The Last Breath
25 August 2017, Edinburgh VISIONS OF THE FUTURE: A GOOD DEATH Over 50% of people say they want to die at home, yet most of us will still die in hospital. What is our relationship with death as it becomes … Read more…
hospitals
Heart Failure
The header image shows a viola, also called heartsease. Music therapist and writer Kate Binnie writes: I am in the hospital. Cardiology ward. My mother sits on the edge of the hospital bed, her swollen and shiny legs look as if … Read more…
Restoring Breath: Questions, medical advancements and the importance of bystander participation
Tina Williams, PhD student on the Life of Breath project, writes a post prompted by the inaugural lecture of Prof. Jerry Nolan (audio recording now available), Honorary Professor of Resuscitation Medicine in the School of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol: Loss. … Read more…
The First and Last Breath: reflections from palliative & neonatal care
Kate Binnie, yoga teacher and music therapist, writes: In his brilliant book Being Mortal (2015) Atul Gawande calls for all healthcare professionals working with patients at the end of life to “help people to end their stories on their own … Read more…
Singing for Breathing
Vocal coach, community choir and workshop leader and music therapist Phoene Cave writes: In 2008 I answered an advertisement for a singing teacher at Royal Brompton Hospital in London. The original idea was inspired by Bronchial Boogie in Oldham, to … Read more…
With bated breath: diagnosis of respiratory illness
In this essay, senior investigator Havi Carel recounts her experience of being diagnosed with a rare respiratory condition as a starting point for considering how waiting for and receiving a medical diagnosis affects people’s lives. After perhaps a prolonged period … Read more…
Way up high
Jess Farr-Cox (Project Manager, Bristol) writes: Our recent official launch of the project was in many ways a model of interdisciplinarity.[1] The team is diverse and large, which gives us a richness of perspective, but also creates difficulties in how … Read more…
Breathless in Cambridge
PI on the Life of Breath project Jane Macnaughton writes about the Breathlessness Research Interest Group (BRIG) Conference 2014: Getting going with the Life of Breath project has been a real revelation for me as someone who is committed to critically engaged … Read more…
Taking a deep breath
Project Manager (Bristol) on the Life of Breath project Jess Farr-Cox writes: The first meeting of the core project team (Breathing Space) was in October 2014, in the respiratory unit of Southmead Hospital, Bristol. We were filmed throughout the day by Barry Gibb … Read more…