20 December 2022
“If an art installation gets a patient out of his room or paintings take a person’s mind off their pain and lower their stress levels, the art isn’t just decorative anymore. It’s part of the entire model of care.” – Dr Lisa Harris.
2022 has been a busy year for our Frimley Health Charity arts and creative health manager, Emma Carr, who has made it her mission to make our hospitals and community hubs more appealing and happier places to visit and work.
With over 90 projects under her belt this year alone, Emma has worked tirelessly to incorporate art into the healthcare experience, positively impacting both staff and patients with her ward and corridor transformations – providing welcome distractions, easing anxiety and giving inspiration and hope to all those who see and experience it. Thanks to donated artwork, volunteers, fundraisers and art students we have been able to make our Charity budget work extremely hard for the Trust, to the enjoyment of all.
Emma connects with departments to find creative health solutions which addresses the needs of patients and care staff within that ward. All age groups have benefitted from the revamps which have transformed the neonatal, neonatal corridors and parent and staff rooms, breastfeeding room, paediatric A & E waiting room, children’s ward, teenage room, gynae and maternity wards, intensive care unit family room, relative rooms and dementia wards.
Our work experience students and members of the staff arts club and lots of departments have also benefitted from Emma’s artistic skills; from endoscopy, radiology, cardiology, x-ray, chemo, mental health, theatre staff areas and end of life. On top of this Emma makes use of our outside space, restoring these and organising the maintenance of the gardens – with help from local companies who volunteer their services. She is responsible for the care and creation of memorials, remembrance and Jubilee displays as well as supporting the music and art therapy sessions for our dementia patients.
Lastly, next time you enjoy a fresh air break (FAB), it’s thanks to Emma and the Charity team and their donors that you have benches and picnic tables to rest on, and plants and flowers to enjoy.
It’s a hectic role, but one that Emma undertakes with both spirit and a sense of humour. She says, “It’s a lot of hard work making sure that everything comes together for each project, project managing processes from capital to estates, and finance to contractors, but seeing the joy and positive impact on mental health that the art, vinyls and gardens bring, makes it all worthwhile. Not only is the art a welcome distraction for those who have a lot on their mind, or are in pain, but it also is a welcome injection of colour and life to the corridors and wards that is appreciated by all who work on them. Art does make a difference to those who experience it and I’m delighted that Frimley Health Charity have been able to support so many wards and departments this year – the feedback from staff and patients has made it all worthwhile!”
In the past year Emma has continued to be involved with the National Centre for Creative Health and National Performance Advisory Group (NPAG) to support and work with other NHS managers and professional leads involved in the leadership and delivery of Arts, Heritage and Design services. As one of the Trust’s 300 Health and Wellbeing Champions she also works with the wellbeing team, clinical physiologists and FTSU as creative wellbeing sessions can delivered to our staff.