Q&A with Lindsay Edwards, MA: Director of Creative Arts Therapy Department, Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University
August 27, 2015
The Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services of Drexel University operates as a patient-centered, integrated, and trauma-informed model of care. Integrative health care creates a seamless engagement for patients, most of whom represent a vulnerable population and are residents of public housing, and caregivers in the full range of physical, psychological, social, preventive, and therapeutic factors known to be effective and necessary for the achievement of optimal health throughout the lifespan. The center is a nationally-recognized model of nurse-managed, community-based care for the education of health professions students and for faculty practice.
A new wing, which added 17,000 square feet of space to the practice, opened to patients on June 29, 2015. The new addition accommodates the expansion of primary care services, and includes space for nursing, nutrition sciences, couple and family therapy and creative arts therapies.
Lindsay Edwards, MA, Director of Creative Arts Therapy Department at Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services offers some insight on the impact the new space for creative arts therapies is having on staff and patients, alike.
Q: What creative arts therapies services do you offer patients?
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Q: What are some of the features of the new space for creative arts therapies?
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Q: How does the new wing impact the creative arts therapies services offered?
A: Now that we have space, we can see more patients. With space, we can host student interns and initiate hiring processes for creative arts therapies staff once we generate funds to support salaries. Because of the design, the creative arts therapies are more visible to patients - they are inquiring more about what they are and how to access them. The space also implies the importance of creative arts therapies in health care. When you see the size of the studios, one assumes that patients have been positively affected by their creative arts therapies treatment. We are one of the first, if not the first, primary care setting to build a creative arts therapies suite (named in honor of James Widener Ray) and embed the services into patient wellness (treatment) plans. In other words, the space sends a message to clients, staff, funders and nation-wide/international health centers that the creative arts therapies are effective and necessary!
Q: How are patients reacting? Staff?
A: My clients have been astonished by the beauty and sacredness of each space. We shared a room with three other disciplines before the new building opened. So, to have a room dedicated to dance movement therapy only helps the client feel more important, more organized and safer. Plus, it's really great for them to have somewhere really nice to come, away from what often times is a chaotic, depleted home environment. As a staff member using the spaces, I feel more respected because I am now equipped with the space and props to do my work as it was intended. When we have something nice to value (like a new space), we typically value ourselves and our work within it more. A huge success to attribute to the spaces is the props and materials that we have to do our work (instruments, art supplies, etc.), and this is attributed to the Legacy Foundation. I'm so fortunate that they understand the importance of that in our work.