Health experts and art professionals have called on Uganda’s healthcare system to integrate art into patient treatment, emphasising its potential to aid in the healing process.
The call was made during the closing ceremony of the Global South Arts and Health Week (GSAHW) Uganda Pavilion 2024, held at Kiggundu Art Studio in Ndejje, Wakiso.
The event, hosted on June 29, 2024, attracted over 50 participants from diverse fields, including doctors, educators, students, and content creators.
The theme, “Empowering Connections through Art & Mindfulness and Gamified Learning,” highlighted the importance of combining art with health to improve patient outcomes.
Vanesa Simon, a cancer survivor and the creator of Healing through the Arts, shared her personal journey of finding solace in art while undergoing treatment.
Simon emphasized how engaging in creative activities helped her and other patients cope with the emotional challenges of illness.
“Art is as necessary to good health as medicine,” Simon said. “It helps us process experiences and emotions in ways that talking cannot.”
Simon, alongside the GSAHW Uganda Pavilion team, Muumba Collective, Keepers XR, and African Health Grid Foundation, is advocating for the use of art as a therapeutic tool in healthcare, aiming to spread this message globally.
During the event, speakers echoed Simon’s sentiments. Dr. Atwau Pius, a healthcare professional, highlighted the urgency of using art to raise awareness about health challenges.
He argued that art should coexist with healthcare, noting its role in cultural and emotional well-being.
Similarly, Kunle Adewale, the lead curator for GSAHW, noted, “A little drop of the arts in a healthcare setting can create an ocean of healing for patients, family members, and hospital staff.”
The discussions also explored the potential for integrating art therapy into Uganda’s academic institutions.
Dr. Lynda Nakalawa, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at Makerere University, stressed the importance of training educators in art therapy to ensure they can effectively teach it.
“For any academic setting in Uganda to introduce art therapy, it’s vital to provide proper training for educators so that they can disseminate the knowledge from an informed perspective,” Nakalawa said.
The event featured art students from Bank Hill College School, who were exposed to the possibilities of using art beyond the classroom.
Senior lecturers from Makerere University’s School of Fine Art, including Mr. Bruno Sserunkuma, discussed the importance of ethical training standards for art therapy.
The GSAHW Uganda Pavilion, part of the broader Global South Arts and Health Week initiative, is a creative health festival that promotes the integration of arts into medicine.
Founded in collaboration with the WHO-Jameel Arts and Health Lab, the initiative spans 20 countries in the Global South, aiming to promote health and well-being through art.