”People who dedicate their time to hospice patients are extremely kind and generous,” said Sophia Youn, creator of heARTpiece, a program at Optum Palliative and Hospice Care in Fairfax, formerly Evercare Hospice, that encourages meaningful interaction between volunteers and patients through art.
Youn, of McLean, minored in studio art at New York University, and started volunteering in a hospice while in college. She wanted to provide comfort to people who are ill. She painted a series of rotatable art as a point of conversation. The paintings gave a bit of autonomy to patients by being able to rotate them. From there she was inspired to make collaborative art with the patients.
Youn conducts a workshop to train volunteers who help patients create their art, which range from paintings to sand art. Patients who have limited fine motor skills or who suffer from dementia can still participate especially through the sand handprint.
Volunteers have something they can do, “an active activity” where patients collaborate on equal footing with the volunteers, said Youn. And patients benefit from the social interaction with the volunteers.
Youn plans to extend her program to a hospice in New York. For more information about heARTpiece go to http://ourheartpiece.com/.