About The Deborah Jean Arts in Hospitals and Hospice Program

Beginning

The Deborah Jean Arts in Hospitals and Hospice Program was founded in 2005 in loving memory of Deborah Jean Woolsey.  Following a generous contribution by Deborah Jean's parents, Harold and Jean Woolsey, in 2004. ArtStream used the funds to mobilize efforts to bring creative expression to children in hospitals and hospice contexts, as well as those who are bereaved or dying.

Sally Kinka, one of the founders of ArtStream, took on the responsibilities of Director of Hospital and Hospice Programs.  Sally had begun her hospital and hospice work earlier – she had been offering bedside storytelling since 1998.  In fact, Sally's storytelling was one of the first programs integrated into ArtStream in 2005.  

In Fall 2009, as Sally was in the midst of relocating to North Carolina, ArtStream brought on Ermyn King as our new Director of Hospital and Hospice Programs.  Ermyn's experience in the arts in healthcare field and in new program development has made her a perfect fit for ArtStream.

With the founding of the Deborah Jean Arts in Hospitals and Hospice Program, ArtStream has been able to take our hospital and hospice programming work to another level. We are not only practitioners in the arts in healthcare.  We are also innovators in our field.

Our Goals

In brief, the Deborah Jean Arts in Hospitals and Hospice Program seeks to develop, implement, and evaluate innovative program models for diverse populations within the arts in healthcare field, in accordance with its highest standards.

The primary goal of every ArtStream session is to provide an exemplary arts experience that enhances quality of life and well-being. Participants are provided with arts opportunities that stimulate self-expression.  Creative expression can serve as a lifeline to their imaginations, hopes, dreams and the emotions and thoughts that they are experiencing.  Deborah Jean Program artists sensitively facilitate arts experiences by establishing a safe environment for creative expression.

We strive to give participants a sense of ownership.  Since those who spend significant time in hospitals and hospice settings are generally told what to do, what to eat, etc., we offer them choices – in arts materials, activities, and methods.  It is our wish that participants experience empowerment and affirmation as active participants in ArtStream arts sessions. By skillfully working with healthcare setting dynamics in delivery of arts programming, ArtStream artists may also help to transform the environment of care through the arts.

Deborah Jean Program artists in healthcare function as artists facilitating high-quality arts experiences for participants, and carefully respect appropriate role boundaries between artists in healthcare and creative arts therapists. 

Future Goals

In the future, we wish to expand our programming to include arts sessions for caregivers, people who are homebound due to illness and those in hospice care. We also wish to enhance our programs for Wounded Warriors and military personnel, their families and military hospital staff, as well as our programming for senior citizens.

In all that we do, we seek to advance best practices in the arts in healthcare field.


Awards and Recognition

Society for the Arts in Healthcare Conference - April 2011
Knights of Glory chosen to be a part of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare's Annual Film Festival. 

Society for the Arts in Healthcare Conference - April 2010
Presentation focusing on the development of Knights of Glory from a touring performance to its eventual evolution as a web-based tool for an online community of teens who face illness in hospitals, hospice facilities and at home.

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