January 4th, 2012
Are you a musician with focal hand dystonia?
An NHS team co-ordinated by Neurology Advisor to BAPAM, Dr Mark Edwards, is conducting research into musicians’ dystonia. A number of exciting projects with the aims of better understanding this condition, and hopefully developing new treatments, are currently running.
The team are recruiting enthusiastic musicians for a retraining programme to help establish the most effective treatment strategy. The studies will be conducted at the Institute of Neurology in Queen Square, London which is a leading UK establishment in dystonia research. The work is co-ordinated by Senior Lecturer Dr Mark J Edwards and two PhD students, Dr Anna Sadnicka and Dr Panagiotis Kassavetis. At this time the team is specifically recruiting musicians with dystonia affecting the hand.
If you have this form of dystonia and are interested in taking part in studies (or if you are healthy and wish to register as a healthy volunteer) or have further questions please contact: Dr Mark Edwards, Sobell Department, 33 Queen Square, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG.
Or email Dr Edwards via: m.j.edwards@ucl.ac.uk.
Tags: Dystonia, Focal Dystonia, Health, medical research, Musicians, NHS Research, Rehabilitation
Posted in Musicians, Performers, Research | No Comments »
January 4th, 2012
Physiotherapist and former professional horn player, Patrice Berque, has been awarded the Susanne Klein-Vogelbach Special Award 2011 for his paper, A combination of constraint-induced therapy and motor control retraining and motor control retraining in the treatment of focal hand dystonia in musicians (Medical Problems of Performing Artists, vol.25:149-161).
The prize is awarded to researchers in neuroscience, orthopaedics, and anatomy whose work is oriented to a better understanding of the underlying principles of human movement and its rehabilitation, with the Special Award being granted to excellent papers from the field of physiotherapy. Movement in this context is not restricted to locomotion, rather it covers all kinds of muscular-induced human movement including mime and music. This is only the third time the Special Award has been given (it was previously won in 2004 and 2010).
Medical practitioners involved in research may be interested in applying for the award in future years. There are 2 prizes: the Main Award, endowed with (Swiss Francs) CHF 10,000 and the Special Award, endowed with CHF 2,000. The submission deadline for this year’s prize is 30 September 2012. Click here for more detailed information (Word doc).
Tags: Dystonia, Focal Dystonia, medical research, Musicians, Neurology, Performing Arts Medicine, Physiotherapy, Publications
Posted in Musicians, Performers, Publications, Research | No Comments »
November 16th, 2011
We had a fantastic response to our request for help with Danica Giles’ Stage Fright and Well-being Survey. Huge thanks to all the performers who took part – 260 in all, of whom 167 were BAPAM patients!
This summary of the results of the study contains some demographic information on the participants, followed by brief explanations of the assumptions tested and the results.
The last part contains the interpretation of the results. Danica has tried to turn the rather theoretical findings into as many practical tips as possible and has also referred to previous research.
If you are not interested in all the details, just skip to the very last page with a summary of all
recovery tips!
Download the results here.
Tags: Actors, Dancers, Health, Musicians, performance anxiety, Psychology, Psychotherapy, Research, Singers, Stage Fright, Stress
Posted in Actors, Dancers, Musicians, Performers, Psycho-social, Research, Singers | No Comments »
November 15th, 2011
BAPAM’s mission is to achieve a healthy performance environment for all performing artists through high quality and effective specialist health care, health promotion strategies, and professional development and training in Performing Arts Medicine for health care practitioners.
BAPAM Trustee, Dr Deborah Charnock, has been responsible for helping BAPAM develop a programme of evaluation and research to underpin this mission.
This report summarises evaluation and research activities and outcomes at BAPAM since the establishment of the Service Evaluation and Research Advisory Group (SERAG). The outcomes have informed several recommendations relating to governance, operations and future research which are outlined in the report. A draft research work programme for 2011-13 is also included.
Download the report:
Research Report 2009-2011
Requests for further information relating to this report should be directed to Dr Deborah Charnock via deborah@bapam.org.uk
Tags: medical research, Performing Arts Medicine
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November 15th, 2011
Our November 19th Training Event focusses on Long Term Health Issues Affecting Performing Artists with presentations covering:
Sensory Motor Release (GP/Physio)
Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation of Disabled, Elderly and Multi-talented Performers (Rheumatologist)
Chronic Pain (Rheumatologist)
Ageing and Performance Q&A with Gabrielle Hamilton (actor), Fergus Early (dancer) and Catherine Butler Smith (musician)
Plus, performing arts medicine practitioners can learn from and with professional musicians in two practical sessions with violinist (and Alexander Technique teacher), Ron Colyer, and clarinettist, Andrew Roberts.
Click here to download the programme
Please note this event is now fully booked.

- Green Candle Dance Company ‘Falling About’
Attendees should come to the main reception of:
Franklin-Wilkins Building
Stamford Street
London
SE1 9NH
Venue information: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/about/campuses/waterloo.html
Tags: Actors, Alexander Technique, chronic pain, clarinet, Courses / Training, CPD, Dancers, Doctor, Ergonomics, Music, Musicians, Performance, Performing Arts Medicine, Playing Technique, Professional Development, violin
Posted in Actors, Courses / Training, Dancers, Diploma/MSc, Doctors, Education, MSc/Diploma in Performing Arts Medicine, Musicians, Performers, Practitioner Training, Professional Development, Singers, Talks and lectures, Tuition | No Comments »
October 25th, 2011

Are you suffering for your art?
BAPAM’s brand new Liverpool clinic takes place monthly from Monday 7th November 2011 at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Dr Vivienne May will be advising professional and student performing artists about problems including:
- performance related pain, overuse injuries, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, dance injuries, muscular tension, musculoskeletal problems caused by poor performance technique or posture.
- voice loss or strain in singers, actors and other professional voice users, hearing problems.
- stage fright, depression, anxiety, drug or alcohol misuse or addiction.
Full and part-time professional actors, dancers, musicians, circus and ‘variety’ artists, production crew, plus students and teachers of the performing arts can use our services. To book an appointment, call the BAPAM clinic line on 020 7404 8444.
More information about BAPAM’s free clinics, as well as invaluable advice on injury prevention, finding a suitable health practitioner, and our services for teachers and education providers can be found on our web site: www.bapam.org.uk
Other useful links:
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PerformingArtsMedicine
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ukbapam
The British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) is a registered charity providing specialist health support to performing artists. We are enormously grateful to The Musicians Benevolent Fund, The Musicians Union, Equity, The Incorporated Society of Musicians and PPL, for generously supporting our work.
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October 17th, 2011
Two easy ways to keep up to date with performing arts medicine in the UK, and all BAPAM related information:
‘Like’ our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/PerformingArtsMedicine
Follow @ukbapam on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ukbapam
Tags: Facebook, Twitter
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October 13th, 2011
Dr Carol Chapman is a counselling psychologist and performance coach, and works as a BAPAM practitioner. Dr Chapman has recently taken the lead on our research into psychological and mental health issues affecting performing artists and the development of appropriate services and treatments for this special group.
Dr Chapman is currently conducting a survey of the amount, scope and treatment modalities currently being employed by counselling and psychotherapy practitioners on the BAPAM Directory. We are also interested to hear from practitioners who are not currently associated with BAPAM.
Practitioners are being asked to complete a brief, anonymous questionnaire covering details of professional practice, experience with performing artists, and views and needs regarding specialist support, as well as basic demographic information. The survey will help us identify practitioners’ needs and enable us to develop new and exciting networks, training and resources for specialist work in this field.
If you think the survey is relevant to you but have not yet completed a questionnaire, please download the survey form and return it to us at:
BAPAM, FREEPOST NAT 18607, London WC1X 8BR, or contact Dr Chapman at carol.chapman@bapam.org.uk for more information.
Thanks for your help!
download the survey form here
Tags: CBT, counselling, psycho-social, Psychology, Psychotherapy
Posted in Psycho-social, Research | No Comments »
October 12th, 2011

On Sunday 15th January 2012, the British Voice Association hold a study day suitable for all voice professionals (speech
therapists, surgeons, singing teachers, voice teachers).
More information and application form
Topics include:
Brain function in relation to voice, in both therapy and education.
Recent research into neural processing for both spoken and
sung voice
The role of brain plasticity in rehabilitation and learning.
Gender differences between child and adult voices explored from
an evolutionary basis.
SPEAKERS:
Prof Sophie Scott (Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL)
Dr Katie Overy (Senior Lecturer in Music Psychology, University of Edinburgh)
Prof John Rothwell (Professor of Neurophysiology, UCL)
Dr David Reby (Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Sussex)
Tags: BVA, Courses / Training, CPD, ENT, Health, Professional Development, Professional Voice Users, Singing, Speech and Language Therapy, Voice Coaching
Posted in Actors, Courses / Training, Education, Practitioner Training, Professional Development, Singers, Singing Technique, Sources of Health Information, Talks and lectures, Voice | No Comments »
September 6th, 2011
Please note, this survey is now completed.
Danica Giles MBPsS (Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society) is investigating the effect of stage fright on the health and well-being of professional performing artists as part of her diploma thesis at the University of Tübingen, Germany. If you are interested, take a look at the advert below.
Danica will share the results of this very interesting survey with BAPAM and the information will help our understanding of performers’ health. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. Details of the survey findings will be available through the BAPAM website
This independent research project has been checked and approved by BAPAM but we do not have a role in the funding, design or analysis of this work. We will not ‘own’ the data or project findings.


Interested in research on the well-being of performing artists?
Participate in this online survey and you can win £100!
Are you a performer and would like to know more about how you can improve your health & well-being through recovery? Then I invite you to participate in a study about stage fright and well-being that I am conducting for my diploma thesis in psychology. Just follow the link below to a questionnaire that takes about 20 minutes to complete. Your participation is completely anonymous and you can leave the questionnaire at any time. The study has been given a favourable ethical opinion by the University of Surrey Ethics Committee. You will also be given the option to enter a draw to win one prize of 100 Pounds by providing your email address at the end of the questionnaire. In a few weeks’ time you will be able to read the results with tips on how to recover more effectively from stress (via a link given to you at the end of the questionnaire)!
CLICK HERE to complete the questionairre
Tags: Actors, Dancers, Health, Musicians, Performance, performance anxiety, Performing Arts Medicine, Psychology, Research, Singers, Stage Fright, Stress, Well-Being
Posted in Actors, Dancers, Musicians, Performers, Psycho-social, Research, Singers, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »