The Healing Arts Festival at Bristol Regional Medical Center brings smiles to the faces of both patients and staff members.
Being a hospitalized patient can be a traumatic experience. Bristol Regional Medical Center (BRMC) wants to soften that as much as possible by lowering stress and increasing the patient's comfort level -- which can actually hasten the recovery process.
When someone is sick, a smile can seem a million miles away. Each spring, the healthcare providers try whatever it takes, even if it means wearing red clown noses and wigs, or welcoming storytellers and musicians into the facility, to bring joy to patients.
BRMC is part of the Wellmont Health System, which is affiliated with Planetree, a national organization creating healing environments. BRMC's Healing Arts Festival was born of the Planetree philosophy. The program is organized by Sloan Maes, RN, Director of Oncology Services at BRMC and the Nicewonder Cancer Center. For the last six years, the festival has featured an art gallery and a great deal of music, from single performers to groups, mainly in the hospital's lobby, but sometimes on each floor.
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The Healing Power of Music
The Knoxville Symphony recently received a national Award for Excellence in Education for the orchestra's Music and Wellness Program.
For information on music and wellness research and initiatives, visit the following websites:
http://www.amc-music.com/musicmaking/wellness.htm
http://www.yamaha.com/musiclinks_wellness.asp
http://www.musictherapy.org/faqs.html
