Tips for Healthcare Artwork

The practice of installing healing art a cutting-edge concept backed by solid research is gaining momentum at progressive hospitals and medical centers across the country as well as internationally. Studies by NHS Estates (an executive agency of Great Britains Department of Health), the American College of Chest Physicians, and others indicate that specially selected visual art displayed in hospitals helps ease the stress of patients, ultimately speeding recovery. Patients provided with healing images are more relaxed, tend to need less pain medication, and in general just get better faster. The sensory distraction of art displays in hospitals actually constitutes the first step in the healing process, says art consultant Jan Marion, one of the Chicago-areas most sought-after providers of healing art for hospitals and medical centers. Its no exaggeration to say that art empowers patients to recover.

Careful selection is crucial to the effectiveness of healing art in hospitals, and Marion is an expert at the process. Marion, who earned a dual college degree in engineering and fine arts from the University of Illinois, owns and runs H. Marion Framing Studio, Inc. in Glenview, Illinois, an established custom framing and art consulting business founded in 1972.

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In recent years, Marion has installed healing art in such prominent hospitals and medical centers as Loyola University Health System, the Resurrection Health Care Group, Saint Mary of Nazareth Hospital Center, Saint Francis Hospital, Holy Family Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Northwestern Memorial and West Suburban Medical Center, to name a few of his clients. Art is a part of the finish schedule thats not a luxury, but a necessity, says Marion. Still, its often the last item to be put into a budget. But a patient will react positively to a beautiful piece of art before they will the carpeting or the hardware on the doors.

Marion has several main guidelines he follows when selecting art for hospitals: Become acquainted with the personalities and preferences of the hospital administrators. Some prefer abstracted images, some dont. Some have traditional tastes, some have contemporary. Some love landscapes, some hate them. In addition, administrators have a clear vision of how their facility will interface with the surrounding community, and its the job of the art consultant to tailor art selections to that vision including incorporating images that speak to the communitys ethnic and cultural diversity. Consider the Budget. Budget considerations being what they are, most facilities cant afford more than a handful of original or limitededition art pieces, with the majority of displayed artwork being poster quality framed artwork. Therefore, consider placing originals and limited-editions in outside approaches, like public waiting rooms and lobbies, where not only patients but families and visitors can benefit from the most costly selections As a hospital administrator, this space is the first opportunity to make a good impression. Select the artwork based on its location. Determine how a particular floor or area will be used whether its a pediatric unit, obstetric floor, corridor, waiting room, administrative office, etc. and select art accordingly. Corridor art, for instance, should be less compelling and more decorative. You want people to keep moving, so you give them a nice splash of color, but nothing that will make them stop and gaze. Images of mothers and children are, of course, perfect for OB floors, and whimsical images work well on pediatric floors. -MORE-

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Tailor the art to a rooms particular function. Food images are ideal in the cafeteria but not in the diagnostic lab, where most patients have been fasting. And even though water images tend to signify relaxation in most peoples minds, we dont select them for the diagnostic lab or ultrasound rooms. In these instances, we have installed bright, high-contrast, close-up floral images, because theyre easier to see in low light. Another suggestion is to consider landscapes with horizon lines in treatment rooms they provide a fantasy escape as part of the sensory distraction. Marion says that not only does healing art offer a welcome respite from the hospital atmosphere for general population patients it also can become part of the therapeutic process itself. Reminiscing is an element of our Alzheimers program, says Raphael DeOcampo, Director of Dementia and Special Care at Holy Family Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Dementia patients have terrific long-term memories, and the artwork brings back those memories, which is very stimulating for them. We have an activity called Walk and Wheel in which staffers will accompany residents around the corridors, and theyll take them over to specific pictures in order to spark reminiscences. Especially the pictures with people in them theres one the patients really like, in which a young boy and an old man are sitting on a bench. The staffers will point out the picture, say, What do you see in this? What do you remember? and a patient will answer, I remember my grandfather. In addition to Marions specific selection guidelines, the art consultant says he makes a point of regularly attending not only art shows but medical industry seminars and symposiums. In that way, he says, I can stay abreast of current trends in healthcare which, as anyone involved in healthcare knows, is a constantly moving target.

H. Marion Art Consultants located in Glenview, IL Contact Amy Goodson @ 847-562-1222 or email: amy@hmarionframing.com