PROFESSOR PAUL CRAWFORD
Professor of Health Humanities, University of Nottingham
Director of the Centre for Social Futures (Institute of Mental Health) and Nottingham Health Humanities

Friday, APRIL 11TH, 2014, 12:30-2:00PM

Charles Meredith Building
1130 Pine Ave W.
Montreal, Qc
H3A 1A3

Title: Creative Practice as Mutual Recovery: Connecting Communities for Mental Health and Well-Being

Creative practice could be a powerful tool for bringing together people with mental health needs, informal carers and health, social care and education personnel, to connect in a mutual or reciprocal fashion to enhance mental health and well-being. Professor Crawford reports on a large UK AHRC/RCUK-funded program to investigate a range of creative interventions bringing together these often discrete groups of people. He will also discuss how this project has already generated UK Government interest in the context of developing policy for social and cultural futures.

Bio: Professor Paul Crawford is the world’s first Professor of Health Humanities and directs the Centre for Social Futures (Institute of Mental Health) and Nottingham Health Humanities at The University of Nottingham – spearheading research into social and cultural aspects of mental health. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, Professorial Fellow of the Institute of Mental Health, and has held Visiting Professorships in Norway, Taiwan and Australia, where he has contributed to programs on health discourse and society. He is Co-Founder of the Health Language Research Group at the University of Nottingham, a member of the senior team of the Faculty of Health Sciences and a Registered Nurse (since 1989). In 2008 he was awarded a Lord Dearing Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. He has published widely with 8 books and over 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. He has held various prestigious Research Council or major charity grants including The British Academy, AHRC, ESRC and The Leverhulme Trust). He directs both the AHRC-funded Madness and Literature Network (www.madnessandliterature.org) and International Health Humanities Network (www.healthhumanities.org) which advance the application of arts and humanities to enhance social capital, health and well-being. He is also International adviser on trans-disciplinary research and health humanities at various institutions worldwide. His acclaimed novel about mental illness, Nothing Purple, Nothing Black, resulted in various interviews in national media and an option for film by the British film producer, Jack Emery (The Drama House, London/ Florida). He has appeared on BBC Radio 2 (Walker), Today Programme and Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio 4, BBC 5 Live (Mayo), BBC Wales, BBC Mundo and various regional BBC programs. He has written a second novel, Hair of the Dog, and is currently writing a third.