The Art of Caregiving
Bill’s dementia took a sharp down turn three years ago. He couldn’t recognize his home, his children, or his wife Arlene.
Arlene now drives from Paris, Ontario to visit St. Joseph Healthcare Hamilton’s Seniors Mental Health Behavioural (SMHB) inpatient unit since Bill became a patient in April 2019. She rarely misses a day to see her husband. With Bill being cared for in a space decorated with nostalgic trinkets, and colourful walls warmed by homey touches, the time they have together is made that much better.
“I feel like I’m coming into a place that feels more like home, and not a hospital,” Arlene says. “Bill’s not able to voice if he likes the art here, but sometimes I’ll ask, ‘See the fireplace on the wall, do you like it?’ And sometimes Bill will look at me and nod. It’s encouraging to know he can feel it.”
Arlene Jeffrey and her husband Bill Jeffrey spend time by the fireplace in the Seniors Mental Health Behavioural inpatient unit at St. Joe’s West 5th Campus.
We can all experience art
We can make art, see it, touch it, hear it and feel it. It can be powerful enough to inspire how we experience our environments; and the power of art is well-recognized in Bill’s unit. A project launched by the unit’s Art Committee, collaboratively with St. Joe’s Art Therapy program, is redesigning the SMHB inpatient unit to influence positive patient behavior and safety, and to create a comforting, inviting space for anyone who enters.
“Patients, loved ones and staff spend a lot of their time in the unit, so by transforming it with murals, new furniture and interactive art installations, we think it really can positively impact everyone’s time with us,” comments Art Therapist Laura Bromwich.
Fireplaces on the walls are paired with cushy chairs, and lamp posts are drawn around lights to emulate the outdoors. Bookcases are painted on exit points to promote positive patient behavior, designed to keep them away from those areas.
3-dimensional art for patients to see, touch and hear. Patients can tip the watering can and spin the flowers.
A beautifully painted lamp post wrapped around an existing light fixture to invoke feelings of being outdoors.
A caring, contributing community
The latest initiative is a stunning collection of community work – a quilt made up of individually-crafted, handsewn pieces that more than 60 people across the hospital and region contributed towards. The quilt will hang on a unit wall, symbolizing the community’s recognition and support of those impacted by dementia and other mental illness. It’s another piece of the greater goal to make a space that is a comfortable, uplifting and peaceful place to be.
Harbour North 1 Art Committee holding the collaborative quilt, made with contributions from people across St. Joe’s and the broader community.
(L-R): April Mansilla, Artist and Former Patient, Maria Nicula, Volunteer, Shelley Wright, Nurse Manager, Kerry Maddison, Volunteer, Dr. Johnathon Crowson, Head of Service, Laura Bromwich, Art Therapist, Anastasiya Slyepchenko, Volunteer
“The art installations have made an enormous difference for patients, families and staff. Our unit is more inviting and welcoming for new patients and families who are adjusting to being in hospital more smoothly,” emphasizes Dr. Sharon Duff, Geriatric Psychiatrist at St. Joe’s. “For existing patients, art provides a way to engage them throughout the day, doing things that are familiar and soothing to them, like sitting by the fireplace.”
“Staff are very caring here, and if there’s a day I can’t see Bill, then I’m okay because I know he’s in good hands,” says Arlene. “And when I do come, it’s nice to know we can be together in a place that feels a little more like we’re sitting in our own home.”
St. Joseph’s Hamilton Healthcare Foundation raises funds to support art therapy programs at the West 5th Campus through its Gifts of Caring program. This holiday season, you can make a donation to programs just like this one, helping to purchase quilting and painting supplies that will support the continued transformation of our units into art-infused therapeutic environments.
Visit www.stjoesfoundation.ca/giftsofcaring for more information or to make a gift.
For more information on the Seniors Mental Health Behavioural inpatient program, visit our mental health services section here.