New Mexico News
| HEALTHBITS - UNM Program Shows Curative Powers of Creativity to Patients and Health Care Workers |
| Posted by () on May 21 2008 at 7:00 PM |
Two firsts were in store for Irene Salas on a recent visit to the University of New Mexico Cancer Center: She underwent a chemotherapy infusion and heard a live harp performance.
"I love that harp," said Salas as she reclined in a chemotherapy suite with an intravenous needle in her arm. The 57-year-old Albuquerque woman was diagnosed in September with multiple myeloma, a cancer that strikes plasma in bone marrow.
Just feet away, UNM harp teacher Lynn DeVelder played soulful pieces such as "Sheep May Safely Graze" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
"When you hear this music, it brings your spirits up," said Salas, who expected to spend all day at the cancer center.
Lifting spirits is exactly the point of UNM's Arts-in-Medicine program, which puts musicians, poets, visual artists, dancers and masseurs in intimate contact with patients and health care workers.
Their purpose is to transform clinical environments such as hospital waiting rooms and emergency departments into places of life, creativity and hope.
"In the beginning it was all very strange for everyone," said Patricia Repar, a UNM music professor and composer who started the program in 2002. "Nobody had really heard of music therapy."
Since then, art therapy has become commonplace at UNM and elsewhere. "It's really a movement in the culture," she said. "There are arts-in-media programs burgeoning all over the country."
UNM's program employs 25 part-time artists and masseurs who set up in hallways, waiting rooms, patient rooms, pediatric oncology and even the emergency room. The program has a $100,000 annual budget, Repar said.
Each Tuesday morning, Corrales potter and artist Catherine Veblen sets up a table in a waiting room at the Cancer Center, encouraging patients and staff members to make art.
Her takers on a recent morning include cancer patients and their families, both kids and adults, who use leaves, crayons, decorative paper and watercolors to make gift cards.
"Everybody comes in here and says, 'I'm not artistic,' '' Veblen said. "Then they sit down and make incredible things."
Behind her, UNM guitar teacher Joseph Williams plays classical guitar. The music and artwork change the atmosphere from a cold hospital waiting room to a creative space where people socialize and make art, Veblen said.
"Grandmothers usually come over to see what's going on," Veblen said. Men are more reluctant. "It's hard to get men to make art for some reason."
An exception is Dr. John Tyson, a 73-year-old pediatrician who had surgery in December 2006 for prostate cancer. During a follow-up visit at the UNM Cancer Center, Tyson dove into the crayons and watercolors to make a gift card.
"I could spend all day here," Tyson said as he worked. "I should make appointments more often."
He asks Veblen, "If I do OK, will you write me a recommendation for a nursing home?"
Williams, 28, has played guitar three years for the program. The Belen native said he invariably strikes up conversations with patients during breaks in his performances.
"I talk with several patients every time I work," he said. "A lot of times, they talk about coping more than anything."
Williams says he plays music that suits the environment and the moment.
"I try to play a lot of relaxing music," particularly in the chemotherapy rooms, he said. "In waiting rooms, I play more up-tempo stuff to make the wait go faster."
Chemotherapy infusions often take hours and patients find the music comforting, "like a blanket," Williams said. "I think the music transforms the chemo rooms," he said.
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