Posted on September 22, 2015
Patients create mural art as part of recreational therapy
Just in time for National Rehabilitation Awareness Week — and the opening of the seventh year of ArtPrize — Mary Free Bed recreational therapists put the finishing touches on a new, temporary art project on the first floor of the hospital’s West Addition. The colorful mural features dozens of geometric shapes painted by rehabilitation patients as part of therapy.
Mary Free Bed recreational therapist Rachael Stacy and her colleagues developed the project as a way to engage patients and help them to creatively work toward rehabilitation goals that maximize function and independence. The quote accompanying the piece aptly summarizes the Mary Free Bed mission: “Bringing hope and freedom to life…one person at a time.”
This project is just one of many ways recreational therapists seek to enhance the inpatient experience. Other examples have included hosting an on-campus mini-music festival for a music-loving patient, ensuring a father-to-be could be at the gender-reveal ultrasound for his first child and helping a couple to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary out in the community.
