Transcending Bodily Limits and Frailties: Meaning and Hope in a Facilitated Creative Process for Hospice Patients
Melissa Bruce, PhD, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire
The goal of this presentation, based on a paper-in-progress, is to discuss the findings of an interdisciplinary qualitative research study (2009), the purpose of which was to examine how several hospice patients found meaning in their lives and dying through engagement in a facilitated creative process. In collecting data for the study, the researcher worked as an artist-in-medicine, facilitating participants’ process of creating visual and written artwork and finding meaning in the same. Data included: 1) field notes of observations of participants in their process of creating and finding meaning in visual and written artwork, 2) field notes of discussions with participants regarding the same; and 3) photographs of participants’ visual artwork. Data were analyzed through case studies that included detailed descriptions of participants’ actions, experiences, and verbalized thoughts and feelings in the creative process, and through a cross-case analysis to find common themes. Data analysis was embedded in an interpretive, hermeneutic framework.
The study findings showed that participants engaged in the facilitated creative process initially for enjoyment and then to resolve their suffering in dying. In approaching death, they became increasingly aware of their mortality and the limitations of their bodies due to their illness and dying. They experienced spiritual suffering, struggling to accept the effects of their illness and dying and to connect with others and God or the divine. In their creative process, they represented, and found symbolic meaning in, figures and other imagery in poetry, stories, memoirs, and letters, and watercolors, oil paintings, clay sculpture, and other art forms, in relation to their lives and dying. They expressed painful feelings of anxiety, fear, panic, frustration, anger, deep sadness, depression, and despair related to their suffering. Using their creative work as a tool for reflection and to gain insight into themselves and their situation, they worked through their painful emotions, and relationship and other difficulties, to find hope in their lives and dying, which they likewise expressed through symbol and metaphor. Their series of art works and the symbolic meaning that they found therein expressed their movement toward resolving their suffering, reconnecting with others and the divine, and finding beauty and renewed meaning and purpose in their lives, beyond the limitations and frailties of their bodies. It would seem then, that healthcare professionals need to recognize dying individuals as whole persons…body, mind, and spirit…and support them in their spiritual journey toward finding meaning and hope in their lives and dying.
The goal of this presentation, based on a paper-in-progress, is to discuss the findings of an interdisciplinary qualitative research study (2009), the purpose of which was to examine how several hospice patients found meaning in their lives and dying through engagement in a facilitated creative process. In collecting data for the study, the researcher worked as an artist-in-medicine, facilitating participants’ process of creating visual and written artwork and finding meaning in the same. Data included: 1) field notes of observations of participants in their process of creating and finding meaning in visual and written artwork, 2) field notes of discussions with participants regarding the same; and 3) photographs of participants’ visual artwork. Data were analyzed through case studies that included detailed descriptions of participants’ actions, experiences, and verbalized thoughts and feelings in the creative process, and through a cross-case analysis to find common themes. Data analysis was embedded in an interpretive, hermeneutic framework.
The study findings showed that participants engaged in the facilitated creative process initially for enjoyment and then to resolve their suffering in dying. In approaching death, they became increasingly aware of their mortality and the limitations of their bodies due to their illness and dying. They experienced spiritual suffering, struggling to accept the effects of their illness and dying and to connect with others and God or the divine. In their creative process, they represented, and found symbolic meaning in, figures and other imagery in poetry, stories, memoirs, and letters, and watercolors, oil paintings, clay sculpture, and other art forms, in relation to their lives and dying. They expressed painful feelings of anxiety, fear, panic, frustration, anger, deep sadness, depression, and despair related to their suffering. Using their creative work as a tool for reflection and to gain insight into themselves and their situation, they worked through their painful emotions, and relationship and other difficulties, to find hope in their lives and dying, which they likewise expressed through symbol and metaphor. Their series of art works and the symbolic meaning that they found therein expressed their movement toward resolving their suffering, reconnecting with others and the divine, and finding beauty and renewed meaning and purpose in their lives, beyond the limitations and frailties of their bodies. It would seem then, that healthcare professionals need to recognize dying individuals as whole persons…body, mind, and spirit…and support them in their spiritual journey toward finding meaning and hope in their lives and dying.