Art sessions provide welcome distraction for patients receiving dialysis
Art sessions provide welcome distraction for patients receiving dialysis
17 March 2023
Over the last year we’ve been running regular creative sessions for patients receiving treatment at Charing Cross Hospital’s dialysis unit.
Led by our Arts Engagement Co-ordinator, Lauren, the workshops are tailored around patients’ interests. They can involve anything from drawing and painting to fabric-weaving and using beads.
The weekly art sessions are part of our Creative Acts programme, which helps provide a welcome distraction for patients during their time in hospital.
Carol, who has end-stage renal failure, started taking part in the workshops after the very first session. She had previously spent three years in hospital, waiting for and recovering from a heart transplant.
After the transplant she was paralyzed from the neck down, her kidneys stopped working, and she had to learn to write again. But the art sessions have helped her build up the strength and flexibility in her fingers.
She said: “I can’t grip, and I hold a pencil funny because I can’t bend my fingers - so this helps me a lot.
“Doing things where I’m picking up little pieces, like gems and paper, is good for me. Using the pencils helps my hands and flexes them. I never used to be able to do that.”
The workshops also offer Carol a distraction from the dialysis treatment, which requires her to sit for several hours on the ward.
She said: “Doing the art has been really therapeutic and I look forward to it every week."
“Doing the art has been really therapeutic and I look forward to it every week.
Carol, patient at Charing Cross Hospital
Edwin, head nurse at the Renal Satellite Unit at Charing Cross, has also seen the positive impact of the arts sessions.
He said: “Our renal patients come here two or three times a week, but when they’re sitting on the machine busy doing artwork, it helps them to forget that they are here for treatment.
“Some of them will even tell you that they can’t wait to come in on Wednesday!”
You can find out more about our arts engagement programme here.
