Why and How the Arts Are Good for Health
The creative arts have a significant role to play in reducing the costs of many medical treatments, in relieving stress and tension in professional caregivers, in promoting individual and community health, and thereby potentially avoiding demands on our health care system.
The Okanagan Institute conducted two the Arts and Health forums in association with Okanagan College and the BC Arts Council in the first week of December 2008, featuring presentations by Nancy Cooley, a leading advocate. The forum allowed participants to learn more about arts and health activities across Canada and the world, meet others in the Okanagan involved in or interested in arts and health, and advance the conversation on arts and health in the Okanagan.
On January 22 2009 the ongoing weekly Okanagan Institute Express series hosted ArtsCare: A Community Dialogue as Karen Close, Ellen Burdett and Bev Anderson presented a lively and focussed roundtable discussion on the role of the arts in health.
The presenters invited participation from all members of the community, and welcomed hearing about:
» ideas for Arts and Health advocacy in the Okanagan
» Arts and Health related initiatives that you have experienced or are currently involved with
» ideas about how we might move together as an Okanagan group with common goals related to Arts and Health.
The creative arts have been contributing to healthcare for more than a century. Research has demonstrated their efficacy in many areas, including:
» reducing anxiety and tension in cardiac and surgery patients and thus the use of mood altering drugs and painkillers
» reducing pain and discomfort in individuals suffering from a wide variety of illnesses and thus reducing or avoiding other pharmaceutical use and their adverse reactions
» enhancing the development of critically ill newborns, reducing their time in intensive care units and thus the costs of their care;
» increasing the speed and completion rate of a variety of medical interventions, including colonoscopies
» intervening to help mentally ill remain stable and thus avoid expensive hospitilization
» reducing tensions and stress among doctors, nurses and other caregivers
» providing more comfortable, relaxing, and encouraging physical surroundings in medical facilities for patients and their families.
Arts and cultural activities have also been shown to be exceptionally effective in reaching out to and engaging marginalized groups, youth-at-risk, and the elderly. Arts programming levels the playing field for disadvantaged youth and leads to higher levels of academic achievement and life success in youth from all socio-economic backgrounds. Arts and culture also can be used as powerful vehicles for bringing people together to address difficult and divisive social issues (such as drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, poverty), the improvement or resolution of which have been correlated with improved health in many populations.
The Okanagan Institute would like to see the creative arts fully integrated into all care environments and the community at large for the health of patients, healers, families, community members and artists. Specifically:
» To innovate patient care and healing both in the hospital and community setting through the introduction of the international language of the arts
» To create programs that allow staff and patients to tap into their creative healing energies
» To introduce the live arts and music to hospitals and healthcare settings as a means of meditative diversion at the very least
» To create opportunities for artists and musicians to enjoy paid participation in the art of healing.
Benefits to the Arts Community:
» The opportunity to view their work as a valuable contribution to the health of the community
» The creation of innovative employment opportunities
» The opportunity to expose their work to a much wider audience.
» The opportunity to share the meditative effects of their process with an appreciative audience
» New performance and gallery spaces will be created
» To experience and be informed by the dynamic environment of life and death.
Benefits to Healthcare and the Community:
» Staff, patients and families experience the calming influence of an artist or musician
» Patients have the opportunity to engage with an artist providing them not only diversion but the opportunity to tap into their own creative energy.
» The body, mind, spirit connection will be made
» Activities that bring joy and laughter will be brought into the healthcare system.
 Karen Close has BA and a BEd (visual arts specialist). Teaching English and Art for 30 years gave Karen a deep appreciation for the healing benefits of creative expression. Retirement in 1995 gave her the opportunity to expand her knowledge and devote her time to arts and health advocacy. In 2005 she presented at the international conference of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare in Edmonton and in 2006 at the Canadian Society for Education through Art in Winnipeg. Karen is a painter and the author of Unfinished Women: Seeds From My Friendship With Reva Brooks and Spirit of Kelowna A Celebration of Art and Community. Her heART FIT classes at the Rotary Centre for the Arts teach the healing benefits of 'spontaneous process painting'.
 Ellen Burdett has a BA from SFU and a LLB from UBC, and practiced law and taught at UBC Law School prior to her appointment to the Provincial Court 15 years ago. She has served as an Associate Chief Judge and presently is the Administrative Judge for the Okanagan District. She is currently on medical leave, undergoing treatment for cancer. Ellen has lived in Kelowna for the past four and half years, and resides in the Mission area with her two teenaged children.
 Bev Anderson lived in the Northwest Territories where she worked with the Supreme Court for many years. While travelling with the courts she developed a sense of empathy for those going through the court system. At the same time she was taken by the profound beauty of the harsh north and began to develop her creativity. In 2002 she moved to Kelowna to pursue a formal education in visual arts. Bev Anderson graduated from UBCO in 2006 with a Fine Arts Degree, where she received the Helen Pitt Award and a full academic scholarship for two consecutive years. In 2008 Bev became the ArtWorks Studio Coordinator at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) in Kelowna. She now offers support and instruction to studio participants in discovering and developing their creative talents as they deal with the challenges of a mental illness.
A Discussion Forum of Plans for an Arts and Health Network
With guest speaker Nancy Cooley
» December 2, 2008, 12-2 pm Kelowna campus, Okanagan College
» December 3, 2008, 7-9 pm Vernon campus, Okanagan College
Why arts and health? Research and
experience around the world indicate participation in arts-based
activities has positive impacts on individual and
community health and on the cost and effectiveness of health care.
Why a network? To access information about the
benefits of arts and health activities; to contact those
involved; to share experience and expertise; to build upon
others' work; and to make the most effective use of scarce resources.
Why the Okanagan? Participation in the arts contributes to better physical and emotional health; more satisfaction with one's life; higher levels of achievement
in both school and later life; greater longevity; and for
seniors, longer independent living and more active social
connections. All issues important to people in the Okanagan.
Come to the meetings to learn
more about arts and health activities across Canada and the world; meet
others in the Okanagan involved in or interested in arts and
health; help advance the conversation on arts and health in
the Okanagan; and make your voice heard as to what you
need or would like to see in an arts and health network.
The current initiative to create a plan for an
arts and health network is conducting conversations
in the province to:
» identify local needs and desired functions for an arts and health network;
» explore possible organizational options for a network;
» review the pilot network web site and any suggested additions or modifications;
» bring people together in communities who may not know about each other's activities;
» identify any desired actions to advance the development of arts and health locally; and
» continue building working relationships.
Explore the pilot website for the arts and
health network which includes the background paper
Arts and Culture in Medicine and Health: A Survey Research
Paper for the 2005 Forum on Arts and Health, and other
documents of interest: www.artshealthnetworkcanada.com
Guest speaker Nancy Cooley was the director of the 1st Canadian Forum on Arts and Health
This event is sponsored by Okanagan College.
| 
