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Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of AIM Activities 2008-2009
Massage, Art-Making, Writing, Poetry, Yoga and Music for Health Care Professionals
“This is Nurse Heaven! Great touch & I love cello music.” “I was very upset & frustrated today. Not having a good day…I feel so much better and relaxed. Thanks Just what I needed.” “the massage & music were very helpful & I believe I am now better able to care for my patients.” “It was amazing. The poetry added a nice calming effect.” “Thank you so much for sharing your fantastic art work. Excellent!! “This is a wonderful treat, I wish we had it more often. The whole floor perked up for the day.” “Invigorated. Ready to go another 12 hours” “Great pressure-love tuning forks! Great job!! Thank you! Please come back!!”
“Everyone welcomed us back. I had a full, happenin’ table the whole shift. Lots of talking. I don’t think there is any other circumstance that brings these people together from so many different offices. I have seen them go from strangers to first-name friends.” “The staff was very excited about the (art) projects. They made comments like: ‘This is stress alleviation.’ ‘Can you come back every week?’ ‘I feel like a little kid.’ ‘Thank you--I feel so much better’.” “One doctor…was feeling really down…when she was finished. I felt a shift in her energy and she was smiling and thanked both of us.” “When one nurse sat on the chair she immediately appeared more relaxed. She said, ‘Really, it makes such a difference, just having you here’.” “We had salsa music on [while people were making art] and everyone was dancing at times around the table and as they walked down the hallway.”
Live Music (guitar, cello, bass flute, or harp), Open Art Studio, and Chair Massage in the CRTC Waiting Rooms and Chemo Suites
“Feel like the weight of the world has been lifted--Thank you so very much!” “The Arts in Medicine Program is truly an inspirational program for young & elderly--My brother…was diagnosed with rectal cancer…I found that by expressing himself with his art before seeing the doctors really had proven to lower his blood pressure and he was more relaxed before having his chemotherapy or radiation therapy performed on him…” “I feel it is very important that we see our Art work at this center. It not only lifts my spirits to see beauty and color to brighten a room, but it also gives the artist a sense of accomplishment for having brought enjoyment and beauty to their lives. This program is wonderful and quite relaxing for all who participate. Please keep this program Alive to bring life to those who are struggling with a dilemma in their lives.” “Your being here is a blessing--I felt invisible…I did feel seen by you--I gave the picture I made to the lady in the front--her daughter has cancer--I hope the picture will bring her hope-to remember to reach to the angels.” “Your wonderful services make a big difference in my day-Thank you!” “…I was so impressed with the art therapy, massage, and musical offerings as well as the fish tank observation. How wonderful to see such sick people being treated with the utmost kindness and respect.” “Thank you! This is a wonderful & comforting feature at UNM CRTC.” “The music was so beautiful & took me away from all this.” “Wonderful-I needed help today-Best Program Ever” “Please keep this program running--her human touch is and has made a difference in my life, and I’m sure with others.” “Thank you for helping us cancer patients get through our treatment. It really makes a difference in my recovery…”
“The patients applauded and said that they were so happy AIM was back.” “Two male patients started weeping during the massage. They had been feeling their inability to do for themselves and having to rely on others. …They were able to relax with gentle touch and got up feeling a bit more centered.” “I worked on a woman today with pancreatic cancer. She was in a lot of pain and really loved the core synchronism treatment I could give her while she waited for a shot.” “One family member, in particular, was just thankful to have her own needs met for just a minute.” “The last set I played got a very good response with people singing along, smiling and laughing…One woman commented that the music made her feel alive.” “A chemotherapy room nurse told me how much she and the staff appreciate the music. She said it calms the patients down significantly.” “A physician said: ‘I so appreciate your playing for the patients. You do a great service. It calms the patients down before there chemotherapy’.” “The patients and staff responded very warmly today. There were around two dozen compliments…including heartfelt statements like ‘Thank you for the beauty, magnificence, and peacefulness’.” “It was a joy to see so many people at the table-adults and children. Everyone making art and coming together thought the shared images and experiences.” “Participants very engaged, busy creating and chatting--everyone very cheerful and excited.” “Everyone that saw these things wanted to make them…the fun of design & decoration and funny faces took over--a lot of fun, very happy participants.” “I notice that when I am involved with children, the patients who are waiting smile broadly! It takes the patients’ minds off of their illness and the long wait.”
Live Music (harp or guitar) and Open Art Studio in the Emergency Room (ER) Waiting Area and Open Art Studio in the Pediatric ER
“The drawing made the time go by much faster when I am in pain. Thank you so much it was very therapeutic.” “I like the harp music. Right now I have kidney stones that hurt a lot. But when I close my eyes, the pain melts away.” “This experience was great and wonderful. It reminded me how great of an artist we really are inside. Thank you for this great adventure.”
“Then he began to laugh and said how much he enjoyed the harp playing. He then took up the drawing board and spent the rest of the session creating pictures. Some of his amusing images, which I hung up in his ‘gallery’, brought laughter to the other people who had had long waits.” “…Julietta played a particularly beautiful song--a hush fell over the room. After she finished there was applause that burst forth from individuals who were seated in every corner of the room.” “…worked with a young girl terrified and about to go into surgery. She was visibly much more relaxed after using the art materials.” “One staff member said to me in passing, ‘I wish you were here all the time-it is such a help for the children…and the parents’.” “(The patient) began to speak of his experience of the music and art making. ‘I felt like my spirit was being lifted up’ he said. Then with a grin, he relayed, ‘I had to tell my soul that the music was right here--no need to go up to heaven today’.
Nite Lite: Harp in the Halls and Creative Encounters at the Bedside
"had wonderful, profound encounters with patients tonight…much appreciated by the staff…I sang lullabies and did some energy work on a patient--at some point he sat up and poured his heart out and by the end he was cracking jokes and feeling positive--quite a turn around." “the patient said that when a person arranges or writes a song and plays it for someone they give a gift no one else can give--he was uplifted beautifully…”. “…worked on the wife of a young man admitted for pain issues; both of them were much more relaxed by the time I left.” “She was having trouble sleeping so I played softly for her and her family—she was out like a light within one extended song. Her daughters thanked me…” “…an elderly man had been ‘written off’ by the nurses but when I said I was going to play music for him he immediately started to weep.”
Psychiatric Center – Live Music (jazz piano, wooden flutes or cello) and Open Art Studio, Creative Movement, Poetry Writing
Artist Observations: “…they sang and conducted, and absolutely loved the music.” “She spoke of her childhood, which was painful, and how she was trying to put her pain into the paper rather than cutting herself.” “I noticed toward the end of the session that patients had begun to put up their pictures themselves! I was so excited that they were feeling comfortable to acknowledge themselves…” “He played [the piano] beautifully, and we ended up improvising together. The art therapist said that [this patient] had always been withdrawn and unresponsive, and this was the first time she had seen him respond to anything…a psychiatrist was also surprised.” “The recreational therapist told me after the session that she was surprised to see (the patient) speaking and being so interactive—apparently she had been completely silent for the previous four days.”
Multicultural Music and Dance Concert Series
Featuring musicians from UNMH, the College of Fine Arts, and the community-at-large, the concert series continues to foster goodwill and camaraderie among UNMH providers, staff, patients, and their families. The concerts in 2008/09 were very diverse in nature including but not limited to: bellydance, flamenco, and East Indian Bhangra dance; Mariachi, Chamber, Irish, and Celtic music; the UNM Women’s Choir; the UNM Children’s Choir; Dr. Seuss Live (UNM Department of Theatre and Dance production; an Italian Opera singer; and a group of young harpists. Art materials were provided for all as well as transportation for patients. Participant Responses: “The arts mid-week concerts are terrific!! I work on the 4th floor OB/GYN department and make a special point each week to make these concerts part of my lunch time. What a joy!” “…to win the Jeopardy contest today…was truly a thrill. I have wanted to go to the Santa Fe Opera ever since I was old enough to know there was a Santa Fe Opera. You have truly made a life-long dream come true.” “Didn’t realize how stressed I was. Brought me back to earth in a loving way.” “Thanks so much. You’re an angel, we don’t have to run to our medicine chest for tension & headaches, etc. Take care & God Bless U.” “shoulders knot up working on computer--music & massage are a perfect combination for relaxation.” Artist Observations: “One hospital employee responded, ‘Seriously, just seeing you all here, changes the whole atmosphere.”“A very gracious, grateful, engaged audience…at least 3 patients coloring, multiple clinic visitors coloring, employee dancing…many, many compliments and thanks.” “We had a group today from the cardiac-pulmonary rehab unit that were especially thankful, loved the entertainment and thanked us repeatedly.” “One guy with a cast on his leg up to his waist and in a wheel chair, looked so happy to be here, he actually started to belly dance a little bit in his wheelchair.” “Several patients seen relaxing, swaying, eyes closed.” |
This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs,
and the National Endowment for the Arts.
All Content and Images Copyright ©2005 The University of New Mexico Arts-In-Medicine Program. All Rights Reserved.