Awareness through the Arts 04-24-09

04-24-09 Awareness through the Arts


This morning I was watching some birds at the feeder. The chickadee arrived first and was happy to push aside the little seeds and then hammer away on a sunflower seed, held firmly by its little foot until the tasty seed was exposed. He was happy until the cardinal arrived. Being much larger than the chickadee, the female cardinal’s presence seemed at first to force the chickadee into deference. Now that the wife had checked out the place, the male cardinal visited the scene. He didn’t want the feeder, though, as the cardinals are ground feeders. Only the day before I placed some sunflower seeds on the little grinding stone table, hoping it would suffice for the cardinals. I guess they were watching, talked it over at a family meeting and decided, even though the seeds weren’t on the ground, they were at least on a surface and was worth giving it a try. The chickadee returned, with some trepidation, tweet-tweet-tweeting while looking left right, left right, as it searched for possible dangers at its preferred place at the feeder. The cardinals returned, going directly to the tabletop seeds without worrying the chickadee too much.
There are many lessons to learn from observing nature. While we, as a species, certainly differ from others, we are still flesh and blood functioning in basically the same way and we are also social beings always struggling to figure out our place in the group. The lesson I walked away with this morning was this: We have different needs and different approaches to our needs. The chickadee needed a safe place to peck open the relatively large shell and, so, felt safer up high on the feeder. The cardinal has a larger beak and can deftly maneuver it while looking around with its head up. Once the two species reminded each other of their needs, they saw there wasn’t much competition after all. They could safely dip in and out of this situation with parallel flights appearing to get along when really it was more of an agreement to respect but ignore each other.
Maybe you think my little “flight” of fancy was silly, but I find it not only fun to take the time for musings; research supports creative approaches to life as a way to reveal a wide variety of responses and solutions. Different situations, different problems and different people all need different approaches. Good health promotion program designs consider these factors from the beginning, looking for a good fit so as to increase the chances of the program’s success. Typically, the programs aim to replicate someone else’s success by giving their design a foundation based on theory. The theory of efficacy for instance, aims to give participants the tools to become effective by doling them out in small increments, with the easiest tasks and those most likely to succeed at the beginning of the program. Another program, say weight loss, may be designed on a contract theory, with the hopes that the outcome is more likely to be a successful one if the participant has verbalized the goal and demonstrated commitment to the goal by signing a contract. Different strokes for different folks.
How can, say, a new student of public health begin to design a program if the problem is not understood or if the student can’t relate to the situation? A sure-fire way to understanding is through the arts. Reading a novel or watching a movie telling the story from a particular point of view are wonderful ways to have our eyes opened.
Watching the movie Grapes of Wrath or reading John Steinbeck’s novel of the same name, can imprint upon our mind unforgettable scenes teaching us about fairness and how a complicated crisis may affect a family. The website, Teach with Movies supplies lesson plans for the k-12 curriculum for 300 movies for only twelve dollars a year. You can’t beat that price.
A teacher who understands this concept is David Boles, who has a degree in Fine Arts. He teaches at The University of Medicine in New Jersey and has developed a partnership with their public health programs, so that students can discover their own prejudices or lack of understanding from the viewpoint of the person with the health problem and, thus, change their perceptions by developing new understandings and empathy
When people are gone, their art remains. Since art is the expression of all that is happening, staying in touch with the arts is the easiest way for me to learn and stay informed, even on public health issues.
In honor of National Poetry Month, I will listen to local poet, Faye George, read from her recently published poems, Like a Fairytale. And on April 30, I’ll carry a poem in my pocket, as will thousands of others. When people ask why, maybe I’ll tell them that a little bird told me.

Cathleen Drinan is the health agent for the Town of Halifax, MA. Do you have a favorite artistic expression of public health ideas? She can be reached at 781 293 6768 or cdrinan@town.halifax.ma.us