Arts and Medicine: “Creating Healthy Communities Arts and Public Health” Symposium
On September 24, 2019, Dr. Diana Lee, Director of Odessa Chambliss Center for Health Equity, and Dr. Rose Grace, Associate Professor of Piano and Founder of the B-CU Music Outreach Program, were featured guest panel presenters during the “Creating Health Communities: Arts + Health Florida Conference” at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando. The Panel presentation focused on sharing various Central Florida Community Arts and Wellness Practice Models with the audience, in the hopes of forming new collaborations, partnerships and inspirations throughout the state of Florida to continue the growth and expansion of programs within this relatively new field of arts and medicine.
Dr. Lee and Dr. Grace shared their experiences and feedback on the newly launched “Music and Medicine Symposium entitled, “East Meets West: Achieving Mind-Body Balance to Optimize Performance”, which the two of them organized and hosted on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University last February. The Symposium featured two guest clinicians from the Washington D.C. area, Dr. David Kaplan, MD specializing in anesthesiology and pain management, and Miss Stephanie Mayer-Sattin, Music Educator, Ensemble Director and the first American woman disciple of the Tai Chi Master Yuan Xiu Gang. The symposium presented a two-day series of workshops, combining the power of the brain’s neuroplasticity, Qigong and Tai Chi to help achieve an optimal state of wellness and performance in one’s life.
Drs. Lee and Grace emphasized the uniqueness of their symposium to the conference audience: 1) redefining and broadening the term “performance” to include individuals and communities beyond performing artists and 2) for the first time ever, combining the approaches and practices of Eastern philosophy and Western medicine. The Symposium in February accomplished this goal by presenting an array of interactive workshop sessions, which would benefit a diverse pool of audience members including students, faculty, mental health and medical providers, athletes, performing artists, educators, and the community at large. The workshop sessions included such varied topics as, Performing Artists and Athletes: Pre-Craft Engagement, Efficient Student Performance, Mental & Physical Health, Neurological Disorders, just to mention a few.
Additionally, Dr. Grace shared the preliminary findings of the Choral Research Study, which the clinicians conducted with B-CU’s Concert Chorale members at the end of the Music and Medicine Symposium. A total of 42 vocalists participated in the research study. The preliminary results were astounding, underscoring both the need and efficacy of a program such as this. Before the research study and the Qigong routine, 74% of the vocalists reported experiencing muscular pain, soreness or stiffness on a level greater than 3 (based on the scale level of 1-10). Following the research study and the Qigong routine, 92% of this cohort reported feeling more relaxed; 38% felt less stiffness; 71% experienced more mental focus; and 81% felt more energized in their breath support.
In conclusion, Dr. Diana Lee and Dr. Rose Grace are already busily planning this year’s Music and Medicine Symposium, which will feature local experts in the areas of arts, health and wellness to promote awareness and healthy life-changing experiences to our university and local communities. What the two of them hope to bring to B-CU and our local community as a result of attending the Dr. Phillips Center’s Conference is: 1) establish new partnerships and collaborations with arts and health organizations/individuals throughout the state of Florida, 2) share B-CU’s work in arts and wellness programs with a broader audience base in the state of Florida, and 3) transform the current symposium project into an ongoing, self-sustaining educational and training model within the arts and wellness discipline.