Web Reviews

www.madforarts.org

Star Rating: 4/5

Art has achieved greater prominence in mental health services in
recent years. So it is no surprise to see websites providing a
space for people with mental health problems to share their views
on art springing up, writes Mark Drinkwater.

The website features downloadable clips from the MadforArts
films screened by Channel Five, along with events listings, reviews
and discussion boards. It includes a good facility for searching
for specific information, but it was easy enough to find local
information just by browsing.

What distinguishes this site from others are the hundreds of
members’ online “studios”. These pages consist of images of
members’ artwork or comments about others’ art, making it relevant
to artists and critics alike.
The most engaging section contains members’ reviews of contemporary
art. For example, Twink describes Anthony Gormley’s huge sculpture
The Angel of the North as an “icon for manic-depression” – its
height representing the highs, and its shadow the lows. Such
perspectives offer fresh viewpoints on art, and provide insight
into others’ experience of mental illness.

Well worth visiting for those interested in mental health or the
arts. And with studio spaces regularly updated by members, deserves
returning to from time to time.

Mark Drinkwater is a community worker in Southwark,
south London.

www.intellectualdisability.info

Star Rating: 4/5

This easy to navigate site is a “web-based learning resource for
medical and health care students and practitioners”. And it brings
together such a wealth of articles about the health needs of people
with learning difficulties that it is also a useful resource for
social care students and professionals, writes Sarah Baalham.

The site has information on such diverse subjects as recognising
psychosis in non-verbal patients; communication using methods like
“books beyond words”; and consent to medical treatment. It is also
refreshing to see information on physical and mental health issues
for people with learning difficulties.
There are also some excellent pieces written by people with
learning difficulties and their families. In particular, a moving
piece written by the teenage daughter of a woman with learning
difficulties should be required reading for everyone in social
care.

Sarah Baalham is customer care manager, Suffolk social
care services.