Instruments for Living
The slope between wellness and illness can be treacherous as a person finds herself careening down the incline of compromised health. And it can be disorienting. As she enters the hospital she shifts from person to patient, to strange surroundings and wardrobe. Time and space are altered. She relinquishes control to strangers and isolation sets in as her loved ones begin to reflect her new status.  Together, they are all suddenly thrust into unfamiliar terrain and language: weighty decisions have to be made, and almost without warning, their collective history and identity are altered. The patient becomes her illness.

• A phlebotomist finally succeeds in inserting a stubborn needle into patient's arm after an African storyteller enters the room and begins to softly drum and weave a tale.
• A post-operative patient increases his number of rehabilitative laps around the hall when he begins to follow behind an accordion player.
• A painting in the hospital gallery inspires a patient to talk for the first time in a week.
• Patients, isolated by their acute psychiatric disorders, establish community through group poems they create.

Why the Arts in the Hospital? For Patients...
To remind patients and their families that they are more than their illness; that they are complete, complex human beings whose lives are reflected in the music, poetry, dance, art and literature that we bring to them.. 

To promote healing. The arts can promote relaxation, which in turn, releases endorphins to help ease pain and discomfort.

To provide instruments for living for patients and their families to take with them when they leave the hospital.



ForCaregivers...
Many Caregivers would say the profession chooses them. That taking care of others is a calling, one that most of them respond to with unquestioning commitment. And soon Caregivers can find that commitment obscures their own needs and leaves them with one purpose: to care for others. It’s easy to get lost in the nobility of caring and to succumb to the stress it produces.  Unresolved grief, loss, the burden of quick reactions and tough decisions take a toll. The arts are an antidote to stress, and we want unstressed health professionals taking care of us.

Director's Letter continued. click here.

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