HAND helps students comfort patients with the arts

The Health Arts Network at Duke has three different elements that comprise its services to Medical Center patients, staff and visitors
The Health Arts Network at Duke has three different elements that comprise its services to Medical Center patients, staff and visitors

When junior Aubrey Frazzitta was looking to get involved at Duke her freshman year, she wondered if she would ever find a club that combined her two main interests: medicine and art. With such different passions, it seemed unlikely. Then, she heard about the Health Arts Network at Duke.

“It was a perfect fit,” she said.

Frazzitta is part of the student offshoot of HAND, which has been bringing the visual, literary and performing arts to the Duke Medical Center since 1978, with the mission of providing comfort to patients and families who visit the center.

The visual arts program within HAND includes over 3,000 pieces of artwork in the hospital and waiting rooms, as well as six rotating galleries that often feature local artists and touchable art. In September, the group finished presenting their 32nd Annual Duke Employee Art Show, the winning pieces of which can still be seen in the Eye Center.

HAND also features performing arts, directed by Erin Dangler, which includes artists-in-residence who play music for patients in the hospital, during courtyard concerts in the spring and summer and in the Duke Medicine Orchestra.

Rounding out the program are the literary arts, with journaling sessions for patients, family and staff, as well as the Osler Literary Roundtable. The Roundtable, also known as “Lunch and Lit,” provides a forum for staff, patients and students to discuss the work of local authors in addition to their own original writing.

HAND students came out of volunteers at the Duke Eye Center, who took the initiative to create an official club three years ago. HAND Director Olivia Woodward said the majority of the students in the club are focused on pre-med and have an interest in arts.

This type is exemplified by senior Kim Zhou, a current pre-med who works as a docent for the Touchable Arts Gallery. Zhou wheels a traveling Art Cart to patient waiting areas, allowing children to interact with some of the crafted pieces.

“It makes waiting less stressful,” she said.

Students also perform music throughout the hospital and assist in journaling sessions. After 40 hours of service with HAND, they’re given the opportunity to shadow doctors and gain experience in the medical field.

The HAND directors, who work closely with the club executive board—comprised entirely of students—emphasized this dual opportunity to work in the hospital as well as connect on an emotional level with the patients.

“They can see the patients’ side [of things] before all the training sets in,” said Eye Center Arts Coordinator Betty Haskins.

The students are also able to connect with a patient who may be feeling frightened and vulnerable, Woodward added.

For the members of the club, it’s the impact they have on patients that sticks with them. Frazzitta, who serves as the visual arts liaison and works with children in the Eye Center as well as those who are scheduled for surgery, most values getting to know patients and understanding what the hospital experience is like for them.

“It’s a lot of fun... to make [the kids] smile and have a good time,” Frazzitta said. “When a parent can come up and say ‘Thank you for the time you put in,’ it’s great.”

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