Healing Spaces Research Articles

Beyond empathy training for practitioners: Cultivating empathic healthcare systems and leadership.

Empathic care benefits patients and practitioners, and empathy training for practitioners can enhance empathy. However, practitioners do not operate in a vacuum. For empathy to thrive, healthcare consultations must be situated in a nurturing milieu, guided by empathic, compassionate leaders. Empathy will be suppressed, or even reversed if practitioners are burned out and working in an unpleasant, under-resourced environment with increasingly poorly served and dissatisfied patients. Efforts to enhance empathy must therefore go beyond training practitioners to address system-level factors that foster empathy. These include patient education, cultivating empathic leadership, customer service training for reception staff, valuing cleaning and all ancillary staff, creating healing spaces, and using appropriate, efficiency saving technology to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare practitioners. We divide these elements into environmental factors, organisational factors, job factors, and individual characteristics.

Incorporating First Nations, Inuit and Métis Traditional Healing Spaces within a Hospital Context: A Place-Based Study of Three Unique Spaces within Canada's Oldest and Largest Mental Health Hospital.

Globally and historically, Indigenous healthcare is efficacious, being rooted in Traditional Healing (TH) practices derived from cosmology and place-based knowledge and practiced on the land. Across Turtle Island, processes of environmental dispossession and colonial oppression have replaced TH practices with a colonial, hospital-based system found to cause added harm to Indigenous Peoples. Growing Indigenous health inequities are compounded by a mental health crisis, which begs reform of healthcare institutions. The implementation of Indigenous knowledge systems in hospital environments has been validated as a critical source of healing for Indigenous patients and communities, prompting many hospitals in Canada to create Traditional Healing Spaces (THSs). After ten years, however, there has been no evaluation of the effectiveness of THSs in Canadian hospitals in supporting healing among Indigenous Peoples. In this paper, our team describes THSs within the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's oldest and largest mental health hospital. Analyses of 22 interviews with hospital staff and physicians describe CAMH's THSs, including what they look like, how they are used, and by whom. The results emphasize the importance of designating spaces with and for Indigenous patients, and they highlight the wholistic benefits of land-based treatment for both clients and staff alike. Transforming hospital spaces by implementing and valuing Indigenous knowledge sparks curiosity, increases education, affirms the efficacy of traditional healing treatments as a standard of care, and enhances the capacity of leaders to support reconciliation efforts.

Classrooms as Healing Spaces: Decolonizing Conceptual Frameworks of Black Girls in K-12 School Settings

ABSTRACT There is substantive research that examines the punitive and harsh disciplinary practices in K-12 schools and the disproportionate effects on students of Color. While race has been central to this critical discourse; gender has remained secondary. Although both Black girls and boys face unique challenges in their K-12 academic environments, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting gender, in addition to race, impacts educational and psychological development. More specifically, for many Black girls, education is presented as the key to better opportunities with liberative power. Interestingly, few curricula taught in K-12 schools are designed with consideration of Black girls, who must contend with the typical adolescent developmental tasks within the context of a society that often devalues them. This conceptual article proposes a paradigm shift, which centers strengths and healthy development of Black girls in a time of heightened racial stress. A review of empirical research on punitive environmental norms of schools and the disproportionate effects on Black girls is presented. A conceptual framework is provided to help guide K-12 educators in addressing the mental health needs of Black girls. The framework proposes an anti-racist, culturally informed approach rooted in social justice initiatives to identify strengths and skills for promoting healthy and adaptive pathways for K-12 education for Black girls. The article illuminates the importance of decriminalizing Black girls and promoting an anti-racist paradigm to contextualize their educational and mental health needs. The article concludes with strategies that seek to intentionally create healing spaces in school settings for Black girls to fully explore their identities toward a healthy development.

Food as a Healing Space for a Diasporic Identity in Grace M. Cho’s Tastes Like War: A Memoir

This paper aims to explore a connection between diasporic identity and culinary choice revolving around the life of the principal character Koonja in Grace M. Cho’s Tastes Like War: A Memoir (2021). It investigates how Koonja performs her culinary choices as a tool to heal and nurture her abjected diasporic identity. To do so, drawing upon the theoretical insights from diaspora and culinary identity, the paper employs the method of qualitative content analysis while analyzing and interpreting the memoir. The paper tracks Koonja’s sense of being displaced and dislocated for various reasons: Japanese and American violence in South Korea, the trauma of losing her family members, rejection and stigma in South Korea as a Yankee whore, giving birth to a son whose father was a mystery, marrying an American man in South Korea and immigrating to the United States (US) and discriminations in the US, and all these turmoils finally causing schizophrenia. The analysis and interpretation of the memoir reveal a finding: amidst Koonja’s sense of diasporic displacement and worthlessness, culinary kinship functions as a means of assimilation, and her culinary choices, which have been saturated by nostalgia for and memory of Korean food, reunite her with an emotional and a gustatory home. The finding implies a therapeutic connection between diaspora and culinary choices revealing food as a healing space in the life of Koonja. Hence, the paper not only offers a fresh perspective to look at the memoir but also creates avenues for critical dialogues in the discourse of diaspora and culinary identity.

Healing Spaces as a Design Approach to Optimize Emotional Regulation for Patients with Mood Disorders

Healing spaces have played an important role in human history as arenas for healing and restoration of physical health. Current research from across disciplines identifies that engagement with space for people with mental illness can reduce emotional stress and thus improve health. This research leads to the central question of this paper: How do people with mood disorders achieve emotional regulation through healing spaces? In response to this question, this paper investigates the effects of sensory experience and architectural space on emotion regulation, with a particular focus on healing spaces. It proposes a model to analyze and explain how the design and use of healing spaces can create emotional experiences that stimulate patients’ senses and facilitate emotional regulation in individuals with mood disorders. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding how elements of healing spaces affect patients’ senses and contribute to the quality of emotion regulation. The paper argues that healing structures can effectively enhance the emotional experience of a space by creating a positive spatial atmosphere, thereby aiding in the healing process for patients with mood disorders. This paper’s analysis of the existing literature identifies key mechanisms by which healing spaces promote emotion regulation-healing structures-and breaks them down into three main structures: (a) Safety Guarantees Physical and Mental Development; (b) Functionality Supports the Treatment Process; (c) Ambiance Promotes Emotional Comfort, this study examines existing evidence to determine how healing structures promote emotionally regulated treatment. The study also explores representative examples of healing spaces and how they utilize spatial elements to stimulate the patient’s senses. This research results show that healing structures directly influence or facilitate eight primary spatial elements (color and form, light, sound, air and temperature, nature, materials, play and games, and activity and communication) which incorporate one or more dimensions of healing. Therefore, this paper aims to enhance our understanding and awareness of the correlation between interior space, human senses, and healing structures.

Effect of Technology Driven Built Environments on Collective Consciousness: Identifying Healing Spaces for Human Evolution in the spatiotemporal of the Metaverse

Effect of Technology Driven Built Environments on Collective Consciousness: Identifying Healing Spaces for Human Evolution in the spatiotemporal of the Metaverse

The essence of healing mind: healing correlation between forest and meditation poetry

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of Buddhist meditation poetry produced on the basis of forests and meditation on mental and physical healing. Forests are the source and home of life that mankind has enjoyed so far. So nature[forest] has the power of wisdom to bring man back to his true self. Especially, various phytoncides emitted from the forest, and the appearance and sounds of nature: mountain colors, birds, water, wind, etc. have the function of relaxing the five senses. Actually, interacting with the forest is not only a good way to find the meaning of "true self" but also calms down the complicated and unsettling heart of people. In this vein, the forest becomes the best space for mental and physical healing. Today, many people visit the forest and reflect not only on the “outside landscape” but also on the “inner scape” together. It is for this reason that they want to let go of greed for a while and heal the inner side through simplicity and emptiness of the forest. Therefore, the meditation poetry of Buddhist thought arising from the harmonious relationship between forest and meditation is one of the alternatives to overcome stress and promote a sense of solidarity of harmony, communication, empathy, contemplation and emptiness. It makes us realize that all things arise by dependence on something else. Furthermore, it will become a signature that allows future generations to dream of tomorrow and live a more positive life.

서거정과 김시습의 차시에 나타난 차생활 고찰

This research compared the tea lifestyle of Geo-Jung Seo and Si-Seup Kim, who led a stark contrast in life. Seo was a leader of the bureaucracy, while Kim was a culmination of an outsider. Nevertheless, they left the most tea poems in history. On the surface, both enjoyed high-quality teas using down-to-earth teaware. On the other hand, Geo-Jung Seo drank tea from practical perspectives, such as to ease thirst or illness. Si-Seup Kim, however, used tea to reach for Zen and to heal the solitary mind as a lifetime traveller. In addition, the tea lifestyle was a form of rest for Seo, who was physically and mentally tired from hard work. He came to ease by producing a private healing space in the city and drinking tea there. On the other hand, Kim tried to manage his anger or unfulfilled ideas by living in nature and purifying his mind by drinking tea, which led to true mental freedom, where his tea lifestyle itself became him.

Healing Applications in Hospital Interiors: Ceramic Art

Healthcare facilities include complex partnerships that accommodate different types of users to meet the needs of the healthcare sector and require the collaboration of many disciplines to meet these needs. Hospitals, which contain the outputs of different fields of expertise from city scale to industrial product scale, are fed by the fields of engineering, architecture, and interior architecture in terms of space. Interior design, on the other hand, is divided into theoretical and practical specializations related to building types. The fact that health buildings have significant differences from other buildings due to their function and the obligations that would be met is of great importance in terms of the benefit to be provided to the public by the studies to be carried out in the field. Hospital buildings and spaces are constructed and designed according to the standards determined by the shade's laws, regulations, or guidelines where they are to be built. In this context, the study aims to provide a public contribution with art outputs that would positively affect the recovery of the user for the spaces that are generally open to the use of users in hospital interiors by researching the standards in the framework of international standards. However, since traditional and modern art contents have different spatial needs; ceramic art outputs, which are included in traditional art, focus on the specific evaluation of the research with its visual and tactile character. Using qualitative research methods; hospital construction guidelines and literature research were carried out by data collection and inductive methods. The research aims to make theoretical and practical contributions to the healing space with ceramic artworks/objects in the field of architecture and design.

‘Beyond Being Nice’: A model for supporting adult ESOL learners who have experienced trauma

Forced migrants join the ESOL classes to learn a language. The process of acquiring a new language can be negatively affected by psychological trauma intensified by forced migration stressors. To deepen the understanding of the reality, via semi-structured interviews and online surveys, this mixed-methods study attempts to provide an insight into the experiences of ESOL teachers working with traumatised forced migrants in Wales, and strategies employed to tackle these challenges. The study reveals that teaching ESOL is inextricable from Mental Health. However, the majority of the respondents are not trauma-trained and prioritise creating safety in the classroom by investing in good relationships and applying moral values. There is a space for trauma healing in the ESOL classroom whilst the evidence-based practices that could have facilitated it are not widely applied. The study recommends redesigning ESOL courses to be trauma-responsive using a co-production approach by involving those with lived experience.

Empowering Carepartners Navigating Younger‐Onset Dementia

AbstractLorenzo’s House, an international nonprofit empowers families living with younger‐onset dementia through our holistic model.Younger‐onset dementia does not just impact the person diagnosed, it impacts a whole family. Younger families are too often undiagnosed, under‐resourced and misunderstood in the dementia community. With this diagnosis comes a dramatic shift in a family’s dynamic and they are alienated from popular dementia resources geared towards people who are diagnosed later in life. Younger‐onset strikes people in their 30s, 40s, 50s and early 60s. There is an urgency for support as there has been a 200% increase between 2013‐2017 in this age range, according to a 2020 report by BlueCross BlueShield. This gap in appropriate services and alarming uptick leaves families on an isolated path, searching for resources, support, and basic understanding.Younger carepartners are in a uniquely important and difficult position as they are responsible for being the primary carepartner to their loved one, breadwinner for the household, and for parenting independently ‐ all while navigating the complexities of the diagnosis. There is a need for personal connection and resource exchange. The best guidance often comes from people walking a similar path.At Lorenzo’s House we ensure carepartner paths cross. Our Healing Spaces and Carepartner Connections offer this innovation of personalized connection and resource exchange. Our Healing Spaces unite a community of carepartners from across the globe. These are spaces of bravery, understanding and respite exclusively designed for younger families navigating dementia. Through our gender based Bright Brunch and Light Lounge sessions, carepartners listen deeply, exchange resources and build community. Carepartner Connections is a proven model designed to create one‐on‐one carer matches that support social emotional wellness and exchanges relevant resources. By building a digital and in‐person international network of carepartners, we cure isolation by uniting common journeys.

Evolving role of place management organisations in bold placemaking

Placemaking has become ever more critical in re-establishing and reactivating urban commercial districts. Being bold in placemaking now means expanding place management’s role in economic development, reshaping physical spaces for social and economic recovery and reclaiming public spaces for people. With downtown conditions changing faster than ever before, this paper examines how urban place management organisations are supporting local businesses, expanding the night-time economy, engaging residents, pedestrianising streets and memorialising public space for civic protest and healing. The future of placemaking includes an imperative of social and cultural connection and context.

Occlusive membranes for guided regeneration of inflamed tissue defects

Guided bone regeneration aided by the application of occlusive membranes is a promising therapy for diverse inflammatory periodontal diseases. Symbiosis, homeostasis between the host microbiome and cells, occurs in the oral environment under normal, but not pathologic, conditions. Here, we develop a symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane by mimicking the tooth enamel growth or multiple nucleation biomineralization processes. We perform human saliva and in vivo canine experiments to confirm that the symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane induces a symbiotic healing environment. Moreover, we show that the membrane exhibits tractability and enzymatic stability, maintaining the healing space during the entire guided bone regeneration therapy period. We apply the symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane to treat inflammatory-challenged cases in vivo, namely, the open and closed healing of canine premolars with severe periodontitis. We find that the membrane promotes symbiosis, prevents negative inflammatory responses, and improves cellular integration. Finally, we show that guided bone regeneration therapy with the symbiotically integrating occlusive membrane achieves fast healing of gingival soft tissue and alveolar bone.

Reconstruction of alveolar defects with regenerative properties of adipose-derived stem cells

Introduction: Loss of tissue and dysfunction of body organs due to injuries and diseases have caused serious health problems despite the vast advances in Medicien. Bone repair through tissue engineering is one of the most important areas of attention for specialists in a wide range of de- partments, including orthopedics and maxillofacial surgeries.
 Materials and Methods: This case-series describes efficient clinical applications of adi- pose-derived stem cells (AdSCs) in combination with conventional guided bone regeneration as protected healing space for reconstruction of large alveolar defects after hemi-mandibulectomy.
 Results: As the result, this approach represented a considerable amount of three-dimensional bone formation in presented cases. Regenerating this amount of resected bone tissue rehabilitates the patients and gives clinicians a sufficient amount of bone and opportunity to insert dental implants to retrieve patients’ function and aesthetic.
 Conclusion: The application of AdSCs can be considered as an efficient treatment for bone regeneration in large alveolar bone defects.

Development of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Tailored Mobile Intervention for Nurse Burnout: Single-Arm Trial.

Nurse burnout leads to an increase in turnover, which is a serious problem in the health care system. Although there is ample evidence of nurse burnout, interventions developed in previous studies were general and did not consider specific burnout dimensions and individual characteristics. The objectives of this study were to develop and optimize the first tailored mobile intervention for nurse burnout, which recommends programs based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, and to test its usability, effectiveness, and satisfaction. In this study, an AI-based mobile intervention, Nurse Healing Space, was developed to provide tailored programs for nurse burnout. The 4-week program included mindfulness meditation, laughter therapy, storytelling, reflective writing, and acceptance and commitment therapy. The AI algorithm recommended one of these programs to participants by calculating similarity through a pretest consisting of participants' demographics, research variables, and burnout dimension scores measured with the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. After completing a 4-week program, burnout, job stress, stress response using the Stress Response Inventory Modified Form, the usability of the app, coping strategy by the coping strategy indicator, and program satisfaction (1: very dissatisfied; 5: very satisfied) were measured. The AI recognized the recommended program as effective if the user's burnout score reduced after the 2-week program and updated the algorithm accordingly. After a pilot test (n=10), AI optimization was performed (n=300). A paired 2-tailed t test, ANOVA, and the Spearman correlation were used to test the effect of the intervention and algorithm optimization. Nurse Healing Space was implemented as a mobile app equipped with a system that recommended 1 program out of 4 based on similarity between users through AI. The AI algorithm worked well in matching the program recommended to participants who were most similar using valid data. Users were satisfied with the convenience and visual quality but were dissatisfied with the absence of notifications and inability to customize the program. The overall usability score of the app was 3.4 out of 5 points. Nurses' burnout scores decreased significantly after the completion of the first 2-week program (t=7.012; P<.001) and reduced further after the second 2-week program (t=2.811; P=.01). After completing the Nurse Healing Space program, job stress (t=6.765; P<.001) and stress responses (t=5.864; P<.001) decreased significantly. During the second 2-week program, the burnout level reduced in the order of participation (r=-0.138; P=.04). User satisfaction increased for both the first (F=3.493; P=.03) and second programs (F=3.911; P=.02). This program effectively reduced burnout, job stress, and stress responses. Nurse managers were able to prevent nurses from resigning and maintain the quality of medical services using this AI-based program to provide tailored interventions for nurse burnout. Thus, this app could improve qualitative health care, increase employee satisfaction, reduce costs, and ultimately improve the efficiency of the health care system.

The fugitive spirit of historical Black women teachers: Theorizing hush harbors as praxis

Throughout history, US schools have often operated as a site of Black suffering, destroying the inherent genius and spirit of Black students. As a result, it is vital for teachers to not only develop the competencies and pedagogical skills necessary to teach Black children but also create spaces of healing for their minds, bodies, and spirits. In this article, I explore how historical Black women teachers subverted oppressive laws and policies, namely through the praxis of hush harbors. Historically, hush harbors were clandestine worship grounds where enslaved people stole away to commune with God, ancestors, and each other, all outside of the panopticon of whiteness. In the hush harbor, they were safe and experienced radical freedom, helping them to neutralize the psychologically and spiritually annihilating effects of enslavement. To illustrate its cultural, spiritual, and theoretical underpinnings, I draw on archival documents produced by historical Black women teachers who not only survived during the most brutal time in US history—the era of chattel slavery and its afterlives—but created sacred spaces for Black students to thrive holistically, even in the midst of staunch antiblackness and persistent racialized terror. I highlight how these, often fugitive, ways of knowing, being, and believing can challenge the material conditions of antiblackness in contemporary schools, and society, by radically cultivating sites of sanctuary—within, without, above, against, beneath, between, and beyond the state—to restore Black humanity, spirituality, and joy in schools.

The experience of healthcare professionals implementing recovery-oriented practice in mental health inpatient units: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: The principles of personal recovery are primarily applied in outpatient and community settings as these settings provide continuity of care and recovery-based community programs supporting consumers' recovery journey. A range of healthcare professionals are involved in the care of people within mental health in-patient units, including nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers. The integration of recovery-oriented care in mental health inpatient units may be impaired by a lack of confidence among mental health professionals. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Developing hope and a safe place is an integral part of recovery-oriented practice within mental health inpatient units. Instilling connectedness is a relevant recovery principle; however, there may be greater barriers in mental health settings which traditionally prioritise safety and risk mitigation practices to prevent perceived harmful behaviours. Staff workload and inadequate understanding of recovery concepts present challenges to promoting recovery-oriented care in everyday practice. Using strength-based practice is critical in promoting a safe space for consumers by providing psychosocial interventions and person-centred care. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: The provision of recovery-oriented practice requires adopting a collaborative approach that places a strong emphasis on the involvement of consumers and their families. Empowering mental health professionals to believe that recovery-oriented practice is possible in mental health inpatient units is crucial. Mental health professionals need to create a safe environment and positive relationships through respect and empathy for consumers and their family members. ABSTRACT: Introduction Recovery-oriented practice underpins an individual's personal recovery. Mental health nurses are required to adopt a recovery-oriented approach. Globally, a paucity of literature exists on mental health professionals' experience of recovery-oriented practice in mental health inpatient units. Aim The aim of this synthesis was to explore the experiences of healthcare professionals regarding recovery-oriented care in mental health inpatient units by appraising and synthesising existing qualitative research. Method Three databases, including MEDLINE, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched between 2000 and 2021. Data were extracted and synthesised using thematic integrative analysis. The quality of included studies was assessed with the CASP Critical Appraisal Checklist. Results Ten qualitative research projects met the inclusion criteria. Four themes were identified (i) developing a safe and hopeful space, (ii) promoting a healing space, (iii) instilling connectedness and (iv) challenges to realising recovery-oriented care. Discussion Mental healthcare professionals perceived the principles of recovery-oriented care to be positive and include: therapeutic space, holistic care and person-centred care. Nevertheless, findings revealed limited knowledge and uncertainty of the recovery concept to be key barriers that may hinder implementation into practice. Implications for Practice Recovery-oriented practice must underpin consumer and family engagement, treatment choices and continuity of care to facilitate consumer's personal recovery.

From the Margins to the Center: Cultivating Collective Healing with Soulcial Work Praxis

ABSTRACTBlack, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) educators working in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) disproportionately experience violence rooted in historical, structural, and interpersonal oppressions that negatively impact mental and physical health which necessitates multi-level healing. In response, a BIWOC educators’ healing circle incorporated Critical Transformative Potential Development (CTPD) to create a collective and collaborative healing process from the harm of institutional gendered racism. The BIWOC circle integrated decolonial strategies, including storytelling and healing spaces, to encourage the cultivation of sustainable health and wellness practices. Through the reflective narratives of four BIWOC healing circle participants, we consider the ways CTPD can be a decolonizing force. Participant narratives support the introduction of Soulcial Work Praxis (SWP), and its evolution from CTPD, as a decolonizing theoretical framework for soul care, transformation, and healing, proclaiming that rebellion is our salvation, community is our protection, and healing is our liberation. The SWP dimensions within participants’ reflections highlight our pillars of humanity: space, grace, time, and opportunity. Considerations for broader application in social work education, research, and practice are also presented.

Skateparks as communities of care: the role of skateboarding in girls’ and non-binary youth’s mental health recovery during lockdown

ABSTRACT This paper details findings from our research into girls’ and non-binary young people’s take-up of skateboarding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis contributes to wider discussions on gendered relations, young people’s embodied capacities and leisure adaptations in response to ongoing changes such as the pandemic. Based on qualitative interviews with 18 young people at a London skatepark, we found that the physical culture enacted there facilitated recovery from mental unwellness developed during or preceding the Covid crisis. This recovery was generated within new patterns of embodied movement, through relationships engendered in the space, and within the collective community ethic that was fostered at the skatepark. The temporal pause from usual routines during the pandemic created a space for collective critical reflection, healing and renewal within what we describe as a feminist ethic of care. We argue that this ethic contrasted in particular with the growing expectations of schooling and ‘intensified girlhoods’ that have come to characterise gendered everyday lives and therefore represents an alternative pedagogy of hope and recovery for these young people.

Departments: Perspectives on Practice: Embracing Every Hue: Using Our Narratives to Cultivate Healing

Using my personal narrative as a testimony, this article will demonstrate how teachers can use their stories to reflect; strengthen their literacy instruction; and cultivate a space of bravery, healing, and love in their classrooms.