LECTORAAT CHANGE MANAGEMENT – De Haagse Hogeschool

Voor de nieuwe HHs minor getiteld The Art of Caring zijn we op zoek naar professionals die graag vertellen over wat voor hen het woord “zorgen” betekent, en wat volgens hen “de kunst van het zorgen” is.

Waar zorg jij voor, en hoe doe je dat? Welke tools en middelen gebruik je daarbij? Waar laat je je door leiden? Waardoor niet? Welke belemmeringen en beperkingen zie je, en wanneer is je zorgen in jouw ogen geslaagd?

Professionals uit alle hoeken en velden zijn welkom: verpleegkundigen, artsen, kunstenaars, filosofen, dichters, entrepreneurs, onderzoekers, politici, managers, ambtenaars, docenten, ambachtslieden, boeren, uitvinders, et cetera. Als je maar een soort van verhaal hebt en dit graag aan studenten vertelt!

Beneden volgt een beschrijving van de minor in het Engels. Heb je interesse, neem dan contact op met mij: t.t.m.maassen@hhs.nl

The Art of Caring

As human beings, we all care. Asking an individual person what he or she cares for digs deep into individual values and motivations, and the ways in which this person gives form and meaning to life. In the professional sphere the practice of caring is usually associated with healthcare professionals, such as nurses and doctors. Nevertheless, there are many other areas in which professionals care deeply for their work, and in which they put a whole lot of their personal drives and beliefs.

Maybe this shows most obvious in the arts. For many artists there exists no strict boundary between work and life. The balance between what is personal and what professional is often considered to be a rather artificial one. This has everything to do with the way many artists relate to life: what an artist cares for in their life is very often reflected or expressed in his/her art, and vice versa.

This minor aims to bring care and art closer together through a collaborative project between music and nursing students. THUAS nursing students will closely work together with students from The Hague Royal Conservatory.

What does a musician care for? What does a nurse care for? What do their understandings of caring have in common, and how do they differentiate? We already use notions such as ‘good care’. Can caring also be beautiful? What can students in music and in nursing learn from each other, how can they inspire each other when it comes to caring and art?

Students from both institutes will work together closely, in reading texts at the intersection of art and care, in creating dialogue between and about art and care, and giving shape to the art of caring. Speakers from different areas in the arts, in philosophy, and in professional care, share their perspectives on the relation between art, care and (professional) life in today’s society.

Reading a care protocol as a musical score

The eminent symbol for quality in care is clearly the healthcare protocol. Based on research evidence and practical experiences, a protocol involves a detailed temporal structure that is designed to influence the spatial reality in which caregivers operate, aiming for a positive effect and outcome for patients.

As a matter of fact, we are living our professional and (often also our) personal lives in a highly protocolized reality. Many professionals experience this protocolization as oppressive, and from time to time, as a restriction of individual and professional freedom.

Would it be possible to perceive a protocol in a different way, more artistic if you will, so that this widespread phenomenon can also be experienced in other, creative ways?

Musical terms such as duration, rhythm, instrument, material, structure, composition, moment, timing, connection, collaboration, attunement, interaction, voice, variation, harmony, motif, tone, timbre, goal, finality, line-up, set-up, performance, feel, perceive, experience and audience, can also be used in describing a care process structured by protocol.

Is it possible to interpret and transform a care protocol into a musical score? What would a care protocol sound like? What aesthetic attributes can be recognized in existing care protocols? What can nursing students learn from the process of making music, both composing and performing? What is the role of the patient, within this process? What can music students learn from thinking how their work involves giving care? How do musician and composer relate to each other? Is there a similar relation in the organization of (health)care practices?

This collaboration will result in a series of musical performances, in which students of both areas participate. Through this collaboration students from both institutions will learn how to further develop the notion of ‘making care’ for their own practices, both those of healthcare and music.