Art Workshops for Health Care StaffEvery year since 2013 in hospitals across Lithuania we have organised a project called “Menas žmogaus gerovei” (Art for well-being), where silk painting workshops have being organised for the health care staff. Health care workers participate in a creative art programmes supervised by professional artists from Kaunas, Panevėžys and Vilnius. The creative results are presented in public exhibitions.
Health care staff face a variety of stressors at work, they experience enhanced fatigue, tension and a burden of responsibility. Participation in arts activities has a positive impact on well-being amongst health care staff, on the quality of services they provide, and on their patients’ well-being. Project video with English subtitles (watch HD).
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Research presentation in Bristol
In 2017, June 19-21 we took part in an international conference „Culture, Health and Wellbeing“ in Bristol (UK). This biannual event is one of two major arts for health events in the world (another event is the annual International Arts and Health Conference in Australia). The event in Bristol was attended by over 500 people from 22 countries. The programme included oral presentations of projects and research, workshops, theatre and music presentations, exhibitions, panel and round table discussions. In the spotlight there were themes of cultural policy, social exclusion, widely discussed the new tendencies in arts for health, etc. Considerable attention this year was given to the theme of ageing, dementia and Alzheimer‘s. The closing presentation was given by Clive Parkinson and Vic McKeen, who presented their collaborative work in the project “Harmonic Oscillator”. It was the second presentation of this project after event in Vilnius. In the session „The well-being of healthcare staff“ we presented a research „The Impact of Arts Activity on Nursing Staff Subjective Health, Perceived Stress and Fatigue: An Intervention in the Workplace“, which was implemented as a part of a project “Menas žmogaus gerovei“. Participation in creative activity boosts psycho-social and spiritual health, gives new knowledge, experience, skills, and self-awareness and self-expression possibilities, and develops creativity, communicative capabilities and empathy. Creativity and creative approach fosters professional advancement.
In 2016 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published article The Impact of Arts Activity on Nursing Staff Well-Being: An Intervention in the Workplace, which presents the findings of the research delivered in the project "Art for well-being“ in the hospitals in Lithuania. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of arts activity on the well-being of nursing staff. This research suggests that arts activity, as a workplace intervention, can be used to promote nursing staff well-being at work.
From 2012 to 2016 health care staff of the following hospitals took part in the project:
Vilnius City Clinic Hospital, Vilnius University Hospital Santariškių Klinikos, National Cancer Institute, Nursing Hospital of Kaunas, Republican Hospital of Kaunas, Republican Hospital of Panevėžys, Supportive Care and Nursing Hospital of Panevėžys, etc. Supporters: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, The Lithuanian Council for Culture. |