Inspiring 'Creativity' in Palliative Care and End of Life

Reimagine Well, Henry Mayo Hospital and CalArts deliver this first-of-a-kind pilot program

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Dec 01, 2020, 08:41 ET

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Say you could plan for death as you might any other event: the visitors, the atmosphere, the lighting, the music. Even the way the next generation would experience your life story - your legacy - could be woven into the plan. It's an idea that a Southern California arts school has partnered with a nonprofit hospital near Los Angeles and delivered for patients and families.

"Our clinical partners brought medical expertise to the table: our students brought creativity," said Roger Holzberg, a faculty member at California Institute of the Arts and co-founder of Reimagine Well.

"We believe in using our gifts to comfort the human spirit and provide compassion. We are excited to share this new creative tool kit with our patients and families," said Lisa Ortega, DNP, RN, ACNS-BC

The Healthcare by Design course partnered in the effort with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Santa Clarita, where the pilot program for patients and families is now in use.

This novel collaboration between clinicians at the hospital and the class has yielded a first-of-a-kind -- dynamic digital guide -- offering patients and families "creative healing solutions that reduce anxiety, enable mindfulness experiences, create memories, and ease the fear of the unknown," said Shannon Scrofano, CalArts faculty member and co-initiator of the course.

"They can now create experiences and memories in ways that best support the life of the person with the life-limiting diagnosis, and keep their legacy alive," said Holzberg.

The team hopes the comprehensive approach developed in Santa Clarita will find broader adoption in adult palliative care nationwide.

The program includes analog ideas like a grandmother's cookbook, so her recipes might continue to nourish her family, and more technology-centered options, such as video streaming to virtual events and places of faith, and living family trees.

The CalArts artists are passionate about applying creativity to make a family's journey with a loved one -- at the end of life -- calmer, and more fulfilling.

Life Quilt is a stand-alone interactive pdf. "Our hope is to share this creative experience with any family or patient who feels it would be helpful," Lisa Ortega. It can be downloaded here.

A project of the CalArts School of Theater's innovative Experience Design track, the class is in its third year. The class partners with a hospital to tackle real-world problems that confront patients today.

About Reimagine Well

Reimagine Well provides a proprietary platform and programs designed for distraction therapy, education, and support, with a library of patient-directed immersive healing experiences and disease-specific 'Learn Guides'. Roger Holzberg and Leonard Sender, MD, founded Reimagine Well. Sender is board certified in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and is both a clinician and a researcher. Holzberg is the founder of My Bridge 4 Life, a former award-winning Disney Imagineer, the first (consulting) Creative Director of the National Cancer Institute and a 15-year cancer survivor.

Contact: Pam Carstens
Phone: (949) 793-8777
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Reimagine Well