Performance Medicine And The Human

Performance and medicine are now converging in unprecedented ways. London's theatres reveal an appetite for medical themes – John Boyega is subjected to medical experiments in Jack Thorne's Woycek, while Royal National Theatre produces a novel musical about cancer. At the same time, performance-makers seek to improve our health, using dance to increase mobility for those living with Parkinson's disease or performance magic as physiotherapy for children with paraplegia. Performance, Medicine and the Human surveys this emerging field, providing case studies based on the author's own experience of devising medical performances in collaboration with cancer patients, biomedical scientists and healthcare educators. Examining contemporary medical performance reveals an ancient preoccupation, evident in the practices of both theatre and healing, with the human. Like medicine, theatre puts the human on display in order to understand and, perhaps, alleviate the suffering inherent to the human condition. Medical practice constitutes a sort of theatre in which doctors, nurses and patients perform their humaneness and humanity. This insight has much to offer at a time when established notions of the human are being radically rethought, partly in response to emerging biomedical knowledge. Performance, Medicine and the Human argues that contemporary medical performance can shed new light on what it means to be human – and what we mean by the human, the humane, humanism and the humanities – at a time when these notions are being fundamentally rethought. Its insights are relevant to scholars in performance studies, the medical humanities, healthcare education and beyond.

Experts estimate that as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDSâ€"three causes that receive far more public attention. Indeed, more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries. Add the financial cost to the human tragedy, and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent, widespread public problems. To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequenceâ€"but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agendaâ€"with state and local implicationsâ€"for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system. This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it, given many patients' expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly. A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation, regulation, and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their handling of medical mistakes. Using a detailed case study, the book reviews the current understanding of why these mistakes happen. A key theme is that legitimate liability concerns discourage reporting of errorsâ€"which begs the question, "How can we learn from our mistakes?" Balancing regulatory versus market-based initiatives and public versus private efforts, the Institute of Medicine presents wide-ranging recommendations for improving patient safety, in the areas of leadership, improved data collection and analysis, and development of effective systems at the level of direct patient care. To Err Is Human asserts that the problem is not bad people in health careâ€"it is that good people are working in bad systems that need to be made safer. Comprehensive and straightforward, this book offers a clear prescription for raising the level of patient safety in American health care. It also explains how patients themselves can influence the quality of care that they receive once they check into the hospital. This book will be vitally important to federal, state, and local health policy makers and regulators, health professional licensing officials, hospital administrators, medical educators and students, health caregivers, health journalists, patient advocatesâ€"as well as patients themselves. First in a series of publications from the Quality of Health Care in America, a project initiated by the Institute of Medicine

Focusing on the wealth of information emerging in the area of energy medicine, this unique resource explores mechanisms by which mind and body processes influence the body's healing and performance potential. Content draws on an extraordinary range of sources to explore theories of human energy - from physiology and biophysics, to examples drawn from the realms of "spontaneous healing," cutting-edge athletic and artistic performance, the martial arts, and various contemplative and spiritual practices. Providing new insights and theoretical models, it offers ways to apply these concepts directly, practically, and clinically.

Human Performance provides the student and researcher with a comprehensive and accessible review of performance, in the real world and essential cognitive science theory. Four main sections cover both theoretical and practical issues: Section One outlines the perspectives on performance offered by contemporary cognitive science, including information processing and neuroscience perspectives. Section Two presents a multi-level view of the performer as biological organism, information-processor and intentional agent. It reviews the development of the cognitive theory of performance through experimental studies and also looks at practical issues such as human error. Section Three reviews the impact of stress factors such as noise, fatigue and illness on performance. Section Four assesses individual and group differences in performance with accounts of ability, personality and aging.

Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance, Second Edition With Web Resource, updates and expands on the popular first edition, providing an in-depth discussion of physiological adaptation to exercise. Students will learn the importance of an evidence-based approach in prescribing exercise, while sports medicine professionals and health care providers will appreciate using the text as a primary reference on conditioning and performance of athletes. A range of topics are covered, including environmental influences on performance, hydration status, sport nutrition, sport supplements, and performance-enhancing drugs. The book is focused on physiological adaptation to exercise with a goal of providing practical applications to facilitate exercise prescriptions for a variety of athletes. Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance, Second Edition, is organized into five parts. The first part examines physiological adaptation and the effects of various modes of training on biochemical, hormonal, muscular, cardiovascular, neural, and immunological adaptations. The second part covers principles of exercise training and prescription. The third part discusses nutrition, hydration status, sport supplementation, and performance-enhancing drugs. The fourth part focuses on environmental factors and their influence on sport performance. The fifth and final part is focused on how certain medical and health conditions influence sport performance. Updates in this second edition focus on cutting-edge knowledge in sport science and sports medicine, including the latest information on physiological adaptations to exercise; current trends for training for power, speed, and agility; eye-opening discussions on sport supplementation and performance-enhancing drugs; data on training with medical conditions such as diabetes and exercise-induced bronchospasm; and groundbreaking information on training in heat and cold and at altitude. In addition, new chapters offer a practical approach to the yearly training program and sudden death in sport. The second edition also incorporates the following features to enhance practical application and facilitate students’ learning: • A new web resource includes 80 drills and 41 video demonstrations that help readers understand how to implement the various exercises. • Chapter objectives provide an overview of key content in each chapter. • Chapter review questions help students assess their learning. • In Practice sidebars bring chapter content to life in a practical manner and help students better understand the material. Students and instructors will benefit from the new web resource, which features 80 drills and detailed instruction on performing each drill. The drills can be used for a dynamic warm-up or to enhance speed and agility. Most drills are accompanied by at least one photo showing how to perform a key movement of the drill. Forty of the drills are accompanied by a video of the drill being performed in its entirety, and a dynamic warm-up routine video features 10 warm-up exercises. Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance, Second Edition, provides a strong basis for understanding adaptation to exercise and appreciating how changes in program variables can alter training adaptations. All the information in this text is presented in an attractive, reader-friendly format that is conducive to learning. The text serves as both a key educational tool and a primary reference for exercise prescription for athletes.

Whether it is the binding of shattered bones or the creation of herbal remedies, human agency is a central feature of the healing process. Both archaeological and anthropological research has contributed much to our understanding of the performative aspects of medicine. The papers contained in this volume, based on a session conducted at the 2010 Theoretical Archaeology Conference, take a multi-disciplinary approach to the topic, addressing such issues as the cultural conception of disease; the impact of gender roles on healing strategies; the possibilities afforded by syncretism; the relationship between material culture and the body; and the role played by the active agency of the sick.

Updated for its Fourth Edition with increased art and photos, this undergraduate exercise physiology textbook integrates basic exercise physiology with research studies to stimulate learning, allowing readers to apply principles in the widest variety of exercise and sport science careers. The book has comprehensive coverage, including integrated material on special populations, and a flexible organization of independent units, so instructors can teach according to their preferred approach. Each unit is designed with a consistent and comprehensive sequence of presentation: basic anatomy and physiology, the measurement and meaning of variables important to understanding exercise physiology, exercise responses, training principles, and special applications, problems, and considerations. Plowman & Smith provides a consistently organized, comprehensive approach to Exercise Physiology with excellent supporting ancillary materials. Its ability to relate up to date research to key concepts and integrate special populations makes this book ideal for classroom use.