"You Can't Feel Healthier than Your Caregiver" - The Ripple Effect of Trust and Empathy for Patients and Health Care Staff, Cultivated through Cultural Activities

Christina Grape Viding*, Wa

Abstract

Introduction: Stress-related problems, including burnout, cause personal suffering, disability and result in costly sick leave. The use of different cultural activities within a health care system may help to prevent burnout, but very few studies have focused on what happens after such activities. Methods: Interventions with different cultural activities were conducted for burn out patients in four primary health care settings during three months. Focus group interviews were conducted with patients, cultural producers and health care nurses. The aim was to provide a description of the participant’s experiences after the activities. Results: The cultural activities were found to affect both participants' emotions and behaviour and created a sense of belonging and equality among them. Positive 'spill-over' effects were also seen on nurses of health care management. Conclusion: We find that the cultural activities help to create a trustful and empathic health care environment where the wellbeing of staff and that of patients have an impact on each other. We suggest the incorporation of arts into health care as a possible contributor to the development of a sustainable health care system.