Beyond Bandages: The Art of Whole-Person Healing

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It has been 20 years since a hit-and-run driver struck Maureen Mayo, leaving her by the side of the road with a brain injury. Medical interventions brought her back to health, but art therapy offered through Gaylord’s Creative Expressions Program proved vital to her overall recovery. The group setting allowed Mayo to practice hand-eye coordination while providing emotional benefits. "I live alone, so the socialization was good," Maureen says. "And it helped me feel accomplished in some way. "

Daniel Larkin, a vibrant 30-year-old, had a similar experience. In early 2022, Larkin had complications from COVID-19, resulting in a stint on ECMO, a form of life support. He came to Gaylord needing to re-learn basic tasks. Christine Babina , Gaylord's director of care management, was trained to facilitate guided meditations and offered to work with Larkin, letting him choose the setting for his journey. "I always picked the beach. Because you know what a nice time at the beach is like!" he says while crediting the meditation exercise with easing his anxiety while hospitalized.

Mayo wrote a book about her accident and recovery and continues to participate in Gaylord's Creative Expressions Program. And Larkin is back at work and planning a wedding with his fiancée. Their recoveries exemplify how Gaylord cares for the whole person by incorporating physical wellness, spiritual and emotional care, and social connection.

Over the last several years, the Office of Integrative Medicine and the Wellness Committee have partnered to spearhead additional initiatives, including chaplaincy, music therapy, yoga, massage, mindfulness, meditation, aromatherapy, peer support, Creative Expressions, and Reiki. Some components, such as massage and Reiki, are also available to staff as stress reducers, helping them to be even more effective caregivers.

"Our culture has always been one of healing and seeing amazing changes in people from the time they arrive to when they go home," says Lorraine Cullen , the senior director of clinical services. "At Gaylord, we're thinking outside the box and looking at different ways to do things."

A History of Caring

The roots of Gaylord's integrative, whole-person care go back to its beginnings in 1902 as a tuberculosis sanatorium. The treatment for TB could mean many months or years of recovery at a sanatorium. At the turn of the century, families didn't have insurance to help cover illness and prolonged hospitalizations, and a health crisis could financially devastate a family. The stresses of home, family, and work obligations could weigh heavy on patients, hampering their recovery.?

Because Gaylord physicians and staff understood the personal and emotional impact of hospitalization, they created opportunities to lessen the stress and financial burden. One of the first initiatives was a magazine agency, created in 1915, which employed patients during their stay at Gaylord. Organizations like the New Haven Library and the Graduate Club ordered magazines through the agency. In its first year, the enterprise returned about $700 to patients.?

The staff also pioneered an approach focused on healthy food, fresh air, and family connections. Children were encouraged to visit because the staff believed patients could not get better if they were worried about their families.

A Silver Lining

In 1923, Mary Beehler introduced the skill of silvercraft to Gaylord as a form of occupational therapy and vocational training. With the help of a former patient, Gaylord Silvercraft was established in collaboration with Wallace International and Gorham Silver. It was a perfect fit for an institution whose neighboring town, Meriden, was known as the "Silver City."

Patients hand-wrought various items, marked with a winged hammer hallmark, that included bracelets, letter openers, crosses, rings, and pins. The shop's signature item was table flatware, including specialty pieces such as bonbon spoons and asparagus servers. During the first year of operation, the shop sold $700 worth of silver goods, and the patients earned $413. In the second year, patient earnings more than tripled to $1,500. Hundreds of patients made money to pay their bills and support their families as they learned a valuable trade they could use after discharge. Gaylord Silver Craft closed in the 1960s.

Music to their Ears

Music therapy and adaptive sports were subsequently added as holistic therapies. The first music therapist was hired in the 1960s. In the 1970s, music therapy became part of the newly formed Therapeutic Recreation Department.??

Heather Wagner, PhD, MT-BC , one of Gaylord's current certified music therapists, says music therapy supports physical recovery and emotional connection. It begins with asking patients what music they like. One young man, injured in a motorcycle accident, chose Boyz II Men, an R&B boy band. As they practiced singing together, Heather showed him how to use his diaphragm for breath support to improve his speech. "During those sessions, I would stop and say, 'Tell me about this song,' and he would talk about his family, like 'my mom loves this music, and I hear this, and it makes me remember being with her, and I can't wait to go home,'" Heather says. "So, while we're working on speech goals, we also have this rich experience of connecting."

Starting in the 1970s, therapeutic recreation added sports programs, beginning with wheelchair basketball and tennis. Tennis was played in the parking lots before courts were added in the 1990s. Leigh Golembiewski , the manager of process improvement and project planning and former director of TR, says the department is all about treating the person holistically. "It's about utilizing prior leisure interests and getting people involved with things they did before their hospitalization," she says. "But sometimes we introduce new leisure activities, whether physical or creative."?

These kinds of opportunities bring people to Gaylord who were not treated here as inpatients but who value the holistic approach. For example, Collin McSpirit's left leg was amputated above the knee after a motorcycle accident in Colorado, where he lived and snowboarded. After moving to Connecticut to be closer to his family, he sought out Gaylord to get back on the slopes through the Gaylord Sports Association's adaptive ski program. As he watched a presentation about adaptive skiing, Collin thought, "That's incredible!"

Kat Swenson came to that presentation to learn about adding another sport to her repertoire (Gaylord offers 15 adaptive sports through the Gaylord Sports Association). After a concussion, the Sports Association helped her to ride a recumbent bike, "I felt whole again," she says. "I felt like a dolphin swimming in the ocean." She now plans to try skiing.

Katie Butler, a certified therapeutic recreation specialist, recalls a patient with a spinal cord injury who craved a home-cooked meal. Practicing cooking skills in the kitchen in Gaylord's rehab area is a place to regain motor skills. Still, the social connection is just as important, says Katie, "I love seeing the smile on patients' faces and knowing that I impacted their lives," Katie says.

In 2019, Dorothy Orlowski , Gaylord's patient relations manager, wanted to do more to treat patients holistically. She surveyed patients about what alternative wellness offerings might appeal to them. More than 120 patients responded with votes for meditation, mindfulness, aromatherapy, and more. In response to the survey, Reiki, an energy healing technique that promotes relaxation and reduces stress and anxiety through gentle touch, was recently added for both patients and staff.

"When COVID hit, the patients we were getting were even sicker," says Babina. The pandemic resulted in the birth of the Office of Integrative Medicine, and a team of staff members worked to increase the holistic offerings for patients.

Supporting Staff Needs

At the same time, Gaylord recognized the need to serve its staff. "Our staff was dealing with COVID within their families and circle of friends. And then they were coming here to help patients. We were concerned about compassion fatigue," says Babina.

Donors who felt strongly about staff resiliency offered financial support for programming. "We ran with this and expanded our service," says Orlowski. A significant difference between these programs at Gaylord and other institutions is that they are included for both patients and staff and are free of charge.?

One of the first offerings was yoga for the staff (a similar offering is also available to patients through Therapeutic Recreation). As a result of COVID, remote classes were recorded and uploaded to a website where employees could access them at any time. Staff responded enthusiastically and even asked for specific exercises. For example, a payroll employee asked for guidance on lower back strengthening exercises because she sat at a desk all day. ?

The next addition was chair massages for staff. "This was the most popular staff initiative," says Cullen. "I've had people stop me in the hallway when I was the name associated with the chair massage to tell me how wonderful it was to take 15 minutes and feel like their stress was relieved."

A much-appreciated staff treat offered during COVID-19 was a wellness cart. Orlowski and Babina brought it through the hospital units on all three shifts to provide staff herbal teas, hot chocolate, hot cider, and healthy snacks like granola bars. The cart also offered inspirational cards with quotes designed to encourage the team.?

"We were doing it on our own time," Orlowski says. "Doing whatever was needed address stress and make the staff feel appreciated for everything they're doing." The most significant addition to serving staff and patients is meditation and mindfulness. Gaylord partnered with the Copper Beech Institute in West Hartford to train six staff members to become certified mindfulness and meditation facilitators.?

It is essential to be attentive to the needs of each individual during meditation and mindfulness sessions. "If somebody isn't walking, I might say, 'you might find yourself floating down this pathway,' you need to be mindful of the person's condition," Babina says. Orlowski remembers doing a gratitude-based meditation with a woman recovering from a stroke. "Afterwards, she said, 'That was beautiful. It was wonderful. For those 15 minutes, I forgot that I was in a hospital. I forgot about what happened to me; I felt whole.'"?

Aromatherapy is the newest offering to provide an escape. Patients (barring contraindications such as reactive airway disease) and staff can get small stickers for their clothing that smell like soothing lavender, sandalwood, or lavender. If only for a moment, the sticker can transport someone from the hospital setting to a beautiful field of flowers.

"We run into nurses who say, 'Oh, I love these. I put them on my badge. When I take a break, I stop and take a deep breath," says Cullen. One patient who was having a hard day was offered an aromatherapy sticker. She said it helped her to relax and refocus, which made a big difference.?

Soul Care

The chaplaincy also plays a vital role for both patients and staff. Rev. Joy Christi Przestwor, a former Roman Catholic nun, ministers to patients and staff of every faith and no faith, offering the sacrament to Catholics, saying prayers, or simply helping a patient reach his shoes.

Przestwor's way of bringing light focuses on being present during moments of struggle. She purposely chose one of her shifts to be from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. "This allows her to capture time with third shift staff who historically feel left out of a lot of what transpires during the day," says Golembiewski.

By paying attention to "the chatter under the chatter" — the little conversations happening underneath the main hubbub — who is engaged, who is pregnant, and who is hoping to get a promotion – Rev. Joy can connect with and support the staff. For example, one morning, a nurse asked for prayer for her friend's little girl who had lost one of her guinea pigs.?

After working in various facilities, Prestwor says, "What is unique at Gaylord is that everyone is focused on the patient. We deal with those feelings if the patient is fearful, irritable, frustrated, or angry. We don't bury them. We try to get patients to express themselves. The nurses and the doctors are fabulous at helping patients with that. They'll sit down, let the patient vent, and then give them some alternative way of handling it. The mindfulness program we have adopted in the hospital is helpful because we have people trained from all areas in the hospital."?

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