Transforming patient journeys through digital art interaction
Sydney Children鈥檚 Hospitals 星空体育 (SCHN) has gone a step further in its efforts to embed art in clinical environments, with the new hospital buildings at Westmead and Randwick set to welcome digital, immersive artforms to transform treatment spaces.
Through SCHN's Arts, Play and Discovery鈥�(APD) strategy, creative technology agency has partnered with neuroscientist and artist to develop a suite of digital experiences for patients to engage with pre and post operation.
What are the three digital experiences?
Mind Forest experience involves patients using a tablet to draw and colour animals native to the local area of each hospital.
The drawing becomes animated and immersed in a natural landscape on a separate screen in front of the patient, where they can build on this visual scene with other animals that interact.
Dr Herrington, a researcher at the Australian National University School of Cybernetics, explained the hands-on experience is important for reducing stress responses.
鈥淲hen we have tasks for children to physically engage with in a mindful, sensory setting like drawing an animal or colouring in, their stress responses is reduced by their engagement with that activity,鈥� she said.
BioHarmony is an audio experience where patients can mix sounds of nature together via a tablet to create an audio ecosystem while waiting to undergo treatment.
鈥淧atients have a sense of agency and play in creating these soundscapes,鈥� Dr Herrington said.
The soundscapes follow the patient from the holding bay through to the procedure rooms to create a calming distraction.
Growth Canopy, also known as 鈥榟ealing ceilings鈥�, involves artistic ceiling tiles to engage children lying down.
鈥淔or this one, we鈥檙e trying to tap into children's attention through principles of visual perception,鈥� Dr Herrington said.
鈥淲e鈥檝e included different sorts of salient or attention-grabbing elements like animals hidden within a landscape scene to give children something to focus on while they might be having a difficult time processing the clinical setting.鈥�
The creative team has met with SCHN staff to better understand the clinical needs for each experience and ensure they are seamlessly integrated into selected areas of the new Wattle Building at Westmead, and Bilima Building at Randwick.
Handy Squid Founder Paul Stapelberg said the redevelopment projects provide exciting opportunities to positively impact patient experiences.
鈥淭he experiences are designed to seamlessly integrate into the clinical procedure, without causing disruption, so it鈥檚 important to ensure the technology is easy to use and embed into the environment,鈥� Mr Stapelberg said.
鈥淗earing the excitement from staff for these projects and knowing that we can contribute our visual and technical knowledge to create diverse experiences for children of varied ages, and support them through some very challenging times is very motivating.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 important that the experiences are also not visually overwhelming," Dr Herrington added.
"There's a fine balance between having things that grab your attention but are not over stimulating, and with these experiences it's very much a gentle sort of exploration.
"With each experience there鈥檚 a particular type of emotional state that we are trying to reach, so it鈥檚 a really unique opportunity to consider how different sorts of interactive elements based on psychological and behavioural research can engage patients.鈥�
The SCHN APD strategy establishes a plan for the layout of art and engagement within the two new hospital buildings to encourage creativity, interaction, learning and exploration.
The Bilima Building at Randwick is set to open later this year and the Wattle building at Westmead in 2026. APD artists are working in collaboration with SCHN, Health Infrastructure, Scyne Advisory and Billard Leece Partnership (BLP).