Glasgow Centre for Population Health Podcast

GCPH seminar series 1: - Prof AC Grayling - 'Imagine the Perfect Polis: Creating Health in the City'

Wed, 25 Nov 2004 00:00:00 +0000

The opening lecture of the seminar series, given by Prof Anthony Grayling, looked at the history of the city and what it can teach us about the search for the good life. Central to this was consideration of what a 'community setting' should best be like to ensure that individual flourishing and wellbeing happens. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 1: - Sholom Glouberman PhD - 'Changing Ideas; Changing Health'

Tue, 24 Feb 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Central to this lecture was the premise that there is a strong connection between science and culture: how people think about the world is closely related to how they value and think about other things as well. Glouberman focused on changing perceptions of order and disorder, the environment and identity through the ages. The implications of the interaction between these three 'big ideas' and our view of health were explored.My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 1: - Prof Lord Richard Layard - 'Happiness'

Mon, 5 Apr 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Prof Layard believes that the happiness of society does not necessarily equate to its income. Most people want more income, yet, as societies become richer, they do not become happier. Evidence from a range of sources shows that, on average, people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. In fact, many countries have more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe and Japan. In this lecture Prof Layard discussed both explanations of and remedies for this phenomenon including serious efforts by civic authorities to promote more pro-social cultures among children and young people. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 1: - Maureen O'Hara PhD - 'Minding the Future'

Mon, 17 May 2005 00:00:00 +0000

Ours is an age of complexity, uncertainty and rapid change. Our response to these conditions has also made ours an age of anxiety, the effects of which are to be found everywhere - deteriorating mental health, increasing crime, a global environment under strain, the persistence and deepening of unequal patterns of distribution in income, wealth and well-being. In this lecture Maureen O'Hara presented a fresh look at these challenges and suggested that, if we can come to understand them in a different light, they offer the hope of transformation. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Prof Andrew Steptoe - 'How Stress Gets Under Your Skin: Psychobiological Studies of Social Status, Stress and Health'

Mon, 25 Oct 2005 00:00:00 +0000

This lecture (the first in the second seminar series) explored the relationships between psychology, biology, physiology and socio-economic status. Prof Steptoe shared many interesting insights concerning health and health inequality, developed by the emerging field of psychobiology. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Prof Jenny Popay - 'Where's the Evidence: The Contribution of Lay Knowledge to Reducing Health Inequalities'

Mon, 17 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000

This lecture presented the case for lay knowledge and theories to be taken more seriously. Professor Popay argued that lay knowledge is sophisticated, helps to answer questions about meaning and experience, and should be treated as an 'equal but different' voice in informing decision-making about policy and practice. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Prof Tom Devine - 'The Transformation of Scotland, 1980-2005'

Mon, 5 Dec 2005 00:00:00 +0000

In this lecture, Prof Devine argued that over the past twenty five years Scotland has undergone a remarkable series of changes in economy, society and culture. While they are similar in scope and scale to those of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, they have largely been unnoticed or ignored. Prof Devine asked the questions 'how did we arrive here?' and 'how does this view sit with the more usual view of Scotland as a downtrodden underperforming underdog?'. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Dr Ilona Kickbusch - 'The Global Health Challenge: Why We Need Good Governance for Health'

Mon, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000

From a starting point that emphasised the changing nature of the world and the globalisation of everyday life, this lecture demonstrated the many ways in which globalisation impacts on health, and health impacts on globalisation. Dr Kickbusch explored the implications of 'good global governance for health', and the possibility of achieving a global healthy treaty. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Dr Howard Frumkin - 'Urban Vision and Public Health: Designing and Building Wholesome Places'

Wed, 20 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000

This lecture examined the effects of urban design on health, placing it in the larger context of planning and public health, and proposed solutions that combine public health and urban planning strategies relevant for the 21st century. Dr Frumkin spoke of public health lying at the heart of urban planning in the early 20th century, but since then, the growth of cities has occurred in relatively unplanned ways. Urban sprawl — the expansion of cities into rural areas, heavy reliance on automobiles, low-density, low-mix land use patterns — represents one extreme, especially in North America and Australia, but increasingly in Europe as well. At the other extreme we have high density, overcrowded, creaking infrastructure. Frumkin described how urban planning and design may affect health in a variety of ways: threatening air quality, impeding physical activity, increasing injury risks, and eroding social capital are but a few examples. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 2: - Prof AC Grayling - 'Civic Humanism and Conversation about the Good Life'

Tue, 23 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000

In aiming to promote conversation within a community about how life practices can be changed for the better health and flourishing of its individual members, a crucial question is how that conversation is initiated, and by whom. A rich source of ideas is provided by looking at examples of thinking about 'promoting the good life' in the Western tradition, especially in Renaissance humanism and the eighteenth century debate about the role of the arts. This lecture will focus on these debates and their contemporary relevance. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Jerry Sternin - 'Social Change from the Inside Out'

Tue, 8 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Jerry Sternin argued that traditional expert-driven models for individual, social and organisational change often don’t work. The Positive Deviance approach builds on successful but ‘deviant’ (different) practices and strategies that are identified from within the community or institution. Positive Deviance is based on the belief that in every community, organisation, business or group, there are individuals or entities whose uncommon, but demonstrably successful behaviours or strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their neighbours or colleagues who have access to exactly the same resources. How does this happen? What can we learn from it? Could it work in Glasgow? My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Prof Irene McAra-McWilliam - 'Creative Communities: Design, Technology and Wellbeing'

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

In this lecture Professor McAra-McWilliam explored the application of creativity and imagination in addressing complex challenges in a world that is perceived to be increasingly uncertain and undergoing rapid change. Using her own work on the Creative Imagination, she argued that design processes can generate alternative directions and visions, based on the values which we want to support in our societies. These can therefore work as ‘antidotes’ and alternatives within the discourse of globalisation and individualisation. This lecture used case studies from McAra-McWilliam’s work with Hewlett Packard, Philips and the European Union ‘Connected Community’ research programme which she pioneered. These examples explored how design can foster social and technological innovation with properties which enhance wellbeing. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Prof Bruce McEwen - 'Of Molecules and Mind: Stress, the Individual and the Social Environment'

Mon, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Stress is a condition of the mind that differs among individuals and reflects not only major life events but also the conflicts and pressures of daily life that elevate physiological systems so as to cause a chronic stress burden. This burden reflects not only the impact of life experiences but also of genetic load and early life experiences that set life-long patterns of behaviours and physiological reactivity. While hormones associated with the chronic stress burden protect the body in the short-run and promote adaptation, in the long run they promote changes in the body that impair function, for the immune system and the brain. In this lecture, Professor McEwen will discuss how social ordering in human society is associated with gradients of disease, and describe the relationship between mortality, morbidity and socioeconomic status. Though these relationships are complex, Professor McEwen will argue that they are likely to reflect, not only differences in lifestyle, but also the cumulative burden of coping with limited resources and negative life events and the resulting chronic impact on physiological systems of adaptation. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Prof David Hunter - 'The Crisis of Confidence in Public Health Policy and Practice: the Search for a New Paradigm'

Sun, 12 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Public health is facing a cruel paradox. On the one hand, concern about the public's health has never been higher and issues like obesity, alcohol misuse, growing inequalities in health, and environmental degradation compete for attention on the policy agenda. On the other hand, there is widespread dismay over the means available to address these complex public health challenges. Either they seem inadequate for the task or they are poorly implemented. Whether it is the workforce charged with health improvement and its fitness for purpose, the slender finances available for public health causes, the weak incentive structure to bring about the shift from sickness to health, or the ethical tension between the nanny state and the individual in making lifestyle choices, those engaged in improving the public's health have arguably never worked in such a fraught and confused environment. In this seminar Prof Hunter explored whether we need a new approach to health leadership and governance in order to provide public health policy with a new sense of purpose and the means to succeed. Does the political will exist to undertake the necessary action? Or is the ‘culture of contentment’ too entrenched to bring about the necessary paradigm shift? My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Rajiv Kumar - 'Towards Ethical Economics: An Initial Exploration'

Mon, 3 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

It seems we are in trouble. Two recent reports ‚Äì the Stern Report on the economic impact of climate change for the UK Treasury and that of International Panel on Climate Change ‚Äì suggest that human activity has serious environmental consequences, such as global warming. The almost insatiable demands on natural resources by giant emerging economies like China and India are new as is that in East Europe. Yet more than two billion people still live in abject poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Their basic needs and demands must be fulfilled. Can all of this be sustained in the context of inexorable GDP growth being the exclusive measure of material fulfillment and happiness? How can we find an ethical economic response when demands are increasing, resources are declining and damage to the fabric of the ecosphere on which we all depend upon for life is becoming obvious? One way forward is suggested by the traditional Indian thought of humans being a part of nature and therefore helping to sustain it. A starting point may to be distinguish between demands and needs. While demands can be infinite and never satisfied, needs are finite and can be met within the sustainable paradigm. The important task of defining these needs raises questions of ethics. How can we address environmental, social and economic questions simultaneously? The challenge is to try and develop a set of ethical values or even a way of thinking that is broadly acceptable, practical and yet encourages us to continue our search for answers to the unknown in the universe both within and without. The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) is one of India‚Äôs leading economic policy think tanks and Rajiv Kumar, a graduate of Oxford and Lucknow Universities has recently been advising the President of India on Globalisation, based on scenarios for Indian development which he developed with others for the World Economic Forum. In this lecture he will combine his extensive economic experience with his interest in human flourishing to explore these issues and their implications for wellbeing. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 3: - Aftab Omer - 'Belonging to One Another: Principles and Practices for Engaging the Other'

Tue, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000

In a city which prides itself on friendliness and yet has inequalities in health which persist despite our best attempts to tackle them, questions about our relationships to others are of key significance. This issue of otherness is ancient and contemporary, local as well as global, and of significance both in everyday life and periods of cultural crisis. In this lecture, Aftab Omer will consider how to develop core principles and practices that are responsive to the challenges of otherness both within the city and beyond. The diversity we see in the human race is often treated as a problem rather than an asset. For example, we see this in various forms of social oppression such as inequality, racism and cultural trauma. Omer argues that responding effectively to the fragmentation that characterises this global cultural crisis, calls for leadership that practices a profound engagement with all that is other. Such a perspective will raise important insights and questions about how people, organisations and cultures relate to each other, with important consequences for the pursuit of wellbeing. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH and Journal of Public Mental Health seminar: - Richard Wilkinson - 'Promoting positive mental health in a time of inequalities: an ethical dilemma?'

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Featuring renowned speakers Professor Richard Wilkinson and Professor Corey Keyes, this seminar was held in Glasgow on Thursday 11th October 2007. As part of the Journal of Public Mental Health series of seminars, it explored key issues in public mental health and invited debate about the gap between what we know about population level influences on mental health and current policy responses to psycho-social problems. The series was supported by the National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing, the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health and the Mental Health Foundation.My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH and Journal of Public Mental Health seminar: - Corey Keyes - 'Promoting positive mental health in a time of inequalities: an ethical dilemma?'

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000

GCU - Inaugural Professorial Lecture - Improving Glasgow's Health: Learning from the Past, Influencing the Future

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Professor Tannahill has recently been appointed as Honorary Visiting Professor to the School of Health & Social Care. Professor Tannahill's appointment will support the School's development in two areas of strategic importance; Research Development and Social Enterprise.My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH Seminar Series 4: - Prof Bruce Link - 'Health patterns and trends in New York: exploring the idea of fundamental social causes of health status'

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Professor Bruce Link’s research has focused on how and under what conditions socioeconomic disparities are translated into health inequalities. In this lecture, Professor Link will introduce the fundamental-social-causes concept and present evidence related to its scope and validity by focusing on health patterns and trends in New York. Using data from New York and elsewhere he will argue that the association between socioeconomic status and mortality has persisted for over a century despite dramatic changes in the diseases afflicting humans and radical changes in the risk factors presumed to account for those diseases. Drawing upon a range of sources, he will suggest that socioeconomic disparities endure because socioeconomic status embodies an array of flexible resources, such as knowledge, money, power, prestige and beneficial social connections that can be used to protect health no matter what the risk factors or diseases are at any given time. His lecture will end with some considerations concerning the policy implications which arise from this perspective. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH seminar series 4: - Prof Geoffrey Boulton - 'Learning to live with an angry planet: human relations with the Earth in the past and future'

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Humanity has now become as powerful a geological agent in shaping the operation of the planet as the oceans, ice sheets and rivers, to the extent that many believe we have entered a new geological era. What is happening to the planet? How confident are we that we understand the changes, and how should we respond to them if the science is uncertain? These matters have important economic, social and philosophical implications, and present unique political problems (the recent flooding is a small-scale example). How should we respond? My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH Seminar Series 4: - Prof James C Scott - 'Seeing Like a State: why certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed'

Sun, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Looking back over the twentieth century we can see many examples of utopian schemes which have inadvertently brought disruption to millions; from compulsory ‘extended family’ villages in Tanzania, collectivisation in Russia, Le Corbusier’s urban planning, the Great Leap Forward in China and agricultural ‘modernization’ in the tropics. Why do well-intentioned plans for improving the human condition go tragically awry? Drawing upon his highly original book of the same title, and his long-term work in South East Asia (Burma in particular), Professor Scott helps us to understand how potentially harmful “state-spaces” are constructed. He shows how large-scale authoritarian schemes fail through the violence which they impose upon complex interdependencies which cannot be fully understood. He suggests that design for successful social organisation – like cities – depends on the recognition that local, practical, knowledge is as important as formal, abstract, knowledge in addressing the challenges which we now face.

GCPH Seminar Series 4: - Prof Liz Gould - 'Positive and negative stress alter brain structure'

Sun, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Individual differences in response to stressful experiences are a hallmark of the human condition. The same experiences that some people find aversive are considered neutral or rewarding by others. Paradoxically, experiences that are rewarding can also be defined as stressful because they activate stress hormone systems, such as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Despite this activation, however, the brain is often buffered against the negative effects of high stress hormones when the experience is perceived as rewarding or "positive". The adult brain is structurally plastic, undergoing changes in the birth of new neurons, a process called neurogenesis, and remodelling of dendrites. Positive and negative stress can modulate brain structure and these changes are believed to participate in cognitive function (the processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning) and mood regulation. In this lecture, Professor Gould will discuss the influence of stress hormones on plasticity in the adult brain under aversive and rewarding conditions. Negative stress inhibits adult neurogenesis and results in atrophy of some types of neurons as a result of elevated levels of stress hormones. While positive stress results in even greater increases in such levels, these experiences are associated with brain growth. Professor Gould will argue that the effects of stress on the brain are complex and can be mediated by the social context, which may buffer the brain from negative consequences. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH Seminar Series 4: - Oliver James - 'Why Selfish Capitalism Causes Increased Mental Illness'

Tue, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

By placing too high a value on the material aspects of life, English speaking nations put themselves at twice the risk of mental disorder over their mainland European counterparts. This overemphasis on materialism has its roots in the ideologies and policies of the Thatcher administration in the UK and the Reagan administration in the USA. Through placing an over-emphasis on materialism, these perspectives led to people spending less time on meeting fundamental human needs, resulting in increased mental disorder. A greater focus on other aspects of life is needed to restore the balance.My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH Seminar Series: - What then is to be done

Mon, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Julian Tudor Hart and David Donnison have been outstanding contributors to the British welfare state and the NHS since its beginning. In this conversation they reflect upon their experience in a period of considerable change in accountability, professionalism, democracy and ask do we still live in a generous society? In the light of all this, what then shall we do?

GCPH Seminar Series 5: - Prof Avner Offer - 'Should Government try to make us happy?'

Mon, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The determinants of 'happiness' and its distribution both domestically and internationally suggest that a more appropriate target for policy is 'unhappiness', which responds to several forms of public action. But setting happiness as an objective does suggest some policy priorities. These include non-material forms of recognition, taxation of positional goods and support of culture and the arts. Individuals have an intrinsic short-term myopic bias, which is exacerbated by the flow of novelty in affluent societies. They find it difficult to commit. Government has a role in supporting personal and social commitment for the long term, e.g. in co-ordinating responses to challenges such as climate change and energy depletion.

GCPH Seminar Series 5: - Shakti Maira - 'Nested Realtionships - Beauty, Aesthetics, Art and Happiness.'

Sun, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

On Monday 27 April, at the CCA Glasgow, Shakti Maira provided his presentation on Nested Realtionships - Beauty, Aesthetics, Art and Happiness. My Odeo Channel (odeo/eb9e9c6996b50ab0)

GCPH Seminar Series 5: - Bert Mulder - 'Taking Care of Yourself Together'

Sun, 24 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Recent demographic trends suggest that demands on healthcare will increase to such an extent that no matter how efficient healthcare professionals are, they will never be able to provide enough care in light of the ageing population and increasing prevalence of chronic ill-health. This gap between the need for care and the size of the workforce could be bridged by the development of Information Technology (IT). While there are many developments in Scotland (and elsewhere), little work has been undertaken at a national level to develop integrated IT systems for this purpose. Careful and appropriate development will be necessary if such an IT infrastructure is to contribute fully to the future of care, but there is no business case for this and no sense of political urgency to develop such an infrastructure despite the understanding that to reach an effective level in ten years we need to start now.

GCPH Seminar Series 5: -Professor Stuart MacDonald: The Micropolitics of Urban Space

Mon, 13 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Talking Cities – The Micropolitics of Urban Space From Kevin Macleod to Prince Charles, it seems everyone is talking cities. What makes an eco-town or city? What is sustainable design? Architecture and happiness? Perhaps more importantly, what does inclusiveness, equality and diversity mean in the built environment? Place-making, the new term on the block, is generally agreed to be central to social inclusion, cultural well-being and identity. But what makes a good space? People experience their environment in different ways depending upon their social, cultural and economic circumstances. Policies can enable good spaces but they can also be exclusive. If all citizens are to be comfortable in and identify with the spaces and places they inhabit, then the full diversity of this experience has to be considered. It means adopting a human-centred design approach. In this lecture Stuart MacDonald will look at the effect of an inhospitable built environment – the impact of bad design - as a way of looking at inclusion. Because the impact of the designed environment upon us huge, he will suggest that everyone should be talking cities as a fundamental part of democracy.

GCPH Seminar Series 5:- Maureen O'Hara PhD

Tue, 3 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We’ve got the future in our hands: Are we up to it? There is mounting evidence that the demands of everyday life in these complex and uncertain times is presenting humanity with both a threat to survival and also an opportunity for evolutionary transformation. Is humanity being pushed beyond our limits to cope or are we instead on the cusp of a breakthrough in consciousness on a global scale? Is the rising tide of mental anguish—anxiety, depression, suicide, addiction and violence – a sign that we are being overtaken by our powerful times? Or is the newly enlivened participatory impulse that swept a young African American man into the White House an indication that we are growing up and developing expanded psychological capacities, new forms of thinking and social innovation. In this lecture psychologist Maureen O'Hara will take a fresh look at the challenges of the globalising 21st century. She will suggest that if we understand what is happening from an evolutionary perspective, we may be able to learn our way into a more humane future.

GCPH Seminar Series 5:- Dr Harry Burns - From theory to policy â�� the implications of recent research findings on health inequality

Thu, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In this lecture Dr Burns reflects that recent trends show relative improvements in some Scottish health indices compared to other countries. However, health inequality remains an obstinate challenge in Scotland, with the greatest difficulties found largely in the Clydeside conurbation. The policy implications of this and the findings of recent research on the effects of stress on brain structure are considered.