- Stan Boardman and Suzanne Collins Get Ready for Celebrity Cook Off in Hanover Street Social
- HRH Duchess of Cambridge Visits Alder Hey
- Racing duo Chanelle McCoy and Emma Spencer put cocktail skills to the test for Alder Hey
- Media Statement from Professor Ian Lewis, Medical Director
- Alder Hey Remembers
- Families Given Own Front Door as They Look Forward to Christmas Away From Home
- Your Chance to Make a Difference in the Alder Hey Achievers Awards 2012
- Alder Hey Welcomes Back Former Chair to New Role
- Annual Members' Day 2011
- 2011 Annual Members' and Open Day Gallery of Photos
- Message to Parents and Carers: Adverse Drug Reactions in Children
- Fun For All the Family at Alder Hey's Annual Members' Day
- New Trial at Alder Hey to Prevent Blindness in Children with Arthritis
- Nicola Roberts Visits Alder Hey
- National Patient Safety Week at Alder Hey
- New Report Shows Strong Support for Change to Children's Heart Services
- Nicola Roberts to Host Alder Hey Clothes Throw
- Secretary of State Views Plans for New Alder Hey Hospital
- Family Fun at Alder Hey! Patients and families show support for North West Cardiac Network
- Alder Hey Achievers Awards 2011
- The Bigger Picture
- Going with the Aquifer Flow
- The Children's Health Park ‘Community Chest’
- Why We Need Our New Children's Health Park
- Nicola Roberts Visits Alder Hey
- Children's Health Park Evaluation
- NHS says: Text ‘HEART’ to take part
- Minister Visits Alder Hey
- Andrew Flintoff Opens Landmark Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Unit
- Jockeys Show Support for Alder Hey
- AP McCoy is Taking the Mic at the John Smith's Grand National
- Mikel Arteta Opens Alder Hey Family Area
- Alder Hey Unit is North West's Leading Children's Cardiac Centre
- Heston's Mission Impossible at Alder Hey
- Public Consultation for Congenital Cardiac Services: Get Involved!
- Secretary of State Spreads Christmas Cheer
- Sir David Henshaw New Chair of Alder Hey
- Children's Health Park Still On Course for 2014
- Ricky Tomlinson Lays Time Capsule at Ronald McDonald House
- What Do Our Patients Think?
- Alder Hey – Driving the City’s Economy
- Alder Hey Set to Be Europe’s ‘Greenest’ Hospital
- Alder Hey Celebrates Becoming the UK's First Centre of Excellence for Childhood Lupus
- Alder Hey's Chair of Chair's Steps Down
- Preventable Diseases in Children are Reaching Epidemic Proportions
- HRH Prince William Opens Europe’s Paediatric Intra-operative 3-T MRI Scanner at Alder Hey
- It's Oscar Time for Alder Hey's Oncology Children
- Double Approval for Children's Health Park
- Alder Hey Becomes 'Best in Class, Best in Country'
- Alder Hey Scores Excellent Again
The Bigger Picture
August 2011
Art and technology could bring the wow factor to the Children's Health Park.
Large scale scenic projection has artistic and educational benefits
“The Children’s Health Park will provide an ideal platform to offer patients a cultural and educational experience at the same time as receiving the best possible treatment and care,” states Dr Jane Ratcliffe, Consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care, Chair of Alder Hey Arts and Clinical Lead within the CHP Project Team.
"It’s a platform that has firm foundations as the Arts over the last decade at Alder Hey has come from being an activity on the periphery of hospital services to being a mainstream feature of a child’s stay."
The vision for art at the Children’s Health Park is light years away from traditional murals
This point has been brought to the attention of bidders Balfour Beatty Healthcare and Acorn who have been asked to consider the incorporation of play areas and a performance space with supportive office accommodation as key design features in the Children’s Health Park.
“The Arts programme has developed consistently at Alder Hey, from the time of the creation of the murals which decorate the main corridors to becoming more of an interactive and participatory experience for the patients,” explains Vicky Charnock, Arts Co-ordinator for Alder Hey.
Vicky puts the success of the service down to encouraging innovative activities and relationship building with creative artists from many artistic disciplines, together with the inspiring way Arts in Healthcare has been managed and encouraged to grow over the years.
In 2004, a congress of leading arts and cultural organisations from across Merseyside was formed with input from the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT), The Comedy Trust, Merseyside Dance Initiative, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Tate Liverpool amongst others.
“Alder Hey has never shied away from considered risk taking and this has allowed the agenda to develop”, says Vicky, who was the former Community Programmes' Curator at Tate Liverpool before taking up the post as the Trust's first ever Arts Coordinator.
One such risk was the introduction and commissioning of dance sessions for patients. Vicky continues: “This gamble really paid off. The patients really enjoy the experience and the physiotherapists and dance artists share good practice which benefits everyone – most of all our patients.”
“I believe that the Children's Health Park must have an immediate ‘Wow’ factor for children and their families.” Dr Jane Ratcliffe
One way to garner that instant reaction is the installation of inspirational immersive spaces.
The learning spaces utilise giant scale projection with surround sound and LED lighting technology, to create realistic scenic backgrounds ranging from a sunset beach scene complete with rolling waves and sunlit dappled woodlands to a giant astronaut floating through ‘space’, or the interior of an Egyptian tomb.
At the touch of a screen, the scene immediately changes to a huge aquarium, immersion in the real sense as you experience taking a 'swim' with shoals of tropical fish.
Mission to Alder Hey, one small step for 4Dcreative, one giant leap for the Children's Health Park
4Dcreative, who have pioneered the system which combines education, lighting and theatre design, have identified multiple scenarios as being suitable for this type of sensory experience. The company's software is also quick and easy to use meaning staff members will be able to programme their own experiences by uploading whatever sound and images they wish to use. Once loaded, a simple push of a touch screen will produce dramatic results.
This innovative technology has really caught the imagination of some clinicians. They can see the advantages of creating imagery as an entertaining way to explain medical procedures and provide distraction to their patients while they receive their treatments.
Of course, this state of the art equipment comes at a price and is still very much an item on the wish list. However, since 2001, Alder Hey Arts has embraced a variety of art forms that as a norm are not performed or delivered in hospital settings. This vision will hopefully continue with immersive learning spaces within the Children’s Health Park , making it a fitting way to maintain the trend of delivering evermore creative patient and family experiences.
