Elephant in the Room: conversations about alcohol
The first collaboration between the departments of Art and Pharmacy, the Elephant in the Room workshop was delivered across two cohorts of MPharm Foundation students (2019 and 2020), and explored how arts practice could be used to build confidence to discuss alcohol use in a motivating way. During the February 2020 workshop we were joined by Reading University Student Union, interdisciplinary researchers, a mental health pharmacist, pharmacy undergraduates, PhD students, technical staff and members of the University’s Drug and Alcohol Action Partnership (DAAP), who joined in the learning with our students.
Participants created art in response to motivational and confrontational conversation styles about alcohol use. Details of the workshop and examples of the art created can be found here.
We are planning to host an online Arts and Health Visioning Event in autumn 2020, to explore engaging ways of understanding those affected by alcohol problems, and provide peer support within the university environment.
Open Online course
We are developing a 3-week online course entitled “The Art and Science of Alcohol Problems” which will be suitable for graduates, pharmacists, healthcare professionals and anyone who has an interest in how the arts can be applied to better understand those affected by alcohol problems and reduce harm.
University wide module
In collaboration with colleagues from the University of Reading Art department, we are developing a cross-discipline undergraduate module on the Art and Science of Alcohol Problems. The module will be open to first year students from any department of the University of Reading, providing a unique opportunity for students across disciplines to work side-by-side to discover how arts and science are interlinked within the topical issue of alcohol.