Reasons to be cheerful

NATASHA Cica sent me an email the other day reminding me I had agreed to do a two thousand-word article for her (this). She wanted to know why MONA is in Tasmania, and she thinks that you might want to also. I needed reminding; I made the commitment over a lunch that included the right amount (too much) wine. The email also thanked me, as a synecdoche for MONA staff, for showing John Ralston Saul around MONA on Tuesday, when it is otherwise closed. So, of course, I typed ‘John Ralston Saul’ into the Google search bar on my iPad and now I’m an expert on the guy. He certainly has an impressive résumé. Within the Wikipedia article one sentence caught my eye: ‘He argues that Canada’s complex national identity is made up of the “triangular reality” of three nations that compose it: First Peoples, Francophones, and Anglophones. He emphasises the willingness of these Canadian nations to compromise with one another, as opposed to resorting to open confronta- tions.’ There is an improbable implication that Canada, and other locales, would not have a complex national identity without this tolerance triangle. Mostly monolingual and accidentally genocidal, Tasmania has its own fractured and remade identity, and that characteristic Tasmania managed to preserve my interest, even against the considerable attractions of much larger and more worldly centres of culture that might have been unwilling, but beneficial venues for MONA. Read the full article >   Photo Credit: Red Spike\u27s Photos via Compfight c

Last man standing: Mike Walsh on new films by Hong Kong's Johnnie To

Sydney, NS

Un club para el desarrollo profesional en kinesiología de jóvenes de comunidades marginadas basado en el modelo TPSR

The Kinesiology Career Club (KCC) is a physical activity programextension of Hellison's Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Model (TPSR). The programruns during second period physical education in a low performing inner city high school. Approximately 12-15 youth are selected to participate in the program each semester. The physical activity content is a combination of martial arts, weight training, dance, and fitness activities. A university professor runs the program with the help of six to eight undergraduate kinesiology students. The primary goal of KCC is to help youth envision and explore their positive possible futures. The more specific goals include: a balance of hoped-for-selves and feared-selves, as suggested by the theory of possible selves; enhance TPSR goals of respect, effort, goal-setting, and leadership skills in the program and the connection of these goals as important for their futures; and chart the necessary steps first to becoming a professional in kinesiology followed by the necessary steps for their own careers of choice. The purpose of this article is to describe the four KCC phases, the youth workbook, and the service learning component that addresses how undergraduate kinesiology students mentor the youth within the programEl Club de Orientación Profesional en Kinesiología es un programa de actividad física derivado del Modelo de Enseñanza para la Responsabilidad Personal y Social de Hellison (Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility – TPSR). El programa se lleva a cabo durante la clase de educación física, la segunda en el horario matinal, en una escuela secundaria urbana caracterizada por el bajo rendimiento académico de su alumnado. Entre 12 y 15 jóvenes, alumnos de este centro, son seleccionados cada semestre para participar en el programa. El contenido de actividad física incluye artes marciales, entrenamiento con pesas, danza y mantenimiento-fitness. Un profesor de la Universidad dirige el programa con la ayuda de entre seis y ocho alumnos, estudiantes de kinesiología. El objetivo principal del club es ayudar a los jóvenes a imaginar y explorar “posibles futuros” positivos. Más en concreto, los objetivos se dirigen a la búsqueda del equilibrio entre los yo-deseados y los yo-temidos, como sugiere la teoría de los yo-posibles; a realzar, de acuerdo con el modelo TPSR, los valores de respeto, esfuerzo, establecimiento de metas, habilidades de liderazgo, así como el relevante papel que pueden desempeñar en la configuración de su futuro ; y a esclarecer los pasos necesarios para llegar a ser un profesional de la kinesiología o de otras carreras o profesiones de su elección. En este contexto, este artículo tiene por objeto describir las cuatro fases del trabajo semestral del club, el cuaderno de los alumnos y el aprendizaje en prácticas de los estudiantes de kinesiología que hacen de mentores de los jóvenes que participan en el programa

Alcohol-related mortality in deprived UK cities: worrying trends in young women challenge recent national downward trends

Background: Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland, has high levels of deprivation and a poor-health profile compared with other parts of Europe, which cannot be fully explained by the high levels of deprivation. The ‘excess’ premature mortality in Glasgow is now largely attributable to deaths from alcohol, drugs, suicide and violence. Methods: Alcohol-related mortality in Glasgow from 1980 to 2011 was examined relative to the equally deprived UK cities of Manchester and Liverpool with the aim of identifying differences across the cities, with respect to gender, age and birth cohort, that could help explain the ‘excess’ mortality in Glasgow. Results: In the 1980s, alcohol-related mortality in Glasgow was three times higher than in Manchester and Liverpool. Alcohol-related mortality increased in all three cities over the subsequent three decades, but a sharp rise in deaths in the early 1990s was unique to Glasgow. The increase in numbers of deaths in Glasgow was greater than in Manchester and Liverpool, but there was little difference in the pattern of alcohol-related deaths, by sex or birth cohort that could explain the excess mortality in Glasgow. The recent modest decrease in alcohol-related mortality was largely experienced by all birth cohorts, with the notable exception of the younger cohort (born between 1970 and 1979): women in this cohort across all three cities experienced disproportionate increases in alcohol-related mortality. Conclusions: It is imperative that this early warning sign in young women in the UK is acted on if deaths from alcohol are to reduce in the long term

Comparing early years and childhood experiences and outcomes in Scotland, England and three city-regions: a plausible explanation for Scottish ‘excess’ mortality?

Background Negative early years and childhood experiences (EYCE), including socio-economic circumstances, parental health and parenting style, are associated with poor health outcomes both in childhood and adulthood. It has also been proposed that EYCE were historically worse in Scottish areas, especially Glasgow and the Clyde Valley, compared to elsewhere in the UK and that this variation can provide a partial explanation for the excess of ill health and mortality observed among those Scottish populations. Methods Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to two large, representative, British birth cohorts (the NCDS58 and the BCS70), to test the independent association of area of residence at ages 7 and 5 with risk of behavioural problems, respiratory problems and reading/vocabulary problems at the same age. Cohort members resident in Scotland were compared with those who were resident in England, while those resident in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley were compared with those resident in Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Results After adjustment for a range of relevant variables, the risk of adverse childhood outcomes was found to be either no different, or lower, in the Scottish areas. At a national level, the study reinforces the combined association of socio-economic circumstances, parental health (especially maternal mental health) and parenting with child health outcomes. Conclusion Based on these samples, the study does not support the hypothesis that EYCE were worse in Scotland and Glasgow and the Clyde Valley. It seems, therefore (based on these data), less likely that the roots of the excess mortality observed in the Scottish areas can be explained by these factors.</p

Comparing Antonovsky's sense of coherence scale across three UK post-industrial cities

Objectives: High levels of ‘excess’ mortality (ie, that seemingly not explained by deprivation) have been shown for Scotland compared to England and Wales and, especially, for its largest city, Glasgow, compared to the similarly deprived English cities of Liverpool and Manchester. It has been suggested that this excess may be related to differences in ‘Sense of Coherence’ (SoC) between the populations. The aim of this study was to ascertain whether levels of SoC differed between these cities and whether, therefore, this could be a plausible explanation for the ‘excess’. Setting: Three post-industrial UK cities: Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. Participants: A representative sample of more than 3700 adults (over 1200 in each city). Primary and secondary outcome measures: SoC was measured using Antonovsky's 13-item scale (SOC-13). Multivariate linear regression was used to compare SoC between the cities while controlling for characteristics (age, gender, SES etc) of the samples. Additional modelling explored whether differences in SoC moderated city differences in levels of self-assessed health (SAH). Results: SoC was higher, not lower, among the Glasgow sample. Fully adjusted mean SoC scores for residents of Liverpool and Manchester were, respectively, 5.1 (−5.1 (95% CI −6.0 to −4.1)) and 8.1 (−8.1 (−9.1 to −7.2)) lower than those in Glasgow. The additional modelling confirmed the relationship between SoC and SAH: a 1 unit increase in SoC predicted approximately 3% lower likelihood of reporting bad/very bad health (OR=0.97 (95% CI 0.96 to 0.98)): given the slightly worse SAH in Glasgow, this resulted in slightly lower odds of reporting bad/very bad health for the Liverpool and Manchester samples compared to Glasgow. Conclusions: The reasons for the high levels of ‘excess’ mortality seen in Scotland and particularly Glasgow remain unclear. However, on the basis of these analyses, it appears unlikely that a low SoC provides any explanation