CHENNAI: We want to provide children with a safe and stimulating environment while they are being treated,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar at the inauguration of The Little Theatre’s cEnter for Creative Therapy at the Egmore Children’s Government Hospital on Friday.
The minister said this was the first time in India that a hospital was treating patients with modern medicine (allopathy) and creative therapy (refers to a group of techniques that are expressive and creative in nature).
“I thank The Little Theatre for their efforts and creating a centre such as this one which will help children from the palliative care ward and those undergoing chemotherapy to feel like they are not in a hospital set-up. As they spend a lot of time in the hospital for treatment, it is important to make it a welcoming space. A creche, which was an initiative of Kansai Nerolac and Bengaluru-based NGO, A Hundred Hands, was also inaugurated. It will also positively transform the lives of caregivers and their children through art interventions,” he said.
The centre will run as a workshop format initially with volunteers who will conduct sessions once or twice a week for small groups. However, there are plans to hold regular sessions in future and involve as many patients and family members as possible. The Little Theatre’s Hospital Clowning project is in its fourth year and is the first hospital clowning troupe with 13 certified hospital clowns who visit the Government Children’s Hospital once a week.
“It is wrong to think that being in a hospital is normal and has no effect on our mental health,” said Aysha Rau, managing trustee of The Little Theatre. “With all the negative emotions, stress, anxiety, helplessness involved, it has a huge impact on the patients and their caregivers. It augurs well if hospital clowns and arts therapists are able to take care of the mental health of patients.”
There are 42 art therapists — in dance, music, drama and art — who will come onboard to support this project at the Institute Of Child Health (ICH).The ICH and Children’s Hospital director, Dr AT Arasar Seeralar was also present at the function. “The ICH network itself has over 500 caregivers of which 300 are parents,” he said. “The creche will enable easy access and ensure the safety of their children. Kansai Nerolac along with the artist team have done a brilliant job with the interiors of the creche making it a healthy and inspiration-filled environment for the children of our staff members.”
The therapy
The aim of creative therapies is to help clients find a form of expression beyond words or traditional therapy, such as cognitive or psychotherapy.