Circle of Care visits hospitals, rehabilitation centers and adult residential communities throughout the Greater Philadelphia region to witness the process of expressing and communicating through music, dance, painting, theater and poetry.
At Drexel University College of Medicine, third-year medical student LaToya Floyd is featured because of her interest in the use of arts as a tool for better communication in her relationships with patients. Although on a crushing schedule that keeps her in the hospital from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., and then home to study, Floyd is always looking for ways to introduce art into the lives of patients.
Also featured in the program is Donald Kushon, M.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Dr. Kushon was interviewed about the role of music therapy in treating patients at Hahnemann University Hospital. His segment also features Paul Nolan, Associate Professor in Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professionals, and Director of Music Therapy Education for the Creative Arts in Therapy Program. Nolan explains how patients use musical improvisation to communicate their experiences with pain, and sometimes lessen the perception of pain.
The documentary will be followed at 8:30 p.m. by a live, one-hour discussion with leading local experts, documentary subjects and a live studio audience on the role of arts and humanities in medicine. Television viewers can also participate in the conversation by e-mailing their questions and comments during the program to widerhorizons@whyy.org. In companion with the documentary, WHYY will broadcast ten three-minute pieces about local uses of the arts in medicine throughout the TV12 schedule.