Arts & Health Projects with HEART:
♥ Arts & Health Resources Page - our curated list of some of the articles, databases, organizations, and other resources in this field.
♥ Conversations With The Seeress: Interrogating Habits of Apocalyptic Thinking by Connie Amundson, DC, MA, PhC - a re-imagining of Völuspá, a poem from the Old Norse Elder Edda, with Audio Recording & "Box of Transformation."
♥ In conjunction with the 2020 tour of Nightingale, our research team undertook a qualitative study about the impact on nurses and nursing students and professors of attending a performance of the show. For this study, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted. In addition, an online survey of audience members (including the general public) captured their responses and demographics. Upon completion of the interviews, the transcripts were analyzed for themes as expressed by the interviewees.
♥ Dr. Connie Amundson, one of our HEARTS Directors, presented the results at the virtual (due to COVID) 15th annual Arts in Society Conference in June, 2020, at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The presentation is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG_c2qwsTnM&t=63s)
♥ Dr. Connie Amundson and Dr. Lena Hristova presented this project at Inovine's 3rd Virtual Conference on Nursing Education and Health Care, September 24-25, 2021. See and hear the presentation by clicking on the title: "Nightingale - Empowering Nurses Through the Performing Arts: The Impact of Attending a Musical about Florence Nightingale."
♥ HEARTS is a co-sponsor of a theater-in-health research project which began with a pilot program in the winter of 2019. Three free-standing workshops were held January, February, and March in which participants, under the leadership of Cathy Madden of the University of Washington School of Drama, created a play based on improvised theater activities. Pre- and post-quality of life surveys and written free-form impressions were administered at each workshop. Results have been collected and thus far indicate that an expansion of this project is warranted.
Dr. Connie Amundson and Cathy Madden presented the practice and theory behind this project at the 14th International Arts in Society Conference, June 19-21, 2019, at the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Portugal.
♥ During the academic year 2021/2022, Dr. Amundson, in collaboration with Cathy Madden (faculty member in the University of Washington's School of Drama) conducted a case study exploring the potential benefits of using exercises from the actor's canon to enhance physicians' creativity, communication, and compassion in the telehealth space. The results of the study were presented in two ways: first, a paper at the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center's annual conference in 2022; and second, via an arts-based research video. The video can be viewed on YouTube [Pam, I'll send the video from my gmail account. Does HEARTS have a YouTube channel? Can you post and create the link?] In order to expand the project to 10-12 participants, we are seeking funding as well as physicians who are active in telehealth.
♥ Dr. Amundson is laying the foundation for a devised, participatory piece based on Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Seeress). Participants will explore the layers of the Norse god Odin’s toxic masculinity. The Seeress challenges Odin by asking, “Do you want to know more, or what?”