A research project to investigate the role of the arts in the healing environment is to be undertaken at Waterford Regional Hospital. A visual arts tradition has been established at the hospital by the Waterford Healing Arts Trust. The group was set up 10 years ago and its work has gained national recognition.
Dr Abdul Bulbulia, chairman of the trust, believes the benefits of the scheme are huge. "Observing a young person twiddling with the spirit levels of Remco de Fouw's interactive sculpture in the hospital foyer, or watching an older person moved by an uplifting painting in a waiting area, is ample evidence of the beneficial role of the visual arts within the healing environment," he said.
The scheme is to be taken a step further with the appointment by Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) of an MA research student to investigate the extent to which the arts can contribute to the healing environment at the hospital.
There are plans to extend artistic activities at the hospital into music and the performing arts, and the research will include an investigation into the role and efficacy of different art forms.
The project will be supervised by Dr Bulbulia and Dr Peter Jordan, a senior lecturer in applied arts at WIT. A recent conference organised by the medical humanities unit of University College Medical School in London emphasised the importance of the arts in the healing process.
"It's not about hanging pictures on walls, it's about a philosophy dating back thousands of years which recognised therapeutic and holistic values as being essential to healthcare," said Dr Rosalia Staricoff, director of research into the role of the arts at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
An exhibition of skyscapes and landscapes by Gemma Hodge, currently artist-in-residence at Waterford Regional Hospital, opened on Friday and runs until the end of August.