Search all showsMedi-Culture Conversations
Episode 5: Laura Wilde & Arietta Spinou
Host: Ilsa Jones
Medi-Culture Conversations is the official podcast of the Medi-Culture Festival, celebrating health, science and wellbeing in the heart of London Bridge this Spring. Across a series of short episodes, we go beyond the festival programme to explore the ideas, research and people behind the events. From gut health and nutrition to creativity, movement and laughter, each conversation uncovers the science and stories shaping how we understand wellbeing today.
Hosted by Ilsa Jones from Team London Bridge, this podcast delves into how culture, science and creativity can support our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Ilsa is joined by two researchers from King’s College London, Dr Arietta Spinou, Principal Investigator and leading respiratory health researcher, and Dr Laura Wilde, Research Psychologist, to explore the SPLASH study: a pioneering project co-developing laughter yoga classes for people living with bronchiectasis, a chronic lung condition.
Together they discuss why laughter is being taken seriously as a clinical intervention, what the science says about its effects on breathing, mood and quality of life, and what it means to co-design research with the patients it is built to help. They also reflect on the laughter yoga session that took place as part of the Medi-Culture festival, and what this work suggests about the future of social prescribing and non-pharmacological care.