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Offering Hope and Rejuvenation
The director of the Center for Performing Arts Medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital says music and art are key to supporting health care for all.
Todd Frazier ’92E and his team of 10 music therapists, six artists, and four arts-in-health specialists have been creating more music, more art, and more creative resources to serve and benefit hospital staff, frontline health care teams, patients and their families, and the community at large.
Their goal: to help heal, calm, and inspire as many people as possible through the arts.
“We are deploying music and art in many innovative ways to relieve stress and anxiety, offer hope and rejuvenation, and support health care outcomes for all,” Frazier says. Some of the initiatives involve photography, creative writing, and of course, virtual musical performances.The renowned celebrity cellist Yo-Yo Ma even performed live through his iPad (from his New York studio) for COVID-19 patients and others in intensive care units.
“Concerts like this provide a different dimension to the healing process, not just physical healing but the enrichment of the soul and the spirit,” said one ICU patient.