a way of strength. This also gives a hand to the artists whether they suffer from a disturbing spinal injury or suffer from anything else a “power over their conditions.

link: https://medicine.yale.edu/news/yale-medicine-magazine/portraits-in-lightartists-blend-medical-imagery-into-their/

"This painting was painted during World War II by Dali. Old Age, Adolescence, Infancy (The Three Ages) is a representation of a nostalgic return to origins from the perspective of a mature artist at the height of his career."

Through this painting, we obtain a unique understanding of the aging experience, where elements of childhood memories, as well as various representations of the life course are portrayed.

Retrieved from:
https://www.dalipaintings.com/old-age-adolescene-infancy.jsp

https://www.humanities.uci.edu/SOH/calendar/story_details.php?recid=2423

This article discusses the importance of the health humanities in medicine. While the field of medicine is indeed about the human body and the science of disease, implementing the humanities in medicine is crucial to have a better understanding of ourselves.

“The humanities and the arts also ask questions about bodies and embodiment but ask them in different ways that can shed new light on what stories our bodies tell.”

Stressing the humanity in medical humanities Stressing the humanity in medical humanities

How can we save the elderly during the pandemic?

This article by Xiaonan and Hong explores the aging experience of the world's population, with the 65-and-over age group growing the fastest. By 2050, one in six people in the world will be 65 or older, according to United Nations projections, up from one in 11 in 2020. The world's ratio of old to young will be dramatically imbalanced by the rising ranks of the elderly. Given this momentum, the concerns of the elderly will affect more of the global population.

"The question isn't only whether governments, health systems, and other institutions are able to put more resources and talent into addressing the issues of this group – the more daunting concern is that the next time another pandemic rolls around, the elderly who may need help will be the youth of today.”

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-07-11/How-can-we-save-the-elderly-during-the-pandemic--S2tkVBoOqY/index.html

How can we save the elderly during the pandemic? This raging pandemic is sparing no one, but older people constitutes the most vulnerable population among coronavirus victims.