A blog on assisting living and learning by the ALL Institute
Authors: Dr. Ronan Foley (Interim Chair) and Orlagh Eustace (MU Health Promotion Officer), Maynooth University and ALL Institute
Research Stream: Symposium
Following the national launch of the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework in 2021, Maynooth University committed to supporting the Charter and implementing the Framework across our university campus.
Continue reading “Developing the Campus as a Healthy Environment: The MU Healthy Campus Steering Group”
Our Green Campus hosted excellent researchers and practitioners once again, for this the fourth GoGreenRoutes H2020 project event held at Maynooth University, this time held in partnership with Mental Health Ireland. This week was most apt for the launch of our Autumn School, with World Mental Health Day (10th Oct.), marked by the launch of the EU Comprehensive Action Plan for Mental Health, and budget day in Ireland (Oct. 11th), (with an investment of €3.1 Billon in the new climate action fund).
Continue reading “GoGreenRoutes Conference on Climate Change and Mental Health: Reflections on Eco-Anxiety”Social Structures
Authors: Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, Assistant Professor, Maynooth University (MU) Department of Psychology, Scientific Coordinator of the H2020 Project GoGreenRoutes, Assisting Living and Learning Institute (ALL), and Dr Annalisa Setti, University College Cork (UCC), Member of GoGreenRoutes’ Advisory Board.
“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it”, Barack Obama, 43rd President of the United States.
In this blog, Dr Tadhg MacIntyre (MU) and Dr Annalisa Setti (UCC) outline some of the known and unknown impacts of climate change on mental health.
1. Known Knowns: Climate Change Solutions
Climate change has consequences for our mental health in both the short-term (e.g. extreme climatic events) and long-term (e.g. existential threat), ranging from trauma to anxiety. How we cope with the challenge of climate change has implications for our ability to generate, engage with and promote solutions. Getting a handle on what some term the climate ‘emergency’ should be seen in the context of how we cope with other interlinked issues – all of which can potentially benefit from our attempts to mitigate climate change impacts. Biodiversity loss, obesity, sedentary behaviour, isolation and nature disconnection are not entirely unrelated from climate change issues.
Continue reading “The Psychology of Climate Change: T(h)ree Thoughts on Eco Anxiety”Social Lives
Author: Ellen Staeglin Tucker, 3rd year BSc psychology intern of Dr Tadhg MacIntyre at Maynooth University
World Mental Health Day takes place on the 10th of October every year and has been running since 1992. The month of October is also World Mental Health Month. Every year a theme is highlighted around the topic of mental health today, as well as a general aim to spread awareness and gain support. The theme for 2022 is “Make mental health & well-being for all a global priority”. There are two important factors being highlighted this year; 1. the need for everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to have easy access to mental health services, and 2. the prioritisation of mental health and mental health services. For some, professional healthcare is vital to find ways of improvement and recovery, for a lot of people mental health services could go a long way in improving mental health. This is where a lot of the disparity in access lies. However, there are daily activities that nearly everyone can do at home to help improve their mental health.
Continue reading “World Mental Health Day: Reflections on Access to Nature and Mental Health”Stories/Lived Experiences
Author: Deirdre Delaney, accredited psychotherapist (M.I.A.H.I.P, MCPI) and a tutor with the department of adult and community education in Maynooth University.
The Adult Education programme run by Maynooth University reaches all parts of Ireland. Every year our Addiction and Psychology certificate and diploma programmes gather from all around the country to share a day of presentations and workshops on the Maynooth campus. It is a very important day in our academic calendar but of course over the last two years we were unable to gather. Though an online day was organised, the pandemic never felt more real. Students and tutors alike missed the opportunity to be together with others on campus. For many students it will be their first time to set foot on a university campus. I always hope that it won’t be their last time.
Continue reading “ALL and the Dept. of Adult and Community Education Addiction/Psychology Seminar Growing Space: Recovery, Education and Capability”Social Structures
Authors: Kate Rochford, 3rd Year Undergraduate Intern, Department of Psychology, Maynooth University & Mac MacLachlan, Co-Director of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Maynooth University and Clinical Lead for Disability Services, Irish Health Service (HSE).
Introduction
An interdisciplinary approach to research has become increasingly popular when dealing with different topics (Aboelela et al., 2007). Such an approach can offer a more comprehensive or holistic perspective and is most suited to addressing real-world complex issues (Repko et al., 2017). However, while interdisciplinary collaboration may be appealing in theory, it is often difficult in practice (Cummings and Kiesler, 2007). In that regard, we believe that the concept of ‘disciplinary capture’ can supplement an enhanced interdisciplinary approach. It can also help to transpose academic thinking into practice. Particularly, in relation to disability, and services for persons with disabilities, this concept can translate into more effective integration of services.
Disciplinary capture involves thinking about problems from only one perspective (Brister, 2016). Disciplinary capture can determine what sort of ideas, facts, interventions or causal explanations, are depicted as permissible. For instance, a disease-model approach to mental health may only accept pharmaceutical interventions as being legitimate for a range of mental health problems, while a more psychological, social or human rights approach may not accept this (MacLachlan et al, 2021). In this scenario, if proponents of the disease model are positioned in such a way that other professions are expected to be deferential towards them, then this is likely to inhibit truly interdisciplinary practice. Moreover, this can impede the empirical merit of such a position through the preclusion of an open discussion which would allow for full exploration of all the possible alternatives. The result may manifest in poorer decision-making processes and sub-optimal interventions.
Continue reading “Escaping Disciplinary Capture: Making our Health and Social Services Work Better”Social Lives
Authors: Tadhg E. MacIntyre Assistant Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Maynooth University and scientific coordinator of the H2020 project GoGreenRoutes. Chloe Mooney is a third year BSc. Psychology student and was an intern for GoGreenRoutes this semester. Cassie Murphy MA is second year MU Psychology doctoral student, on a scholarship funded by GoGreenRoutes, supervised by Dr. Elaine Gallagher and Dr. Tadhg MacIntyre.
The Maynooth University green campus with 700-year-old trees provided an authentic backdrop to our GoGreenRoutes project Autumn School concerned with understanding the links between nature and health. Our award winning campus venue (see here for Green Shoots feature) was a highlight for participants who had a tour of the grounds with Stephen Seaman supported by Rachel Freeman (TU Dublin, PhD candidate on GoGreenRoutes).
The wonder of our bucolic campus, recently featured on RTÉ, was not lost upon our new President Eeva Leinonen who noted how nature may be vital for effective leadership too. Our president, a psychologist, quoted as she opened the event, the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama who, in his memoirs had said, how the one-minute open-air commute along the colonnades that bookmarked his day helped him clear his mind and free him from stress. This speech was followed by a superb strategic overview of gender, inclusion and diversity at Maynooth University and beyond, by Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Dr Gemma Irvine, which set the tone for event, with strong gender representation across all the sessions (over 60% Women speakers) and more emphatically, an appreciation for inclusion at every level.
Continue reading “Autumn School Reflections: Inclusive Methods for a Shared Sustainable Future”