Embrace Aging Though the Arts & Community
Aberdeen Hospital’s Art Program
Description: The Art Program at Aberdeen Hospital was spear headed by Johanne Hemond, Recreation Therapist at Island Health. It began in Sept 2013 when a proposal, written by Johanne, was submitted to the District of Saanich’s Arts Centre at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre to develop an art program based on community inclusion
and building partnerships. The proposal was well received and the program was then developed by the Saanich’s Arts Centre’s Arts Specialist, the programmer, the instructor and Island Health’s Recreation Therapist. Once a month participants from Aberdeen Hospital (a complex care facility in Victoria) go to Saanich’s Arts Centre for art classes facilitated by an instructor, a Recreation Therapist and volunteers. Three times a month, the art program takes place at Aberdeen Hospital. The program culminates in March in an exhibition during Embrace Aging (sponsored by the Eldercare Foundation) at the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria's Gallery, located at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre. Purpose: Research indicates that arts-based activities contribute to individual health and well-being, to community health, and to potentially increase the effectiveness of medical diagnosis and treatment. Potential benefits of an Art Program in Complex Care with access to the community may include:
•Reducing the use of pharmaceuticals and thus their costs and complications;
•Helping to manage persistent pain and other chronic health conditions, including mental health challenges;
•Improving communication between medical staff and patients, and among staff members and providing a feeling of inclusion into their community. Outcomes: To offer creative interventions for residents who have a special interest in the arts and to connect with the community. . Areas of rehabilitation that may be involved are:
•Cognitive: attention skills, long and short – term memory, sequencing;
•Psychosocial: anxiety management, motivation, acceptance, self-esteem, social interactions through feelings of belonging to the community;
•Communication: potential in increase in fluency and give the potential to communicate through creation;
•Overall sensory stimulation and facilitating movement by the way of incorporating hand eye dexterity. Partners: Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation and the C.A.C.G.V. (gallery)
Time: September 2013 – March 2014, and September 2014 – March 2015,
September 2015-March 2016
September 2016-March 2017
Location: Victoria
Art Modalities: Visual arts, ceramics
Contact:
Island Health
Johanne Hemond, Recreation Therapist
