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Saturday, August 13th, 2005 THE NOW, page 12.
www.thenownews.com

HOSPICE ARTS PROGRAM WINS AWARD -- By Simone Blais

An outreach art program that runs exclusively at Crossroads Inlet Centre Hospice in Port Moody has received international recognition.

The B.C. Artists in Healthcare Society, a charitable organization based in Port Coquitlam, has received the award of excellence in the Blair Sadler International Healing Arts Competition.

The society initiated the first arts in healthcare program in B.C. at Crossroads Hospice in January, 2004. The program helps patients, families, staff and visitors have a creative experience as a moment of respite from end-of-life concerns.

“Our program at Crossroads Inlet Centre Hospice is the first program of its kind in B.C.,” said Linda Thiessen, president of the society. “After only a year and a half, we have won international recognition.”

In addition to the Fraser Health Authority, the City of Port Coquitlam and RBC Foundation, Thiessen attributed the program’s success to the volunteer artists-in-residence who work with patients, staff and families.

The Society’s specific project that garnered them North American acclaim is the Dragonflies of Hope Community ArtCare Outreach Project, which was inspired by Crossroads patient Vera Dufault.

The project involved the entire Tri-Cities community during Port Coquitlam’s annual May Day festivities and has also become the focus of a community mural design project funded by the city and the RBC Foundation.

The Blair Sadler Awards ceremony took place in Edmonton, Alberta at the first international conference of the arts in healthcare in Canada. Hosted by the Friends of the University Hospital, Capital Health and Washington, DC’s Society for the Arts in Healthcare, the conference also included a workshop presented by Thiessen on the first six steps for building a successful, volunteer-based arts in healthcare program in Canada.”