A qualitative systematic review of service user and service provider perspectives on the acceptability, relative benefits, and potential harms of art therapy for people with non-psychotic mental health disorders.

PURPOSE: This systematic review aimed to synthesize qualitative evidence relating to user and service provider perspective on the acceptability and relative benefits and potential harms of art therapy for people with non-psychotic mental disorders. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in 13 major bibliographic databases from May to July 2013. A qualitative evidence synthesis was conducted using thematic framework synthesis. RESULTS: The searches identified 10,270 citations from which 12 studies were included. Ten studies included data from 183 service users, and two studies included data from 16 service providers. The evidence demonstrated that art therapy was an acceptable treatment. The benefits associated with art therapy included the following: the development of relationships with the therapist and other group members; understanding the self/own illness/the future; gaining perspective; distraction; personal achievement; expression; relaxation; and empowerment. Small numbers of patients reported varying reasons for not wanting to take part, and some highlighted potentially negative effects of art therapy which included the evoking of feelings which could not be resolved. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that for the majority of respondents art therapy was an acceptable intervention, although this was not the case for all respondents. Therefore, attention should be focussed on both identifying those who are most likely to benefit from art therapy and ensuring any potential harms are minimized. The findings provide evidence to commissioners and providers of mental health services about the value of future art therapy services. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Art therapy was reported to be an acceptable treatment for the majority of respondents. Art therapy may not be a preferred treatment option for a small number of patients, emphasizing the importance of considering patient preference in choice of treatment, and selection of the most suitable patients for art therapy. Consideration should be made of adjustments to make art therapy inclusive, particularly for those with physical illnesses. Ensuring the competence of the deliverer, providing patients with additional support, such as other therapies if required, and ensuring continuity of care should be key considerations in service provision

Diagnostic ultrasound probes: a typology and overview of technologies

AbstractThe routine clinical use of diagnostic ultrasound (US) has spread considerably worldwide in recent decades. This is due in large part to the availability of US probes that enable a wide range of clinical applications as well as provide performance benefits arising from technological improvements. This paper describes the current commercially available US probe types, lists some of their clinical applications and briefly explains the technologies that are responsible for recent enhancements in image quality and ergonomics. Our intention is to summarize information that will allow healthcare professionals to select the appropriate probe for the intended use and the desired performance-price ratio.</jats:p

Developing, choosing and using landscape evolution models to inform field-based landscape reconstruction studies:Developing, choosing and using landscape evolution models

Landscape evolution models (LEMs) are an increasingly popular resource for geomorphologists as they can operate as virtual laboratories where the implications of hypotheses about processes over human to geological timescales can be visualized at spatial scales from catchments to mountain ranges. Hypothetical studies for idealized landscapes have dominated, although model testing in real landscapes has also been undertaken. So far however, numerical landscape evolution models have rarely been used to aid field-based reconstructions of the geomorphic evolution of actual landscapes. To help make this use more common, we review numerical landscape evolution models from the point of view of model use in field reconstruction studies. We first give a broad overview of the main assumptions and choices made in many LEMs to help prospective users select models appropriate to their field situation. We then summarize for various timescales which data are typically available and which models are appropriate. Finally, we provide guidance on how to set up a model study as a function of available data and the type of research question.</p

Systematic review and economic modelling of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of art therapy among people with non-psychotic mental health disorders

Background: Mental health problems account for almost half of all ill health in people under 65 years. The majority are non-psychotic (e.g. depression, anxiety and phobias). For some people, art therapy may provide more profound and long-lasting healing than more standard forms of treatment, perhaps because it can provide an alternative means of expression and release from trauma. As yet, no formal evaluation of art therapy for non-psychotic mental health disorders has been conducted. Aim: This review aimed to evaluate evidence for the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of art therapy for non-psychotic mental health disorders. Methods: Comprehensive literature searches for studies examining art therapy in populations with non-psychotic mental health disorders were performed in major health-related and social science bibliographic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED) and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) from inception up to May 2013. A quantitative systematic review of clinical effectiveness, a qualitative review to explore the acceptability, relative benefits and potential harms, and a cost–utility analysis of studies evaluating cost-effectiveness of art therapy were conducted. Results: In the quantitative review, 15 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included (n = 777). Meta-analysis was not possible because of clinical heterogeneity and insufficient comparable data on outcome measures across studies. A narrative synthesis reports that art therapy was associated with significant positive changes relative to the control group in mental health symptoms in 10 out of the 15 studies. The control groups varied between studies but included wait-list/no treatment, attention placebo controls and psychological therapy comparators. Four studies reported improvement from baseline but no significant difference between groups. One study reported that outcomes were more favourable in the control group. The quality of included RCTs was generally low. In the qualitative review, 12 cohort studies were included (n = 188 service users; n = 16 service providers). Themes relating to benefits of art therapy for service users included the relationship with the therapist, personal achievement and distraction. Areas of potential harms were related to the activation of emotions that were then unresolved, lack of skill of the art therapist and sudden termination of art therapy. The quality of included qualitative studies was generally low to moderate. In the cost-effectiveness review, a de novo model was constructed and populated with data identified from the clinical review. Scenario analyses were conducted allowing comparisons of group art therapy with wait-list control, group art therapy with group verbal therapy, and individual art therapy versus control. Art therapy appeared cost-effective compared with wait-list control with high certainty, although generalisability to the target population was unclear. Verbal therapy appeared more cost-effective than art therapy but there was considerable uncertainty and a sizeable probability that art therapy was more clinically effective. The cost-effectiveness of individual art therapy was uncertain and dependent on assumptions regarding clinical benefit and duration of benefit. Conclusions: From the limited available evidence, art therapy was associated with positive effects when compared with a control in a number of studies in patients with different clinical profiles, and it was reported to be an acceptable treatment and was associated with a number of benefits. Art therapy appeared to be cost-effective compared with wait-list but further studies are needed to confirm this finding as well as evidence to inform future cost-effective analyses of art therapy versus other treatments. Study registration: The study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013003957. Funding: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme

Natural dyeing. Il colore sostenibile nell'abbigliamento neonatale

LAUREA MAGISTRALEQuesto progetto è nato dal desiderio di scoprire cosa si nasconde dietro al semplice atto di fare design ma soprattutto nel voler prendere coscienza che ogni azione ha inevitabilmente un conseguente impatto sul nostro mondo in molteplici aspetti. Il trend della sostenibilità volto alla promozione un mercato più «eco-friendly» rappresentava spesso solo un modo per attrarre il segmento «green» di consumatori ma che è diventato adesso un asset fondamentale per lo sviluppo sostenibile. Come il design, anche l’innovazione applicata ha bisogno di essere praticata con saggezza per non doverne scontare le conseguenze. Come meglio iniziare tale ricerca se non dal mondo dell’ecosostenibilità, un mondo in cui la riscoperta del naturale può farci riacquistare quei valori perduti da tempo. Il mondo del «naturale» tocca tutti gli aspetti della società e dell’industria odierna: dal consumo locale e dallo slow food fino all’industria dell’arte, dell’artigianato, del design in tutte le sue discipline fino ad arrivare all’industria tessile e i suoi relativi processi. Gran parte di questa ricerca ed il suo relativo pensiero può essere applicata all’intero mondo della sostenibilità ma, dato il percorso di studi da me intrapreso, si avventurerà in quello della moda. Il progetto si concentra non tanto sul materiale utilizzato (cotone, lino, canapa, etc.) ma sui processi che vengono attuati su questo quali tintura e stampa (mordenzature, finissaggi ecc). La ricerca ripercorre brevemente la storia dei materiali tessili e dei coloranti dall’antichità fino ai giorni nostri, dal naturali al sintetico e all’artificiale. Poiché questa tesi non intende di denigrare i processi industriali odierni e i materiali di sintesi - in quanto necessari per una distribuzione di massa - ho preferito fornire una visione di insieme grazie ad una analisi di pro e di contro tra naturale e sintetico. L’intento di questa tesi è dunque cercare di diffondere una comunicazione veramente trasparente per contribuire in qualche misura allo sviluppo di una società più cosciente e consapevole dei e meno consumistica.The project was born out of the desire to discover what lies behind the simple act of designing and wants to underline that every action has a consequent impact on our world in many ways. The trend of sustainability aimed at promoting a more "eco-friendly" market often represented just a way to attract the "green" segment of consumers but is now become a primary asset for a real sustainable development. This is the reason why the research star from the eco- sustainability's world, a world in which the discovery of the natural can make us reacquire lost values. The "natural" world mean several aspects of today's society and industry: from local consumption and from slow food to the art, crafts and design industries in all of its disciplines, right up to industry textile and its related processes. Much of this research can be applied to the whole world of sustainability but it will concrete into the fashion field. The project focuses on the processes that are implemented on the materials such as dyeing. The aim of the thesis is trying to spread a truly transparent communication to contribute to some extent to the development of a more conscious and aware society

Reforestation of inactive quarries: a path for socio-economic development of marginalised areas

Reforestation is one of the available solutions to rehabilitate inactive limestone quarries after their use. In accordance with the present legislation, this strategy can guarantee against landslides and soil erosion, and restore landscape and biodiversity; in the long run, it can also sustain the value-chains of the mountain economy, support income, and increase the resilience of local communities. The present work aims to analyse the conditions for and the socio-economic effects of the repopulation with Castanea Sativa Mill. cultivation, of inactive extraction sites in the North-west of Tuscany. By building and running a system dynamic model, possible emerging scenarios will be considered. The dataset supporting the estimation is made by the integration of ecological, social, and economic information collected from both literature and interviews

Transmission of climate, sea-level, and tectonic singals across river systems

This thesis investigates the impact of climatic, tectonic, and sea-level changes (external forcing) on river systems (source-to-sink) and how these changes are recorded in the stratigraphic record. It describes a newly developed numerical tool (PaCMod) to simulate the complex fluvial system sediment flux response to external forcing on a geological time scale. Numerical modelling simulations, combined with field data indicated that the late Quaternary evolution of the Golo River system (France) was controlled by a complex interaction of sea-level and climatic forcing. Stratigraphic analysis in the Panther Tongue delta (Utah) showed how different parts of an ancient shoreline reacted differently to the same changes in external forcing, which consequently, have a different stratigraphic expression along depositional strike.Geoscience & EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience