ATEAM Commentary Part II
The ASO Newsletter - 6th Edition
Working together to enable greater understanding of the Alexander Technique through disciplined inquiry.
Introduction
The Researcher Interview Series continues with a look into clinical research that has evaluated the effectiveness of Alexander lessons for people with various health-related conditions. This month is the second installment of commentary on the ATEAM back pain trial.
In this second interview conducted by Julia Woodman BSc, PhD, MSTAT, and Charlotte Woods EdD, MSTAT, we discuss the results for the individual groups in the ATEAM back pain trial. We’ll also look at how the ATEAM findings sit alongside other Alexander research, and talk about the way in which the ATEAM results were reported and taken up – in particular, how this has influenced subsequent research on the Alexander Technique.
Additional information on the ATEAM trial
To learn more about the ATEAM trail you can follow the links below:
Main publication from the ATEAM trial: Little P, Lewith G, Webley F, et al. Randomised controlled trial of Alexander Technique lessons, exercise and massage (ATEAM) for chronic and recurrent back pain. British Medical Journal 2008;337:a884
Video made to accompany the publication of the main findings in the BMJ – consists of commentaries by some of the trial participants and Alexander teachers who taught in the trial, as well as Paul Little, the Principal Investigator
Research section of the STAT website
Brief summary of the main findings
Review of evidence mentioned in the interview – this evaluates the ATEAM findings in detail (note: link is to a pre-publication version which is free to view, unlike the final published journal article)
Additionally for members of STAT: you can find slide sets for use with healthcare professional and lay audiences and A4 handout summaries. These are available from the Teachers’ Resources section of the STAT website (login required)
About
About Julia Woodman: Julia has been active in research on the Alexander Technique since 2010, and is Chair of the STAT Research Group. She was a core member of the study team for the randomised controlled clinical trial, ATLAS. Julia’s background is in immunology research, followed by 20 years working with clinical research in biotech and medical communications. She qualified from the Manchester Alexander Training school in 2006, and is now Head of Training at Edinburgh Alexander Training School.
About Charlotte Woods: Charlotte Woods retired from a Senior Lectureship at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester in 2016 after almost forty years of international experience in education. She qualified as a teacher of the Alexander Technique in 2017 and is a member of the STAT Research Group.
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