Alexander Technique News
PAAT teachers involved in successful European bid for research funding from European University for Well-Being, EUniWell: StudentWell research project – September 2024 update
As previously announced, PAAT teachers have been involved in a successful bid for seed funding granted by EUniWell, resulting in a research project undertaken jointly by four EUniWell universities. PAAT teachers formed part of the StudentWell team at the University of Birmingham and provided the Alexander Technique intervention (more details here).
Four different psychophysical health supportive interventions were piloted, one at each university. All of the interventions were intended to support students to develop health and well-being practices, as follows:
University of Birmingham, UK – Alexander Technique.
University of Florence, Italy – Body and Mind awareness.
Semmelweis University, Hungary – Autogenic Training.
Linnaeus University, Sweden – Forest Bathing.
Delivery of the interventions began in September 2022 and consisted of in-person or blended learning, depending on the intervention. Online e-learning tools were also tested for effectiveness. A validated multidimensional well-being scale was used to assess outcomes for students.
Concluding seminar of the research project – May 2023
Two PAAT members of the research team at Birmingham travelled to Florence for a one-day concluding seminar at the end of May 2023. They finally had the opportunity to meet, in person, with partner researchers from the other three universities. The day-long seminar was interspersed with ‘taster’ sessions of the interventions included in the StudentWell project. The Birmingham team provided an Alexander Technique session for students attending the University of Florence on the theme of ‘How to deal with exam anxiety’. Initial results from data analysis of the project were presented by the team in Florence, led by Professor Francesca Chiesi. Participants had anonymously completed a multidimensional well-being scale at the beginning, mid-point and end of the Alexander Technique and other interventions.
Conclusion of StudentWell pilot research project
As well as the one-day concluding seminar, this pilot project involved collaboration by the PAAT researchers with European colleagues in the production of a journal article for Open Access Publication. The paper, ‘StudentWell Study Protocol: Supporting and measuring student Well-Being’, has been submitted to an online journal for review. Funding for future developments has also been undertaken by the European team.