Heritage in Hospitals Taking Objects to Patients Dr Linda Thomson (Research Associate, UCL M&C)

Heritage in Hospitals Taking Objects to Patients In 2006, researchers and curators from University College London (UCL) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Arts, developed a unique programme ‘Heritage in Hospitals: Exploring the potential of museum object handling as an enrichment activity for patients’ funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Heritage in Hospitals Key Objective To measure the impact of museum object handling on patient wellbeing in a variety of healthcare settings: UCH wards NHNN neurological rehabilitation Oxford enablement unit Prospect Park psychiatric hospital Residential care home Aims To improve patient wellbeing To boost morale among staff and carers To widen access to the Arts, culture and heritage

Heritage in Hospitals Background Reduction in stress, depression and anxiety Lowering of blood pressure and pain intensity Reduction in need for medication Improvement in mental health Decrease in length of patient stay Arts-in-health interventions have shown positive therapeutic and medical outcomes for patients (Staricoff, 2004, 2006)

Heritage in Hospitals Objects Archaeological artefacts, artwork, geology and natural history specimens from UCL Museums & Collections

Heritage in Hospitals Protocol Re-washing hands (soap & water or alcohol gel) Debriefing, asking for comments on the session Post-session wellbeing measures (PANAS & VAS scales) Introduction of activity - Poster & promotional material Interest in taking part - Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) Agreement to take part - Consent form Washing hands (soap & water or alcohol gel) Pre-session wellbeing measures (PANAS & VAS scales) Selecting, touching and handling each object in turn Asking open-ended questions about the objects Exploring sensory and factual aspects of the objects Asking additional prompt questions

Heritage in Hospitals Wellbeing measures PANAS - Positive Affect Negative Affect (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988) 10 positive mood adjectives each rated on scale from negative mood adjectives each rated on scale from 1-5 ‘At this moment in time’ very slightlya littlemoderatelyquite a bitextremely Positive MoodNegative Mood Active Alert Attentive Determined Enthusiastic Excited Inspired Interested Proud Strong Afraid Ashamed Distressed Guilty Hostile Irritable Jittery Nervous Scared Upset

Heritage in Hospitals Wellbeing measures VAS – Visual Analogue Scale (EuroQol, 1990) Wellness scale from Unwell (0) to Well (100) Happiness scale from Unhappy (0) to Happy (100) Participants asked to report how they felt ‘at this moment in time’

Heritage in Hospitals Experimental and Control conditions Experimental condition: Looking at, handling and discussing real museum objects Implicates visual, tactile and verbal modalities Control condition: Looking at and discussing photographs of museum objects (the same set of objects as used in the experimental condition) Implicates visual and verbal modalities

Heritage in Hospitals Experimental and Control comparisons Negative mood Positive mood

Heritage in Hospitals Experimental and Control comparisons Happiness Wellness

Heritage in Hospitals Positive adjective scores

Heritage in Hospitals Negative adjective scores

Heritage in Hospitals PANAS adjectives Certain words made a greater contribution than others to improvements in wellbeing Five positive adjectives contributed to 70% of the increase in positive mood Five negative adjectives contributed to nearly 90% of the decrease in negative mood Positive Mood Negative Mood Active Alert Attentive Determined Enthusiastic Excited Inspired Interested Proud Strong Afraid Ashamed Distressed Guilty Hostile Irritable Jittery Nervous Scared Upset

Heritage in Hospitals Wellness scores

Heritage in Hospitals Happiness scores

As a result of engagement with museum objects, patients were distracted from their clinical surroundings and felt healthier and happier Heritage in Hospitals Conclusions Museum object handling has beneficial effects on patients’ wellbeing though it is unclear whether these benefits are psychological or physiological Further studies need to be carried out to explore impact of museum object handling on a greater variety of patients as well as their carers and staff Findings from the current study will contribute to a best practice manual for care worker and museum / hospital volunteer training

Heritage in Hospitals Project Team Dr Helen Chatterjee (Principle Investigator) Prof. Usha Menon (Co-investigator) Dr Anne Lanceley (Co-investigator Dr Linda Thomson (Research Associate) Erica Ander (Research Assistant) Guy Noble (Arts Curator, UCLH Arts) Acknowledgements Patients and staff at participating hospitals and care homes in London and Oxford AHRC