Why start a chapter of ASPAH in your area?

Regional ASPAH Subcommittees - What's in it for Healthcare professionals?

Perhaps you are interested in idea of ASPAH but cannot see what value it may have in your corner of the world.  "Surely I would be just as well off to read a few journals and attend a few conferences.

If your aim is to simply touch up on a bit of rarely used knowledge then this might well be enough. 

But say you wanted, out of personal or professional interest, to become involved in the care of players in a local sporting team, as many doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists and other health professionals do.  It would be impossible to imagine doing this without having a relationship with the team and establishing a professional relationship with a local co-ordinating body.

So what if you want to become involved with the care of the members of a local theatre company, a local orchestra, a local philharmonia choir, some of the local bands or local music scene?  (And why not, given that performing artists have specific health needs just as athletes do?)  You could systematically approach every theatre, rehearsal hall, pub, club and garage in the hope of introducing yourself personally. 

Or you could have the performing artists get to know you by forming a regional chapter of ASPAH.

Regional ASPAH Subcommittees - What's in it for performing artists? 

You're a performer with problem. Maybe a violinist with a chronically sore neck, or a singer whose high notes have suddenly disappeared, or an actor who is finding their performance anxiety is disrupting their career. You have seen your very busy GP who is usually very good for you but in this instance just did not seem to “get it” about the importance of your art to you. They referred you to a physiotherapist or a chiropractor or a speech therapist or a specialist doctor who seemed to be good and caring but who again did not seem to appreciate that you had special needs and that your art was putting unique strains on you.

When you ask your peers for advice you find that they have all experienced the same thing, and while all of them are loyal to the health professionals they know (and perhaps have known since childhood) none of them can say that they know anyone who they can say has specific expertise with the problems of performing artists.

So what if you wanted to find out who, in your area, does have knowledge in this evolving discipline of performing arts medicine.  Or how could you help your health professionals to become better at looking after you? You could ring around all the doctors and allied health professionals in your area and ask.

Or you could bring the interested health professionals to you by forming a regional chapter of ASPAH.

How do you start a chapter of ASPAH in your area?

First, become formally aligned with ASPAH

Starting a local chapter of ASPAH can be as simple as getting a few of your colleagues together over a coffee on evening at home.  However, if you want to use our name or have access to our resources we ask that you become a formal subcommittee of our Society.

This is not as difficult as it sounds.  Like any worthwhile organisation you will need to have documented some structure and some aims.  We have streamlined this for you by creating draft Terms of Reference for you.  These outline the minimum requirements for operating under the ASPAH umbrella while suggesting some generic goals which might be applicable to your local area. You can obtain a copy from the Secretary of ASPAH by e-mailing here.

Once you have your copy then the coffee (or something stronger) night comes in. You only need two people to set up a Regional Subcommittee, and while they must be members of ASPAH, this can cost as little as $15! (See here for details)

Once you have edited your Terms of Reference all you need do is e-mail them to the ASPAH secretary who will submit them to the next meeting of the Committee for consideration.  If a motion to accept them is passed then you have your local chapter of ASPAH up and running.

Next, attract some members

The next step is to let others know that you exist and invite them to become involved. A bit of local knowledge will go a long way here… Nonetheless here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Divisions of General Practice.  These federally funded organisations provide regional support for the GPs in your area. Most are happy to include community announcements in their newsletters and are generally keen to support educational activities which their member GPs may attend.
• Performance spaces. the proprietors of performance spaces have a vested interest in reducing injuries on their patch.  At the very least they may be happy for you to leave some ASPAH material in artist change rooms and in the foyer, allowing you to reach a wider "audience".
• Campuses. Healthcare students, performing arts students, students in general; they have energy, they have interest and they have spare time. Reaching them through their clubs, their union buildings and their performance spaces can bring on board people at a point in their lives when they are still adopting a performing arts culture.
• Schools.  Music teachers, dance teachers, drama teachers all establish the self care practices of our performing artists and are a group we are keen to reach  They all have the opportunity to influence performing artists from the very beginnings of their careers.   So whether it is through dance schools, music schools or through the local primary and secondary schools a brochure drop may well involve some very important contributors to your local ASPAH group.

We will do whatever we can to help you spread the word. In particular we can arrange, as much as our budget allows, print runs of brochures and flyers for use in your area. Anything else, just ask and we’ll see what we can do!

And then what?

If you gave some thought to the Terms of Reference you completed then you already know what you are hoping to achieve. The next component to achieving something locally is time. Even if this is nothing more than a coffee night once every couple of months you will at least be able to raise the profile of performing arts healthcare in your community. If you can encourage them to become members you may also open the door for them to the increasing range of resources and information on offer.

If you are still a bit unsure of what you might do you can do what we always do, and refer to our Mission Statement.

Whatever you hope to achieve remember you are not alone, and feel free to call us at any time for help, support or ideas. 

Webmaster - Dr Paul Duff