Public History Mends Lives

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Episode 23

Professor Tracey Loughran from the Department of History at the University of Essex and Kate Mahoney from Healthwatch Essex discuss how they have used public history to better understand women's experiences of their health during the course of their lives. They've used this work to develop the 'Bodies, Hearts and Minds' toolkit that supports the wellbeing of young people, helps them understand the past and encourages them to reflect on their own feelings and identity. The toolkit is being used by schools and other organisations working with young people. They also reflect on their wider work to uncover the lives of women in the 20th century.

The toolkit was developed as part of Body, Self and Family, a major research project funded by the Wellcome Trust.

The Body, Self, and Family team say: "It is important to know what happened in the past so that we can understand how we ended up where we are today. Knowing where we came from helps us to work out where we are going. Understanding how experiences of health and wellbeing were different in the past, especially what has changed and why, can help young people to think differently about the choices that are open to them."

Read more

In their blog Professor Loughran and colleagues Kate Mahoney and Daisy Payling discuss their work on the toolkit – Bodies, Hearts, and Minds: Using the Past to Empower the Future. Read it now

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