Benefits of art in the oncology waiting room

We are excited to share that in January of this year we returned to our in-person workshops for kids and their families.

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital-Stanford invited us back to the LPCH Bass Center Waiting Room to bring art to pediatric cancer patients. Our artist, Deborah (Deb) Hopkins, returned last fall with the program and has been providing weekly workshops every Thursday morning. It has been wonderful to be back!

The weekly sessions are based on the Amaeyzing ArtKits™ created for the hospital by the Kids & Art Foundation. They include all materials needed to complete the project. The ArtKits are imaginative, portable, and designed with patients in mind. Each ArtKit is also supported by an online step-by-step artist led video in case the patient cannot complete while in the waiting room.

Deb Hopkins shared with us, “my focus is always on the kids who in the waiting room and the stories that come from inviting them to make some art with me. The waiting area can be a high-anxiety place with kids and their families waiting to get lab work or see their doctor. However, when the kids take the ArtKit, and I begin to show them what they can do with the materials, you can see their attention shift. They start to look at the materials inside and the possibilities of what they can make. Now, they’re focused on what they want to create!

Here are some recent stories from the waiting area that Deb has shared with us:

Last fall, a family who had been making art with me walked by and waved. A few minutes later, the dad and his little daughter came back. He told me he asked her if she wanted to go to the pumpkin patch and play in the bouncy house or come and make art. She chose ART! They finished her appointment but chose to stay and paint.

A young teenager came to the art table. She told me she struggles to pick the right colors for her art, so I showed her a few artists’ work on Instagram who are really good with color. She enjoyed that and decided to try different combinations of warm and cool colors. We enjoyed continuing to chat about art as we painted together.

Another time there was a young patient in a wheelchair. He was interested in what we were making but worried he would have get a shot at his appointment. His mom and I distracted him by showing him a robot project, and he was happy to be able to take it back to the exam room with him.

These testimonials are not only heartwarming; they validate our vision to integrate arts in the treatment cycle someday. What our artist can achieve in the oncology waiting room has a ripple effect. First, you have a child who does not want to be there but has to. Then there’s a parent who is struggling to make sense of their cancer journey, the admin staff in the waiting room trying to calm families down as appointments get delayed, and finally, the healthcare staff, the pathologist, nurse, doctor, whoever will be seeing the patient after their wait in the waiting room.

What Deb does is distract the child, giving the parent a moment of respite and redirecting the stress level in the waiting room by introducing art in the most unlikely place and time.

Research from the NIH, National Library of Medicine on chemotherapy wait times in a network of pediatric oncology clinics, 2020 points out that a child has to spend much of their life in the hospital after a cancer diagnosis. A pediatric cancer patient waits ~2-3 hours from arrival at the facility to the start of chemotherapy every single visit. All that time in a hospital can negatively affect a child’s emotional wellbeing. In a waiting room setting, studies report that:
52% of children are nervous
42% of children are afraid
76% of children are bored Parents are looking for programs to occupy this time.

The Institute of Medicine quotes,

“Psychosocial concerns can affect adherence to [pediatric cancer] treatment regimens by impairing cognition, weakening motivation, and decreasing coping abilities.”

Based on our experience as cancer caregivers, artists, and nonprofit leaders in arts in the healthcare field, Kids & Art aims to support pediatric cancer patients' psychosocial and emotional needs. We know firsthand the pain and trauma a cancer diagnosis can bring to the family. Providing an artist to bring color and joy in the most unexpected way helps us focus on the whole child and their quality of life during their treatment.

A research report from Arts In Healthcare supports our mission “The arts benefit patients by aiding in their physical, mental, and emotional recovery, relieving anxiety, and decreasing pain perception. In an atmosphere where the patient often feels out of control, the arts can be a therapeutic and healing tool, reducing stress and loneliness and providing self-expression opportunities. Art also has the power to communicate and educate, giving it a growing role of significance in healthcare institutions. In addition, research shows that the arts can reduce patients' use of pain medication and length of stay in the hospital and improve compliance with recommended treatments—offering substantial savings in healthcare costs. healthcare environments”.

Reach out to us if you would like to learn more about our program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and/or if you would like to apply for our Artist in Residence grant for your hospital or care center. Email [email protected]

Together we can do more. Join us in our effort and vision for an integrated care model where participation in the arts is part of a regular treatment plan for all critically ill pediatric patients.