Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) is effective for trauma-related nightmares and is also a challenge to patients in finding access to their traumatic memories, because these are saved in non-verbal, visual, or audiovisual language. Art therapy (AT) is an experiential treatment that addresses images rather than words. This study investigates the possibility of an IRT-AT combination. Systematic literature review and field research was conducted, and the integration of theoretical and practice-based knowledge resulted in a framework for Imagery Rehearsal-based Art Therapy (IR-AT). The added value of AT in IRT appears to be more readily gaining access to traumatic experiences, living through feelings, and breaking through avoidance. Exposure and re-scripting take place more indirectly, experientially and sometimes in a playlike manner using art assignments and materials. In the artwork, imagination, play and fantasy offer creative space to stop the vicious circle of nightmares by changing theme, story line, ending, or any part of the dream into a more positive and acceptable one. IR-AT emerges as a promising method for treatment, and could be especially useful for patients who benefit least from verbal exposure techniques. This description of IR-AT offers a base for further research.
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In clinical practice, formal elements of art products are regularly used in art therapy observation to obtain insight into clients’ mental health and provide directions for further treatment. Due to the diversity of formal elements used in existing studies and the inconsistency in the interpretation, it is unclear which formal elements contribute to insight into clients’ mental health. In this qualitative study using Constructivist Grounded Theory, eight art therapists were interviewed in-depth to identify which formal elements they observe, how they describe mental health and how they associate formal elements with mental health. Findings of this study show that art therapists in this study observe the combination of movement, dynamic, contour and repetition (i.e., primary formal elements) with mixture of color, figuration and color saturation (i.e., secondary formal elements). Primary and secondary elements interacting together construct the structure and variation of the art product. Art therapists rarely interpret these formal elements in terms of symptoms or diagnosis. Instead, they use concepts such as balance and adaptability (i.e., self-management, openness, flexibility, and creativity). They associate balance, specifically being out of balance, with the severity of the clients’ problem and adaptability with clients’ strengths and resources. In the conclusion of the article we discuss the findings’ implications for practice and further research.
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Carboxylated cellulose is an important product on the market, and one of the most well-known examples is carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). However, CMC is prepared by modification of cellulose with the extremely hazardous compound monochloracetic acid. In this project, we want to make a carboxylated cellulose that is a functional equivalent for CMC using a greener process with renewable raw materials derived from levulinic acid. Processes to achieve cellulose with a low and a high carboxylation degree will be designed.
Due to societal developments, like the introduction of the ‘civil society’, policy stimulating longer living at home and the separation of housing and care, the housing situation of older citizens is a relevant and pressing issue for housing-, governance- and care organizations. The current situation of living with care already benefits from technological advancement. The wide application of technology especially in care homes brings the emergence of a new source of information that becomes invaluable in order to understand how the smart urban environment affects the health of older people. The goal of this proposal is to develop an approach for designing smart neighborhoods, in order to assist and engage older adults living there. This approach will be applied to a neighborhood in Aalst-Waalre which will be developed into a living lab. The research will involve: (1) Insight into social-spatial factors underlying a smart neighborhood; (2) Identifying governance and organizational context; (3) Identifying needs and preferences of the (future) inhabitant; (4) Matching needs & preferences to potential socio-techno-spatial solutions. A mixed methods approach fusing quantitative and qualitative methods towards understanding the impacts of smart environment will be investigated. After 12 months, employing several concepts of urban computing, such as pattern recognition and predictive modelling , using the focus groups from the different organizations as well as primary end-users, and exploring how physiological data can be embedded in data-driven strategies for the enhancement of active ageing in this neighborhood will result in design solutions and strategies for a more care-friendly neighborhood.
A-das-PK; een APK-straat voor rijhulpsystemen Uit recent onderzoek en vragen vanuit de autobranche blijkt een duidelijke behoefte naar goed onderhoud, reparatie en borging van de werking van Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), vergelijkbaar met de reguliere APK. Een APK voor ADAS bestaat nog niet, maar de branche wil hier wel op te anticiperen en haar clientèle veilig laten rijden met de rijhulpsystemen. In 2022 worden 30 ADAS’s verplicht en zal de werking van deze systemen ook gedurende de levensduur van de auto gegarandeerd moeten worden. Disfunctioneren van ADAS, zowel in false positives als false negatives kan leiden tot gevaarlijke situaties door onverwacht rijgedrag van het voertuig. Zo kan onverwacht remmen door detectie van een niet bestaand object of op basis van verkeersborden op parallelwegen een kettingbotsing veroorzaken. Om te kijken welke gevolgen een APK heeft voor de autobranche wil A-das-PK voor autobedrijven kijken naar de benodigde apparatuur, opleiding en hard- en software voor een goed werkende APK-straat voor ADAS’s, zodat de kansrijke elementen in een vervolgonderzoek uitgewerkt kunnen worden.
