Reading For Wellbeing

Reading For Wellbeing This project restored the therapeutic benefits of reading to people affected by cancer fog.

Noticing a pattern among people with cancer finding reading difficult or impossible, just when the therapeutic benefits would have been especially helpful, led to a PhD project exploring a read-aloud program for wellbeing during cancer treatment. Reading for wellbeing during cancer treatment is a PhD project at the University of South Australia, based on real-life situations that the researcher, Elizabeth Wells, noticed while working in small country libraries in central Victoria.

It was International Moment of Laughter Day on Tuesday! I hope you had at least a couple of chuckles during your day. I ...
16/04/2026

It was International Moment of Laughter Day on Tuesday! I hope you had at least a couple of chuckles during your day.
I have two book recommendations on this theme for you:
1. 'The Laughter Effect' by Ros Ben-Moshe - a self-care book about the science of laughter, all based on research.
2. 'I've got your Number' by Sophie Kinsella - I found this one laugh-out-loud funny when listening to the audiobook version because the text messages become like dialogue!
Keep smiling (and laughing)!

While I'm catching up on recent events, I want to highlight last weekend's Long Covid Awareness Day. People have differe...
19/03/2026

While I'm catching up on recent events, I want to highlight last weekend's Long Covid Awareness Day. People have different impressions of what Long Covid is, or even in fact if it is real. It presents in a few different ways, and it seems like the most commonly discussed presentation is the ME/CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) version. However, millions of people are impacted by a neurological presentation, suffering peripheral neuropathy. Dr Sanders at Yale Medicine describes it: "The constant burning or numbness or pins-and-needle sensations some of the patients we see suffer through can often be torturous. Moreover, peripheral neuropathy can be dangerous. It is the tiny nerves that populate our skin that alert us to injury or infection. They tell us about the world around us. And when those nerves give us bad information, the world becomes a much more hazardous place. And a much harder place to live in" (from https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/when-nerve-pain-and-numbness-are-linked-to-long-covid).

I'm playing catch-up ... happy International Women's Day, happy St Patrick's Day, and I hope you enjoyed National Readin...
19/03/2026

I'm playing catch-up ... happy International Women's Day, happy St Patrick's Day, and I hope you enjoyed National Reading Hour! I thought I'd share these books with you. A buddy loaned me the 'Cat Lady Manifesto', by Australian author Anna Go-Go, and it's a great read! Maeve Binchy needs no introduction - she was a talented author and a wonderful lady. My favourite story in this book is 'The Ten Snaps of Christmas' - the ending is marvellous! Happy reading. I'd love to hear about what you're currently reading.

It was a joy to present at the Audiobooks and Australian Literary Studies (Association for the Study of Australian Liter...
19/02/2026

It was a joy to present at the Audiobooks and Australian Literary Studies (Association for the Study of Australian Literature) mini conference at ANU last week (see https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/events/audiobooks-and-australian-literary-studies-asal-mini-conference for details, including the program and abstracts). The conference was so warm and well organised that I had the opportunity to speak to absolutely everyone there and hear about their amazing work. I really enjoyed it and left feeling energised - thank you Dr Millie Weber!

At it's core, bibliotherapy is about reading to feel better. With Lunar New Year celebrations this week, I've been readi...
18/02/2026

At it's core, bibliotherapy is about reading to feel better. With Lunar New Year celebrations this week, I've been reading these - and they are making me feel happier about my environment. Happy Lunar New Year to you - may this be a year of embracing books that make you feel better!

It's good to be back online and catching up .... I literally moved home to central Victoria two days after this photo wa...
18/02/2026

It's good to be back online and catching up .... I literally moved home to central Victoria two days after this photo was taken in November at the IPOS/COSA joint conference, and I've been consumed ever since with maintenance issues at home that resulted from renting my place out while I was in Adelaide. Anyway, I am starting to get on top of things now, and I can reflect on the past few months, including this conference which was terrific - it was great to connect with so many interesting people doing wonderful research. It was also really good to talk about some additional analysis of my data, where I split my cohort into people with palliative and/or advanced cancer, and those with early or indeterminate stage cancer. If you would like to read the abstract, it is here:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajco.70024 (look for poster 620 'Improving Emotional Wellbeing During Cancer Treatment Using Bibliotherapy: Next Steps into Palliative Care'). I look forward to reconnecting with you and would love you to share what you have been up to over the past three months 😊

Even if you missed World Mental Health Day, the weekend is a great time to set aside 10 minutes to read, because reading...
11/10/2025

Even if you missed World Mental Health Day, the weekend is a great time to set aside 10 minutes to read, because reading is simply a great way to decrease stress, anxiety, depression and loneliness.



Picture from FreePik.

If you're in Australia, please read to the end to get the feel-good story 😊 I volunteered to be in the academic processi...
01/10/2025

If you're in Australia, please read to the end to get the feel-good story 😊
I volunteered to be in the academic procession at one of today's UniSA graduation ceremonies. It was wonderful to see Emeritus Professor John Boland. If not for John sharing his expertise so generously, I might still be working on the statistical analysis of my PhD data!
Something happened part-way through the ceremony. For background context: during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had "the lovely Professor Nicola" (as I referred to her) informing us, reassuring us, and making decisions to keep us safe as our Chief Public Health Officer. Today, Professor Nicola Spurrier was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of the University. About two thirds of the way through the ceremony, one of the new graduates became distressed and security started approaching, but when he collapsed, Professor Nicola (despite her high heels) literally hopped down from the stage in an instant. She stayed down on the floor caring for the person needing help, and reassuring people nearby, until the paramedics arrived. She is truly a superstar.

University of South Australia SA Health

It was wonderful to reconnect with the Myeloma community in Adelaide at their annual seminar last week. Knowing the room...
01/10/2025

It was wonderful to reconnect with the Myeloma community in Adelaide at their annual seminar last week. Knowing the room would be full of people affected by cancer and their families, I made sure I included some discussion about cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI). The nods and comments around the room were not unexpected. CRCI is real, and it's impacting so many people affected by cancer. It feels like it's a bit of a dirty secret; people who have it seem embarrassed by their forgetfulness, their word-finding difficulties, their trouble keeping up with conversations, their difficulties reading, etc. I'd love to see CRCI routinely discussed by all health professionals so it's taken out of the realm of an embarrassment that can limit people's social and working lives, put a strain within families that doesn't need to be there, or cause concern as people wonder if they have early-onset dementia.

A big thank you to the Myeloma community for supporting me when I was recruiting participants for my study. I'm honoured...
23/09/2025

A big thank you to the Myeloma community for supporting me when I was recruiting participants for my study. I'm honoured to have been invited to speak at the seminar on Thursday in Adelaide, and really looking forward to seeing some familiar faces there.

It is Indigenous Literacy Day today. There really is strength in stories! See if you can grab a book by a First Nations ...
03/09/2025

It is Indigenous Literacy Day today. There really is strength in stories! See if you can grab a book by a First Nations author today, or check out The Indigenous Literacy Foundation website for resources and to read about their wonderful programs (like providing book kits for littlies) - I've popped their website url in the comments. Remember "Reading opens doors".

Thank you Australia Reads for publishing this post about my research. Getting someone to read tailored material to your ...
29/08/2025

Thank you Australia Reads for publishing this post about my research. Getting someone to read tailored material to your patients currently undergoing cancer treatment could reduce stress, anxiety, depression, pain and nausea, and boost wellbeing. This is also relevant after treatment, especially for people suffering cancer-related cognitive impairment. Please contact me if you would like to know more, including how to implement the program at your hospital, hospice, or as part of community palliative care programs.



https://australiareads.org.au/news/benefits-reading-aloud-cancer-treatment/

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