UKPHA conference

The Pioneer Health Foundation congratulates the UKPHA on its recent successful conference in Liverpool on 1 - 2nd April. We were delighted to welcome so many of the delegates to our stand. If any of them have outstanding questions after considering the information they received do please contact us email now.

New postings on the archives

Following on from the interest at the conference, we have posted a number of papers delivered at conferences by our past Chairs, Dr James Witchalls and Allan Pepper. Dr Witchalls' paper specifically addresses the Peckham approach to Community Health and when we were discussing it as we prepared it for the website we both agreed it was as relevant today was when it was presented in 1980 (link to talk). The papers by Allan Pepper have an international flavour, one having been presented in Canada (link to paper), and the other to a Russian delegation visiting the UK (link to paper). Both present a good overview of "Peckham Principles".

Henrietta Trotter writes: Reading of the death of Professor Norman Morris who did so much to promote a better childbirth experience reminded me of the earlier pioneering work in preconception, ante- and post-natal care by the founders of the Peckham Experiment. No-one can be certain that some-one beavering away on their own in a small community had not been doing this work before, but Peckham was certainly the first well-known organisation to be known for its work in this area. Nowadays the concept of preconception care has become more common, thanks greatly to the work of Nim Barnes and the charity she founded, Foresight. (Link to Foresight) Ante-natal clinics are available for every pregnant woman and her partner. Post-natal care is also the norm. However, before the National Health Service, these facilities were unheard of. Yet the founders recognised the importance of planning and preparing for pregnancy by both parents, and made provision for it in their Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham, giving prospective parents detailed information about the processes of pregnancy and childbirth, not least to allay fears. Even today, the amount of detail in the information is unusual, both in respect to the biology of pregnancy and childbirth and the development of the new born. In her book, "The Quality of Life. The Peckham Approach to Human Ethology", Dr Innes Pearse writes in depth about both. See Publications

Yet the Peckham Experiment went further - by its very design, it enabled knowledge about parenting to be absorbed quite naturally by watching the activities in the nursery, enabling mothers-to-be to help with the babies and interact with other mothers. (Link to Babies and preconception on the website.) Indeed, as a young student in the Centre, and 'observer' on the staff, I learned much that later informed my own parenting practices.
See also new posting on Parental Nurture Parental Nurture

The Pioneer Health Foundation is delighted to be attending the 16th UKPHA Annual Public Health Forum on 1 and 2 April at the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre. This year the focus is COMMUNITY COHESION AND EMPOWERMENT: Championing the social, cultural, economic and environmental determinants of health. We welcome you to Stand 12.

2nd March 2008 - Gail Bradley writes: With so much in the news about childhood obesity, the latest focus being the effect of salt (http://bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7254589.stm), Christopher Trotter, a fellow Trustee, and I have been discussing how much there is in past research that could help to inform the debate and how this research was concerned with "whole diets" opposed to specific components of diets, such as the effects of salt - a "macro" approach rather than a "micro" one. (The Peckham Experiment itself is an example of a "macro" approach to research on the nature of health.) We had been interested in Channel Four's Big Food Fight season in January as its various programmes showed what some great pioneers, including the founders of the Pioneer Health Centre, had advocated 70 years ago. Sir Robert McCarrison (http://www.mccarrisonsociety.org.uk), Drs Weston Price and Francis Pottenger (http://www.ppnf.org ) as well as Drs Scott Williamson and Innes Pearse were advocating that a healthy diet consisted of food grown on healthy soil, without the use of chemicals in the soil or sprayed on the seed/plants. The food is then prepared as simply as possible from the resultant healthy food. (See section on The Farm)

The health benefits of the type of diet advocated by these pioneers were wonderfully portrayed in "Fast Food Junkies go Native" where we saw how quickly the participants health improved on natural food. (http://www.channel4.com/food/on-tv/the-big-food-fight/the-diet-that-time-forgot-07-12-21_p_1.html) Seeing the villagers eating together also reminded us that of central importance to the Pioneer Health Centre founders was the family - and eating together as a family helps with bonding while also offering parents the opportunity for role modelling social skills, including good eating habits. Those of you who managed to hear the recent Radio 4 programme "The Long View" may recall Pam Elven, former member of the Pioneer Health Centre say how she learnt the principles of healthy eating from her mother, who in turn, learnt them through the Centre.

What lessons can be drawn from the Pioneer Health Centre about "detoxifying" modern childhood?

Gail Bradley, Trustee of the Pioneer Health Foundation, reflects on a recent seminar

On Monday 17th December 2007, on behalf of the Pioneer Health Foundation, Gail Bradley attended a stimulating seminar, "Taking Positive Action to Detoxify Childhood". The seminar was organised by Leadership SouthWest in collaboration with the Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre, University of Exeter with the aim of bringing together leaders in the South West to start a discussion which would lead to positive action.

The Keynote speaker was Sue Palmer, author of "Toxic Childhood". She took as her theme "Is childhood toxic?" and proceeded to illustrate why she thought it is, contending that various policies and practices were causing problems - for professionals working with children and families and for children and families themselves. She was critical of policies for the 3 to 5 year old children, particularly highlighting the lack of opportunity for free play. She said that children need love, attachment, time, someone talking to them, and the chance to move around - play. They also need to be able to read and write and to feel that they are worthwhile. She felt that our technological development had outstripped our biological development. Not all the audience agreed with her analysis so debate was lively.

Other speakers gave different perspectives to stimulate debate in the ensuing groups. There was also a panel of young people who were astonishingly frank about their lives and what made them happy. Friends were number one on their lists and not being told what to do also rated highly. They agreed that children were experiencing at least some of the areas of "toxic childhood" identified by Sue Palmer.

Small groups then considered what should ideally change, what could realistically change and what the consequences would be of no change. These ideas have been collated for later dissemination.

The experience of the Pioneer Health Centre at Peckham has much to offer this debate. There a social environment was created in which children and young people could develop and flourish. Key learnings for today include:

Peckham in the Guardian 31 October 2007

For an article entitled "Ministers seeking inspiration should talk to Pam about prewar Peckham", Jonathan Freedland interviewed Pam Elven, who participated in the Peckham Experiment in the years 1935-1939 and 1946-1950 and was later Honorary Secretary(1986 - 1999) and Chairman of the Trustees of the Pioneer Health Foundation(2004-05). Subtitled "Our progressive past can offer a new idea of what the state is for, and how it can help neighbourhood organisations to thrive", Jonathan Freedland cites the Peckham Experiment as part of our progressive past.

For the full article click here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2202064,00.html

Peckham on the radio

The Long View Tuesday 27 November 9 a.m. on Radio 4, repeated at 9.30 p.m. "The current furore over what has been called the "obesity crisis" seems to be a 21st-century phenomenon. But Jonathan Freedland looks back to more than 70 years ago when one of the first healthy-living centres - the Pioneer Health Foundation - was opened in the UK. He examines the legacy of this experiment and how it could inspire and inform today's debate." (Radio Times 24-30 November 2007)

You can listen to The Long View at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/longview/index.shtml?focuswin

Comments on The Long View. BBC Radio 4, 27th November 2007

The Trustees of the Pioneer Health Foundation were delighted to co-operate with the producer and presenter of 'The Long View' in considering the relevance of the Peckham Experiment to the issue of obesity. However, we thought it would be useful to make some additional comments on some of the points raised.