This Special Study Unit highlights the role of arts in healthcare, a relatively new subject but one that new doctors need to be aware of. More and more healthcare professionals are taking a holisitic approach to patient care, and the healthcare environment is increasingly seen as an important factor in both the patient experience and staff working lives. We will be working closely with a group of 4th year medical students from the Peninsula Medical School on a project will run between October 09 and April 2010.
We will look at a number of areas for the medical students to work with us on and we are keen to involve them in an ongoing project, the actual nature of which has yet to be decided. We will be reporting back on how this scheme is going as things develop.
October 2009
Our first 2 days with the medical students have been completed and we are delighted at the group’s enthusiasm to this subject. They have visited areas within the hospital that we have already been working on to see the difference a small amount of intervention can make to a department. The students have also spent some time with both staff and patients in the Fracture Clinic helping them to decide which artist to work with on their newly upgraded facilities.
January 2010
For the first two days that the medical students were back after the Christmas break they worked with Zest on their special study unit. Tom, Vik, Ciara, Lindsey, Sarah, James and Bridged were asked to work with us on the new artworks for the Children and Young People’s Outpatients Department on Level 12. Firstly they visited the area that is going to be reconfigured into new consulting rooms and waiting areas so that they were familiar with departemnt. In the afternoon they attended a creative workshop run by illustrator Maria Taylor. The idea behind the workshop was to generate ideas for the images that will be used in the new designs on Level 12.
On the second day, the students were involved in looking at how we can improve the wayfinding and signposting within Derriford Hospital. They were able to put a new perspective on this project and some of their ideas may be incorporated into this new initiative that Zest are currently working on.
