“Narrative Medicine: Healing the Healer” – an interactive Creativity Workshop for Healthcare Professionals

Back in September, September 3 to be exact, Bob Climko, MD, MBA  and I facilitated a Creativity Workshop titled “Narrative Medicine: Healing the Healer”  for healthcare professionals.  This 3rd annual conference held by Georgia School for Addiction Studies titled ‘Keys to Change: Prevention, Treatment and Recovery’ could not have been more appropiate as our world adapts to changing paradigms in current economic, leadership, social and personal transformations in vision, mission and attitudes.

In healthcare, change is also occurring, albeit slowly.  But positive change, no matter the pace, is good.  Historically, the medical model – a world of scientific and technological breakthroughs to ‘cure’ human conditions – prevailed.  And the ‘art’ of healing the sick, utilitzing nature and the arts, and honoring human dignity - lost.  However, there is a stirring in healthcare to provide services that are truly patient centered and to focus on multi-dimensional healing.  And the concept of integrating nature, creativity and the arts in healthcare are a couple of these services.   Other terms for these ‘newer’ services are: complementary therapies, integrative medicine, alternative therapies, etc.  But, these therapies are not new…they existed since the beginning of time.  Both Hippocrates and Florence Nightingale believed in treating patients as multi-dimensional beings by addressing the physical, intellectual, spiritual and emotional realms.  They believed in the benefits of nature, lighting and the arts as important components to the healing process.

Active participation in creativity and the arts by patients, families, staff, healthcare professionals and the larger commUNITY encourages collaboration, harmony, tolerance of differing opinions and viewpoints, acceptance, acknowledges and appreciates the creative process, flexibility and patience. 

 

 

Now, back to ”Healing the Healer”  Creativity Workshop!

Purpose of the Workshop:

1. The use of the written word and art activity as healing interventions.  Through careful listening to one another’s stories through the written and spoken word, and process of art making and presentation, healthcare professionals (healers) may begin to reconnect with their own healing spirit. 

2. To introduce, promote and utilize the concept of integrating creativity and the arts into clincal practice.

Description of the Workshop:

Two arts activites, writing and art-making, were chosen for participants (18 healthcare professionals) to tell and show why they chose to enter healing professions for their careers. The writing portion was  conducted by Bob Climko, MD, MBA and the art-making by Marti Hand, RN, MPA, Artist.  Writing, as explained by Dr. Climko, was the third ear.  Creating art accesses the soul and heart regions of the body. 

(Healthcare professionals creating their masks during “Healing the Healer” workshop)

Outcome:

The healing professionals wrote poignant stories of particular clients/patients who they treated and left a lasting impression – these were the reasons why participants entered the professions they did.

In the art making activity, the instructions were to create masks representing their reasons to become healthcare professionals.  Interestingly, there was not a single person who followed the guidelines!  Rather, all the masks created represented their current physical, psychological, spiritual and emotional states.  Most participants explained their masks, and then told the story behind the masks…something I believe would not have happened without the art-making piece.

Active  participation in the creative process enhances collaboration, harmony, tolerance, acceptance, flexibility, and in this case - catharsis.

(Example of mask created by “Healing the Healer” participant)

 

By implementing creativity and the arts in healthcare systems, patients, families, staff, healthcare professionals and local communities all benefit:

Art-making

Writing

Music

Dance

Humor

Laughing Clubs

Art exhibits with work created by patients, families, staff and healthcare professionals

Drumming circles

Indoor and outdoor gardens

Art at the bedside for patients and families

 

 

 

Turning Swords to Paintbrushes, and Warriors to Painters…

                 

On October 12, 2009, the New York Times published an article titled ”Turning Swords to Pens, and Warriors to Writers.”  The story summarizes an effort organized by the Writers Guild of America in mentoring wounded U.S. military veterans to write their stories.  The writing workshop received support from the Wounded Warrior Project, and the National Endowment for the Arts Operation Homecoming.  Below is a summary of the article, some information on traumatic brain injury (TBI), and my recommendation to offer painting  and the visual arts as a healing modality for self-expression of the horrors and psychic wounds of war.

Here’s are few veterans’ responses on the writing workshop…

• One veteran struggled to find what exactly it was that he wanted to say. 
• Another said “…there’s something in my heart…I feel like it’s a calling to write.”  
• Yet, another veteran’s real reason for attending the writing workshop was to sharpen her writing skills for a historical compilation of her family history, and the role America plays in their lives.

Writing offers veterans an avenue for expressing personal stories and experiences of combat, and is a fine medium for those capable and desiring to write.  However,  for veterans with traumatic brain injuries, writing may not be the best arts modality to offer due to nerve damage or loss of neural connections within the brain. This loss of neural connections may lead to many of the symptoms associated with brain injuries. Depending on the location,  severity, and rapidness of treatment for traumatic brain injuries, there may be difficulties with the following (in relationship to writing).                                                         

• Inability to focus on task

• Difficulty with problem solving

• Inability to express language (Broca’s Aphasia)

• Slower thinking

• Inability to attend to more than one object at a time

• Inability to name an object (Anomia)

• Inability to locate the words for writing (Agraphia)

• Problems with reading (Alexia)

• Inability to focus visual attention

• Difficulties with eye and hand coordination

 (Source: Brain Injury Association of America www.biasusa.org)

To learn more about the other myriad symptoms associated with traumatic brain injuries in the military, visit the link below – DHCC.

According to DHCC  (Deployment Health Clinical Center) , the website states that early mild TBI symptoms may appear subtle, but they can lead to significant, life-long impairment in an individual’s ability to function physically, cognitively and emotionally.  Btw, DHCC is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.  

In a New England Journal of Medicine article on TBI in the military, it  reported 56%  of those diagnosed with TBI are considered moderate or severe, and 44% mild!  Also, some symptoms of TBI overlap with those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).  Those in the military are usually young and healthy, and have a good chance to recover from TBI.  However, they have been hurt in terrible ways which may complicate and affect their recovery outcome. (1)

 

Use paintbrushes rather than pens…

Given the cognitive, visual and motor coordination problems veterans experience as a result of TBI, writing may not be the best avenue for self-expression.  Painting (and the visual arts) as a creative intervention is a much better choice of medium.  Why?  

• With writing, there is a tendency for  internal editing and censoring of the written word, and this is by those of us without brain injuries!  Imagine the frusration of veterans suffering from mild to moderate  symptoms of  TBI.
• Writing requires fine eye – hand coordination. Painting, on the other hand,  involves more gross motor coordination.
• Painting requires less cognitive and visual perfection or acuity.  For example, Claude Monet painted despite his progressing blindness.

(Claude Monet, water lilies, 1840-1926)

• Painting utilizes imagery rather than words to express psychological and emotional states.
• In painting, there is no right or wrong methods, techniques or colors to convey meaning and thoughts.  Writing requires concentrated effort, exactness and command of the written language.
• Paintbrush handles can be adapted for those unable to hold thin paintbrushes.
• There is less internal editing with painting.

 Note: email me for the references.

Try this simple Creative Intervention…

I’d like to introduce and describe a short and simple Creative Intervention to try on your own.  I developed this CI (Creative Intervention) for use in my Creativity Workshops. 

The goal is to visualize the music you hear and transfer these images onto paper.  It will take about 10 minutes to complete the exercise, but may be longer depending on how much time is devoted to your drawing; the musical piece is 5:25 minutes long.

But first, read the short list of instructions and then go for it! 

A few Instructions:

1. The music selected for this particular Creative Intervention is Beethoven’s Pathetique Movement 2 by Freddy Kempf.  I chose Freddy Kempf’s version over other artists for his expressiveness and sensitivity in interpeting this piece.

The link below is to a youtube video.  The goal is to listen with your eyes closed. No peeking to watch Freddy during this exercise; you can watch him later!

Note: It’s important to be in an quiet environment for you to benefit from this exercise.  So, close your office door or wait for better time.

2. Gather your supplies: white paper and drawing/coloring tools in different colors (crayons, colored pencils or markers).  Anything you can draw with is fine, but make sure you have different colors.

3. Listen to the selected piece by clicking on the link. Remember- keep your eyes closed during the entire musical piece.  The goal is to shut out outside visual images and noises, and focus on you.

While you’re listening, picture how the music would look if you could see it.  What are the colors and shapes you see?  Are there lines?  Is it abstract?  What are the rhythms, the melodies and mood(s) you see?  How does the music make you feel?  Are there words or just colors or images? Don’t worry about drawing anything you may not recognize – that’s not important to this exercise.  Remember, there is no right or wrong way of doing this exercise - just your way.

 

      Are you ready to begin?

 

 

Increase the volume on your computer to mid-way(Beethoven’s Pathetique 2 is very soft in certain sections).

The Beethoven link connects to a youtube video.  Once you link to youtube, it begins to play immediately.  CLOSE YOUR EYES and listen for the entire duration.

 

Beethoven Pathetique 2 by Freddy Kempf

 

Now, draw what you ’saw’ when your eyes were closed.  When you’re finished, look at your drawing for a few minutes.  Don’t be critical about it – it is what it is.  Try this exercise with your favorite musical pieces – rock, alternative, classical, pop, etc.  Compare the 2nd, 3rd drawing with the first.

Creative Interventions are not just for patients…

Creative Interventions should be experienced by all healthcare professionals, not just patients.  Who will benefit?  Nurses, doctors, ancillary nursing personnel, social workers, OT, PT, healthcare managers and executive staff, and academicians.  By experiencing and expanding your own definition of creativity, it will ultimately benefit your patients and your daily interactions with others. 

 (stem cell garden, Marti Hand 2008)

 

Drawings by patients with lupus…

A comment  received on the post “Drawing as a diagnostic tool in lupus patients” expressed interest in seeing some drawings created by lupus patients who participated in the research study (by Katarzyna Nowicka-Sauer).  Below is the reader’s comment:

“It would be interesting to see some of the drawings by the lupus patients! It would take me a bit to figure out how to draw my illness!!! Interesting concept really.”

In response to the comment, below are 3 drawings and their stories taken from the research article (1)…

 

 

“My illness had…still has…many faces: In the beginning I used to cry a lot, I was young and my appearance was the most important thing.  I was angry, sad…These teeth represent the horrible pain I used to suffer.  Now I accept my disease… Nevertheless, sometimes these stages come back.” (JJ, 44)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Lupus has attached many parts of my body.  Sometimes it’s hard to bear it, especially during flares… It’s also a fear: What will happen next?” (BG, 50)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“My illness is like a monster which sometimes bites, but it still has “human shape’ because I hope it will be ‘humane’ for me.”  (CR, 52)

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to the researcher, ‘drawing is an unconventional task that makes the patients think about their disease in a different way, far from medical view.  It makes them concentrate on ‘feeling’ and ‘experiencing’ the disease … Although we are used to verbalizing our thoughts and feelings, sometimes, it can be easier to express them in the visual way…”

Note: email me if you want the bibliography

Your Body as Healer…

An article titled “Miracle Survivors,” in Forbes (March 2, 2009), portrays stories of people who have spontaneous remissions from several different types of cancers. Explanations by the medical community range from “…a complete mystery,” “divine intervention,” or “the immune system.”  With regard to the latter explanation, our bodies have all the necessary elements to heal itself. 

Everyone knows who Deepak Chopra  is…here is his explanation and understanding of spontaneous remission taken from intentblog: 

“Essentially remission is based on our understanding of the science of self-repair. Our bodies have learned to heal themselves over millions of years of evolutionary time. Our bodies are the best pharmacies in nature. They make antibodies, sleeping pills, tranquilizers, immunomodulators, and anti-cancer drugs in the precise dose at the precise time and for the right taget organ; and all the instructions come in the packaging! The “packaging” is your own inner self - the ultimate and supreme genius which mirrors the wisdom of the universe.  Cognition or thinking, moods, feelings and emotions, behavior, social interactions, personal relationships, environment, diet, and the inner world of consciousness including attention and intentionality all influence the biology of healing.”

Now, back to the Forbes article…

It states that “spontaneous remissions are among the rarest and most mysterious events in medicine, with only several hundred cases that can be considered well documented.”  In 1993, two authors for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, created a database of  medically reported cases of spontaneous remission in the world from more than 3,500 references.  This data shows the ability of our bodies to heal itself is not such a rare event. 

Btw, the authors defined spontaneous remission as “the disappearance, complete or incomplete, of a disease or cancer without medical treatment or treatment that is considered inadequate to produce the resulting  disappearance of disease symptoms or tumor.” 

Activate the body’s self-healing properties with Creative Interventions in Patient Care:

• Art-making
• Writing
• Music
• Dance
• Humor
• Laughing Clubs
• Art Exhibits with artwork created by patients, families, professional staff
• Indoor and outdoor gardens
• Art at the bedside
• Limitless possibilities

 

Some Messages for Contemporary Medicine…

A little humor for the day by Groucho Marx:

 ”I never forget a face, but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.”

I recently read an article written by two physicians in Greece titled, “The Modern Hippocratic Tradition: Some Messages for Contemporary Medicine.”  The article provides background information on Hippocrates and his major achievements in medicine, namely, modern medical practice of attributing disease to natural causes, and treating based on observations, reasoning, and experience.  However, Hippocrates believed and treated his clientele as psychosomatic entities, a holistic medical approach, unlike modern medicine practice which is very depersonalizing and singularly focused on treating the body – not the whole person.

There are many fine points on the state of current medicine (undesireable) and the need for the medical establishment (and healthcare in general) to return to and embrace the basic philosophy and principles of Hippocrates.  Here, I will mention a few by putting the points in quotation marks.  But, read the entire article which you will find interesting.  Source: Marketos S, MD and Skiadas P, MD.  The Modern Hippocratic Tradition: Some Messages for Contemporary Medicine. Spine 1999;24(11):1159-1163.

“…In our times, there is a tendency to forget that the patient must occupy the center of our attention, and in forgetting this principle, physicians have almost lost control of their profession.  The innovation that Hippocrates introduced to medicine was the holistic approach to the patient…he considered and treated the patient as a psychosomatic entity and not as a mere sum of organs…”

“He believed that the human body acts as a whole, so that when an organ is ill, the whole body is being afflicted.”

Hippocrates had a strong faith in nature’s healing power.  He observed the course of  the disease, trying not to interfere with nature.  This attitude should not be explained as a passive stand toward the healing process, but as a respect for nature’s power to cure.  One of his principles is, “Merely give nature a chance, and most of the diseases will cure themselves.”

“Interest has shifted from clinical evaluation of the patients to the assessment and interpetation of sophisticated procedures. In many cases, the efficacy of advanced medical means is being overestimated.  Apart from the fact that exaggerated trust in technology can lead sometimes to inevitable mistakes, this attitude tends to alienate physicians from their target, namely the patient.”

“…the fragmentation of medical science has created a type of physician who regards the patient as a disordered mechanism rather than a psychosomatic entity…”

Hippocrates believed ,”the physician must assist nature, which is the physician of the diseases.”  The natural environment is constantly and rapidly being degradated through contamination of water and food, accumulation of chemicals, nuclear pollution, and the spread of radiation.  The consequences of these environmental changes are apparent already.  Cancer and cardiovascular disease affect a great percentage of Western countries.  This undeniable reality prompts us to rediscover the principles regarding healthful behavior, the quality of life, and the healing power of nature.”

“…biomedical technology has ignored the psychosociologic aspect, treating the patient more or less as a disease and not a unique human entity.  Depersonalization of the patient and a lost sense of his or her individuality can be confronted by keeping the Hippocratic humanistic values in perfect balance with progress in technology.”

“…medicine more than ever senses the need to combine the concepts of humanistic values and the Hippocratic messages with the techonoloic ‘imperative’ (power).  This bond is necessary to the improvement of medicine in the future because, currently, the enormous biomedical technology so far has contributed little to the traditionally human fields of psychosomatic and functional disturbances, posing new dilemmas and threatening scientific problems.”

So, what do YOU think about all this…?

Note: Please comment by selecting the tiny ‘No Comments’ or ‘Comments’ option (whichever may be the case) located in the tiny menu bar below this post.

Connecting paintings to patient care

At Dartmouth Medical School, a pilot program developed by Dr. Joseph O’Donnell has medical students studying paintings to help sharpen their observational and diagnostic skills.  The medical school collaborates with Hood Museum of Art to assist students to examine paintings, discuss what they (students) have seen, and challenge they to “support their points with visual evidence.”

                                      (Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944, ’solid green’)

One might ask how examining art is helpful in diagnosing illness and disease in patients.  According to the article, “if a couple of distinctive details in a painting are overlooked, you might arrive at an inaccurate interpretation – very similar to patient diagnosing.”  To read the article, click here.

I’d like to comment on a few points.  First of all, I love that the healthcare industry sees the value in utilizing and incorporating the arts in medical and nursing education.  By applying the same critical observation skills one uses in examining paintings (or any object) to assessing patients, the healthcare practitioner will pick up more of the subtleties regarding a patient’s condition.  However, making an accurate diagnosis is  arrived at carefully listening to a patient’s story of the events leading up her/him seeking medical help, and asking the right questions.

Lingering effects after the I.C.U

Have you had a family member or friend stay in the I.C.U (intensive care unit) for treatment of an illness?  Those of us who work in the critical care units (past tense in my case) are happy to see patients tranferred to step-down units because we feel we applied our best efforts in getting these patients on the road to recovery…and we did.  We stablized their bodies and healed them physically, but researchers are finding out that spending days, weeks or months on life support in the units can bring unexpected, long-lasting undesireable effects.

According to a New York Times article (Jan. 11, 2009), some patients  experience lingering effects from staying in the ICU for months to years after they are discharged from the hospital, such as:

• Lingering generalized weakness
• 25% of patients on mechanical ventiliation for a minimum of 5 days got so weak, they were unable to lift their arms
• Poor concentration
• Significant weight loss
• Some patients experienced symptoms of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) such as hallucinations, nightmares during sedation, mood disorders, anxiety, shortness of temper and frightening memories - click here for symptoms of PTSD in a previous post.

Dr. Dale Needham at John Hopkins has begun a 5 year study of patients discharged from the hospital and is finding many patients have difficulty in regaining their strength.  Families are finding their loved one(s) are not the same person anymore.  The difficultly lies in determining which disabilities come from the illnes as opposed to the I.C.U stay, when many patients are on a mechanical ventilator, and receives high doses of sedatives, narcotics and anesthetics.  Particularly surprising is how quickly patients loose their strength.

Patients in intensive care not only experience physical stress due to bodily trauma, but also psychosocial stressors with pain, inability to communicate, sleep deprivation, feelings of isolation or lonliness, and fear or anxiety being the most common.  A review of the literature has shown each of these stressors are associated with decreased immune functioning. (2)

In  Laitinen’s study, patients emphasized the importance and need of closeness with a healthcare professional whom they could trust to reduce feelings of anxiety, isolation and increased sense of security. (3)

 

And how are medical professionals addressing these issues? 

By…

• reducing sedation levels of pain medications, narcotics and anesthetics.
• getting patients mobilized and walking along with all the ICU paraphernalia like intravenous lines, ventilators, and monitoring equipment.
• mobilizing patients as soon as possible – patients seem to recover faster and spend less time in the intensive care and the hospital.  

Implement Creative Interventions for patients in the intensive care units

I encourage the use of Creative Interventions as non-invasive modalities to counter the psychosocial stressors and loss of strength patients experience during their intensive care stay.  Families and friends can help by bringing the supplies listed below, and more importantly, become active participants in their family member’s care.

Naturally, not all patients in the intensive care units will be capable of actively participating in creative interventions due to their conditions.   However, applying a headset to unconscious patients and playing soft soothing music is much better than hearing noxious noises and sounds of ICUs. 

Here are a few Creative Interventions to start with:

1. Headset,  ipod or CD player.  Encourage families and friends to compose the patient’s favorite playlist (soft and classical music are best), and play during visiting hours.  Nursing staff can apply this intervention during non-visiting hours.  I wrote several posts on the benefits of listening to music in reducing anxiety, pain, and as a form of relaxation.  The posts are titled, Rx: Listen to Music, Listening to Music: Another Creative Intervention.
2. Listening to music with headsets also reduces noise inherent in intensive care units.
3. Art-making activities: encourage families and friends to bring in simple art-making materials, such as watercolor markers and sketch pad or other creative materials. 
4. Engaging patients in creative activities provides a sense of enjoyment, pleasure and diversion in a bewildering and frightening environment.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
5. Give a lump of clay to patients with strokes (or any patient) to create small sculptures.  By manipulating the clay with their hands, the physical motions will help with maintaining muscle strength, dexerity, and divert their attention from their current situation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

Note: email me if you want the bibliography.

Rx:Listen to Music

Rx: Listen to Music

Is listening to music good for us?  Does music help in healing medical ailments?  Is there science supporting the benefical effects of the arts?  These are just a few questions raised  and being studied by scientists across the globe. 

In a recent New York Times article (March 29, 2009),  Michael Roizen, MD – chief wellness medical officer of the Wellness Institute at the Clevland Clinic – states listening to classical music on a consistent basis suggests “decreases in all-cause mortality, reflecting slower aging of arteries as well as cancer-related and environmental factors.  Attending sports events like soccer or football offers none of these benefits.” (1)   He states he’s not sure if the decrease in all-cause mortality is due to stress relief or other properties. 

Dr. Michael Roizen is also studying the effects of singing to help patients with strokes to relearn language.  Remember the 1999 movie “Flawless?”  The main character (Robert Deniro) suffers a debilitating stroke and is prescribed to take therapeutic singing lessons for his paralyzed larynx.  His music teacher is his gay next-door neighbor.  The outcome from taking singing lessons is positive, for relearning and regaining speech AND learning tolerance of different lifestyles.

Another researcher in neurocognition of music and language at U of Sussex in England, Stefan Koelsch, is studying the same subject, i.e., active music participation by patients suffering from depression.  According to the Mr. Koelsch, “physiologically, it’s perfectly plausible that music would affect not only psychiatric conditions but also endocrine, autonomic and autoimmune disorders.”

The main purposes of the article was to shed light on the collaborative efforts of the music and medical fields to quantify the effects of music on patients diagnosed with certain disease conditions, and highlight several companies creating and marketing propietary music  for ‘medicinal purposes’.   Here are a few interesting points made in the article: unlike prescription medication with known side and adverse effects, listening to music has no side effects; prescribe music as a prescription, just like prescribing a drug or therapeutic modality. And finally, listening to music does affect mood and well-being.

The therapeutic effects of music  is not new news…the method of delivering music, marketing and money needed for these new elaborate systems are.  WHO is paying for the high-cost of audio systems fit for concert halls in hospitals?  Instead, pay musicians to play in clinical settings.  Music is their passion and their presence will help humanize an environment that can be frightening and dehumanizing.

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing recognized the beneficial power of music on the sick. (2)  Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, believed that the human body acts as a whole, so that when an organ is ill, the whole body is being afflicted, ie., humans are psychosomatic entities. (3)

Numerous investigations on the effectiveness of music on adult patients in critical care settings in the 1990’s showed reduced anxiety states (4-6),  physiological relaxation as evidenced by reduced vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate and respirations), improved mood in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation (7-8), and published accounts indicate critically ill patients enjoy and find music helpful in dealing with the environment and in coping with the critical illness itself .(6,9-10)

For healthcare professionals working inpatient and outpatient venues, and families with a loved one going through medical treatment, try music as a creative intervention by gathering the following:

1.  Headset
2. iPod or CD player
3. Playlist of the patients’ favorite music – soft, classical or sounds of nature
4. Play the music on a consistent basis

Here’s my Rx for you…

‘Time to Say Goodbye’

by

Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman

 

Note: email me if you want the bibliography marti@martihand.com

 

Concierge services in hospitals…

Back in February 2009, I wrote a post titled ‘Creative Interventions as Patient Amenities in Hospitals’ based on an article in BusinessWeek (Feb. 16, 2009).  To summarize, the article cited a RAND marketing study indicating concierge/hospitality services as more desireable than high-quality patient care.  If this is any indication how consumers think and choose their healthcare institutions based only on plush accomodations versus low mortality (death) rates to recover from mild to life-threatening conditions, we are becoming a nation of non-thinkers.  Concierge services does NOT equal high-quality patient care!

As an advocate for integrating creativity and the creative process in healthcare, I believe creating environments conducive to the healing process is a step in the right direction.  But concierge services?  How do these services help patients and families heal?  Are there any long-term benefits of  hotel-like services for patients?  Or have hospitals strayed from their original missions and visions?  I believe the latter may be true, i.e., hospitals have lost their original vision of healing the sick in an attempt to gain market share, but at least we’ll be able to attend a cooking class at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.

                                          (Garden at Giverny, 1900 Claude Monet)

And this trend of hospitals offering concierge services termed ‘amentities’ is growing.  In July 2008, USA News had an article titled, “Who Says a Hospital Stay Can’t Be Fun?”  It shed light on the growing movement of hospitals to function more like hotels by offering amenities, such as gourmet dining, fine art, field trips, cooking and gardening classes, afternoon tea service, Wi-Fi connection, and much, much more!

Here’s a few examples of amentities offerings at some hospitals across the US: Century City Doctors Hospital in Los Angelos’ markets it’s menu created by Wolfgang Puck…installed flat-screen TVs in all rooms…M.D. Anderson Cancer Center offers patients field trips to local museums…cooking classes at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.  I wonder if patients attending a cooking class or taking a field trip actually need to be in the hospital.  WHO is paying for all this luxury?

Let’s offer Creative Interventions as Patient Amenities.  At least, there is scientific data to support the benefits of engaging in the creative process and the arts.  Read ’The Science Supporting Creativity in Healthcare’ under TOPICS on the left side.

 

Creative Interventions = Patient Amenities

Creative Interventions = Smart Marketing Strategy

Creative Interventions = Cost-Effective Treatment Modalities

 Activate the body’s self-healing properties by exploring the  relationship between art making and self-care with

Creative Interventions in Healthcare:

• Art-making
• Writing
• Music
• Dance
• Humor
• Laughter clubs
• Art exhibits with artwork created by patients, families, professional staff
• Indoor and outdoor healing gardens
• Art at the bedside
• Creative interventions for healthcare professionals
• Integrative medicine modalities

Blair Sadler, former President & CEO of Rady Children’s Hospital & Health Center (San Diego) and strong supporter of the arts in healthcare said the following…

“The arts optimize patient care and can create a strategic business advantage by differentiating themselves from competitors, and effectively garner support for starting and maintaining art programs.”

Nature…the ultimate healer.