Creative Practice Wk 5 - Carving out time to say 'Thank You'.

This week, we focused on cultural competency and what it means. In a hospital, there is a diverse group of culture and we need to be sensitive and respectful of people’s individual culture. Sheha Kilay gave us 4 tips on cultural competency with different cultural background.  1) Observe first and mirror the body language, 2) Appreciate the differences, 3) Don’t stereotype, 4) Be patient. These tips are great, but I was wondering what would be a universal in all culture.  Saying ‘thank you’ is a universal way of showing appreciation and respect.

Most patients feel grateful and want to give back to doctors, nurses, staff members, family and/or friends.  Some hospitals have a ‘conflict of interest’ clause by preventing staff from receiving monetary gifts from patients. One way for patients to show their gratitude is by making cards. Card making can brighten the day of someone else. Making a ‘Thank You’ can be therapeutic and fun. The therapeutic aspect of card making comes from relaxing, being productive, and keeping busy while spreading good cheers to others. It provides an outlet for creative expression which release important feelings or thoughts, allowing patients a voice to move forward. Making and giving cards is a great art form for connecting with people in the patients’ lives.

Instead of using store bought stamps and using stickers, I thought that patients would like to make their own stamps. Stamp making is easy and doesn't require toxic supplies. Here are the supplies needed: 1) A slab of SpeedyBall speedy carve, 2) SpeedyBall lino-cutters, 3) A pencil and a drawing to transfer onto the Speedy carve, 4) Ink to stamp the final product.

It is fun carving chunks out of linoleum because it takes you into a zone and makes you forget your worries. To start, you want to keep in mind that your stamp will print in reverse. Transfer your drawing onto the speedy carve and start carving off the areas you don’t want. I made a quick video for an example. Remember that anything raised will stamp so do a sample stamp on an old paper.  I made a card that states ‘you still give me butterflies’.