This project is a pre-project to developing a foundation for an international Arts in Health Biennale in hospitals in Denmark. The purpose is to support the Danish healthcare system by minimizing the prevailing health inequality and contributing to the recruitment and retention of healthcare personnel. It is built on a strategic focus on art and culture as health-promoting interventions, as described by WHO as supportive in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation [16]. In the project, key cultural and healthcare actors collaborate to develop a mapping method of hospital departments’ health-related and artistic potentials and barriers.
The project has been carried out in close collaboration with staff, patients, and relatives at the Unit for Palliative Care and Department of Urology at Regional Hospital Gødstrup, and in the summer of 2023, two pilot prototypes were implemented in the departments.
Initially, it has been successful in creating a rewarding interdisciplinary development space where cultural and healthcare professionals have been able to collaborate in creating new and improved healthcare practices. The foundation for this collaboration is thorough work on method development, including Atmospheric Gap Analysis, which has laid the groundwork for interdisciplinary development. In Unit for Palliative Care, in collaboration with director and actors Thure Lindhardt and Kai Bredholt, a ritual for families experiencing loss called the Ritual of Remembrance has been developed. In the Department of Urology, with interior architect Mette Risbæk and Asger Bruun Hansen, a Delirium-Palliating Room has been created. This room, with simple measures, aims to create a homely and comforting atmosphere to alleviate delirium symptoms.
In summary, a method has been established that can be used to initiate collaborations between arts and healthcare professionals, which will be crucial for a deep implementation of culture and health innovation projects. The two pilots demonstrate that it is possible to systematically work with art and health innovation within the heart of hospitals, to the great benefit of staff and patients, particularly stimulating the nursing profession. There is also a need to develop more knowledge and fine-tune models to create a scalable method tailored to the needs of each department.
The project is still ongoing…
“Bringing art and artists into a hospital expands the perspective we have as healthcare professionals. It adds another dimension in working with people and their health. The further into the hospital we go, the closer we get to where the patients stay, and the less we actually have of art and culture. It’s an ambition and a vision we have. It’s that art and culture should go all the way into the hospital rooms where the patients are.”
Director of Nursing, Rikke Degn, RHG
“It means a lot to me because, firstly, I believe it brings joy to the employees to be involved in such projects. Additionally, I also think it benefits patients and their families. It’s crucial to incorporate culture into healthcare because there’s ample evidence that it holds value.”
Chief Nurse, Lene Høgsberg, Palliative Care Unit, RHG
“We have been listened to. I think that has been really good, and it’s important because otherwise, we’ll never take ownership of it. We’ll never use it as it was perhaps intended if it doesn’t stem from what we engage with.”
Head Nurse, Merete Haubjerg Sørensen, Urology, RHG
“It must be a collaboration between different subject groups and disciplines, in this case, the hospital staff, nurses and the artists. When we meet in an interdisciplinary way, we create ‘a third space’, a space between us, where there is made room for it, and that makes the practice truly interesting.”
Director and actor, Thure Lindhardt
“I think everything they participated in leading up to it, the workshop that was both a bit crazy, exciting, creative, challenging, yet very serious, helped to break down some barriers for many, and especially to get us thinking some new thoughts.”
Chief Nurse, Lene Høgsberg, Palliative Care Unit, RHG
“Much of our development so far has been focused on the analytical world. Especially at our hospitals, which are top-notch. But the existential research… we do not work with that at the core of the hospital.”
Architect and designer, Esben Bala Skouboe
“I feel that working with artists involves a significant mutual respect from both professional groups. What I particularly liked about it was that you could bring your expertise into the artistic realm. In that way, it elevates some of the professional aspects that one typically engages in.”
Chief Nurse, Lene Høgsberg, Palliative Care Unit, RHG
Studio Poesis
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