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Musician Maria Dunn plays while patients receive I.V. therapy
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The Arts and Health:
Artists on the Wards
Table of Contents
Introduction
Growing Support for the Arts in Healthcare
Artists on the Wards
Conclusion
All Resources
Acknowledgements
Feature developed by Susan Pointe, BSc, MMSt, art advisor for the Friends of University Hospitals.
This paper was originally presented by Susan Pointe, art advisor for the Friends of University Hospitals, at the March 1, 2007, In Focus Speakers’ Series Workshop on the Arts and Health.
Dr. Pamela Brett–Maclean, co-director of the Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine Program at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, presented a paper on the role of the arts in the education of health professionals at the same workshop. This was published as a companion Arts in Health In Focus article.
Special thanks to Naj Wikoff, former president of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare; Shirley Serviss, writer; and Pamela Brett–Maclean, co-director of the Arts and Humanities in Health and Medicine program at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, for their collaboration in the development of this article.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Policy Research Group of the Department of Canadian Heritage Planning and Research Branch, which helped make this event possible.
The views and opinions in this paper reflect those of the author and do not necessarily represent the positions of the Department of Canadian Heritage or the Government of Canada.
Introduction
“I would like to express my appreciation to you in relation to your musician, Al…When I was doing an invasive procedure on a young man with Down’s syndrome, and Al was in the unit playing his guitar and singing, I asked Al if he could stay for a few minutes at this patient’s bedside to serve as a diversion to the patient while I was performing the procedure. Al stayed and played … and made the procedure go extremely smoothly with no requirements for sedating medications.”
– Kimberly Scherr,
October 13, 2003, letter to Friends of University Hospitals
If artists in medical settings can reduce the use of sedating medications, is it then impossible to believe that expenditures in the arts may mean a savings in healthcare?
Growing Support for the Arts in Healthcare
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