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Why we work through the arts with young people in healthcare settings

Supporting young people through experiences that can be lonely and alienating, encouraging them to overcome fears and regain a sense of control over their own lives; the work of Helium may take place in a hospital context but it contains valuable insights for all those seeking to work with young people in a creative way.

‘It was fun, let me use my imagination and it was worth doing all the work. It made me feel a lot better for being sick when I was in the hospital.‘ – 12 year old boy on Helium’s Cloudlands Project at University Hospital Galway

There are very few children who do not at some point in their childhood find themselves in a hospital bed and there are even fewer children who would say this was a positive memory. Spending time in hospital can be a very lonely and alienating experience for a child. Children express themselves, explore, and make sense of the world through play, creativity and their own imagination. Finding themselves in surroundings which are far removed from their natural way of engaging with the world, it is not surprising that the anxiety they already feel about being in this strange place is magnified by a lack of things to do.

I was working as an artist with children in hospital for about 5 years, developing my practice through a variety of residencies around the country. It became clear that there was a dearth of opportunities for children in hospital to engage with professional artists on collaborative art projects. As my practice grew and I engaged with hospital staff and their communities, my understanding of ‘what could be’ both for artists and the children reached a peak. I could no longer continue the journey on my own and so formed Helium in 2009 as a way of professionalising and replicating the work.- Helene Hugel, CEO/Artistic Director, Helium

Collaboration is the cornerstone of Helium’s work because being an active participant helps young people in healthcare settings to regain a sense of control over their own lives. For example, the Puppet Portal Project (2009-2010), an artist in residence programme that took place in seven hospitals across Ireland, looked at ways of making hospital a less scary place for children. Discarded hospital instruments and unused materials such as stethoscopes, syringes and gloves were re-fashioned as puppets by participants. By enabling young people to share their puppet performances with children in participating hospitals through an online video-link facility, the project also led to increased peer interaction and facilitated relationship-building.

Since 2011, one of our main areas of focus has been creatively engaging teenagers in healthcare settings. Adolescents often find themselves in limbo in hospital, either relegated to children’s wards where they have little interest in attending the playroom or, on transitioning into adultcare, finding themselves on wards where there is even less in the way of creative stimulation. Cloudlands was developed by Helium to provide creative support for adolescents who have to endure long hospital stays, with artists in residence working with young people once a week or once every two weeks over a nine-month period on projects that are guided by the passions and interests of participants.

The use of technology is an integral aspect of our programming to reach young people who have limited interaction with their peers or who would otherwise be excluded from our projects. An online creative platform has been developed for Cloudlands to involve teenagers in isolation units who are unable to interact with their peers due to the risk of infection. Our community film project, Two Suitcases, was designed for teenagers living with chronic illness and takes place on-site and online, with virtual participants taking on the roles of online actors and voice-over artists and contributing ideas via the OAK website which was specially designed for the project.

At the heart of our work is the belief that every young person should have opportunities to develop creative skills to express themselves and explore their culture regardless of the setting or the state of their health.

Links and Resources of interest

In August 2012, Two Suitcases won Best Film in the Under 18s category at the Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival in Waterville, Co. Kerry and in October 2012 won Best Film at First Cut! Youth Film Festival in Cobh.

View the  ‘Two Suitcases’ short film at the link below:

Helium’s Online Arts DocK  

Content and views expressed by our guest bloggers in residence does not necessarily reflect the views of NYCI

In their next blog Helium discusses the importance of the recruitment process within their youth arts context and how to ensure that they find the right artist for the job in hand!

Helium: Helene Hugel & Emma Eager
Helium: Helene Hugel & Emma Eager
Helium is an arts and health organisation fostering a culture of creativity within Irish healthcare for children and young people, through the development of participatory arts programmes in community, primary, and acute healthcare environments.Helene Hugel is CEO and Artistic Director of Helium. Emma Eager works in the field of youth arts as the Communications Officer for Helium Arts and Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership. Helium's mission is to create positive experiences of hospital and healthcare settings for young people, to support a child-centred model of healthcare through the arts, and to innovate models of arts practice which give a creative voice to young people living with illness. BiographiesHelene Hugel began her professional career as a puppeteer in 1997, as co-founder and partner of the award winning Púca Puppets. She became freelance at the end of 2002 to specialise in the dynamic field of arts and health and commit her work practice to exploring the untapped potential of applying the art of puppetry to the unique needs of healthcare communities and their environments. She gained a qualification in Hospital Play Specialism and worked part-time as a member of Clown Doctors Northern Ireland for five years. In 2009, Helene founded Helium in order to overcome the limitations of her own practice, to provide a structure for collaborating with other artists, and to extend the work to more chidren and young people. Emma Eager is the co-ordinator of Helium’s Two Suitcases film project for teenagers living with chronic illness and of OAK a creative website developed by Helium for teenagers with health conditions. She has managed youth film projects for other organisations, most recently collaborating with young people from Marino School in Dublin who have intellectual disabilities. In 2012-13, she was acting editor of artsandhealth.ie, the national website for arts and health in Ireland.
See More Articles by Helium: Helene Hugel & Emma Eager
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Dennis O'Brien

I have over 30 years experience in the voluntary Youth Work and Youth Sector in Ireland.

I am currently the Volunteer Development Manager with Forόige. In this role I am responsible for key tasks such as managing, developing and supporting the involvement of thousands of Forόige volunteers in all aspects of the organisation. I also lead on the design, dissemination and implementation of best practice standards in volunteer recruitment, management and retention policies and procedures. I am a member of Foróige’s child safeguarding and protection internal working group. I also was a member of the Ministerial advisory group for development of the National Volunteering Strategy, launched in late 2020, and I am currently on the communications working group for the role out of the strategy.

I believe that youth work’s essential role in young people’s lives has been made all the more obvious as a result of the pandemic. The restrictions caused by the need to protect vulnerable people in particular from COVID 19, were imposed on young people without them having any say in the matter. They became takes of others rules and priorities, without input or choice. This, while necessary at the time, is the exact opposite of what we want for young people. We want them to be heard, to be helped to develop their own views and values (not just absorb ours). We want them to be involved in decisions that impact on them and to feel they have an influence, with which comes connection to society and hope for the future. The National Youth Council of Ireland plays a huge role in representing the shared interests of the organisations who are its members. These organisations, large and small, bring a range of youth work approaches arising from various traditions and a focus on particular youth needs. The diversity of organisations provides choice and opportunity for young people to pursue their own interests.

This diversity presents a challenge too, in identifying and agreeing their shared interests on which NYCI can represent, advocate and influence. This calls for a president who will listen support, facilitate. It calls for an NYCI which is effective, well governed and compliant with all relevant governance and financial, management requirements.

I believe I have the necessary skills for this role from my role in Foróige and my previous experience on the board of NYCI, including a term as its vice president. I am aware of the need to represent negotiate, assert firmly but respectfully, to act together in seeking to influence government departments and politicians. I understand the need for a strong working relationship between president and CEO.

Nicola Toughey

Nicola has been involved in Girl Guiding for over 44 years and has been employed in the CGI National Office in Dublin since 2013. Nicola has also been a volunteer leader with CGI in Wexford for the last 19 years.

In her role as National Office Coordinator, Nicola works closely with the NYCI and members of other youth organisations, through the Specialist Organisations Network and represents CGI at numerous meetings. Nicola also attends meetings with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs representing the uniformed bodies of the Youth Work Electoral College.

Nicola has held voluntary positions within CGI of National Secretary and National Commissioner for Ranger Guides and was a member of the National Executive Board. Nicola continues to attend CGI Board meetings in her current role.

Before moving to Ireland, Nicola worked for the UK Government and the Environment Agency in the nuclear industry regulation division and was also a youth member and then volunteer with the Guide Association UK.

Greg Tierney

I am currently a Senior Manager with Crosscare Youth Services with over 20 years’ experience having started my youth work career in CYC in January 2000, and was part of the merger with Crosscare in 2013. I line-manage our 6 Dublin West and East Wicklow youth projects, and also have responsibility for Youth Information and Outdoor Learning in Crosscare.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Social Studies from Maynooth University, and last year I completed a masters qualification, gaining a (MSc) Master of Science in Innovation & Strategy in the Maynooth Business School. I feel there is a need to be innovative and strategic in future plans for the sector, as we seek to be sustainable and receive full cost recovery for the delivery of quality youth services.

I am currently a member of the Board of Adamstown Youth and Community Centre. This is in an area with broad cultural diversity and we are trying to develop some youth provision in this under-resourced area. We were recently approved for a new part-time youth worker and a dedicated Youth Diversion Project for Adamstown, to increase the Lucan Boundary. Greg has been a NYCI Board member for the last 3 years.

Eve Moody

Eve is an active leader in her locality currently working with girls between the ages of 5 and 7, and previously worked with Irish Girl Guides’ older branch for 10- to 14-year-olds. Eve has previously represented Irish Girl Guides at the Erasmus+; Get Active! Human rights education among young people workshop.

In addition, Eve sat on the Membership, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee for Irish Girl Guides. Eve is a primary school teacher and focused her college dissertation on the impact of period poverty in schools. Eve has been a NYCI Board member since 2021.

Claire Anderson

Claire Anderson has been working with Scouting Ireland since October 2020 in the role of Communications Officer. She is an experienced journalist, marketing manager and communications expert. Claire graduated with an MA in Journalism and New Media in 2015. She is based in Cork and has worked with several high-profile businesses including the Irish Examiner. Working in marketing communications from 2017, Claire has created and implemented advertising and communications strategy for company expansion into eight new markets. She has worked closely with colleagues to build effective communication practices and systems. She has managed all content production from production to publishing and most recently developed a new central website for Scouting Ireland. Claire has over seven years of experience leading content production and successful marketing campaigns. She completed a Diploma in User Experience and User Interface Design this year. She also runs her own marketing business. Claire has been involved in dance since she was a child and is a keen supporter of the arts. She has volunteered with Cork Feminista and Husky Rescue Ireland, however, she is not actively volunteering at present. Claire lives in the countryside with her partner, dog, cats and hens. She enjoys sea swimming and hiking in her spare time as well as training for her first 10k race.

Mick Ferron

Mick Ferron is currently the Regional Youth Services Manager with Sphere 17 Regional Youth Service.

Qualifications:
BA Social Science from UCD
Higher Diploma in Youth and Community work from NUI Maynooth.

Sphere 17 is a community-based regional youth service covering Dublin 17 and the Kilbarrack area of North Dublin. The service operates from four different youth centres in the catchment area providing a range of different programmes, activities and support for young people 10-24 years.
Sphere 17 believes all young people can achieve great things. Their mission is to support young people to be the best that they can be, and they do this in different ways for different young people, as they need it, through the varied services provided.

In addition to the UBU funded youth service activity, Sphere 17, in collaboration with local partners, also provides a youth counselling service – The Listen Project, manages the Woodale Youth Justice Project, and is the lead organisation behind Creative Places Darndale.

Prior to his 16 years in management with Sphere 17, Mick has worked in community-based youth service provision in Ballyfermot and in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. He has also worked in the homeless sector, and in a drugs education project in Cork.

David Backhouse

Originally from Canada, David Backhouse has been an active youth worker in Ireland since 2008. Chiefly through the YMCA, his involvement in many youth and community initiatives has brought him into partnership with Léargas, Cork City and County Councils, Irish Aid, CDYS, Youth Information, SpunOut, Comhairle ná nÓg, Foróige, Hub ná nÓg, Youth Work Ireland, CYPSC and many other local arts and community associations.

In 2016 David took up the role of Cork Regional Director for YMCA and in November 2019, began his current role as Deputy National Secretary, responsible for YMCA Ireland operations in the Republic of Ireland as well as providing support to all YMCA agencies north and south. He is passionate about Youth Participation, Creative Methodologies and the provision of high quality, well supported professional youth services to those in Ireland most in need.

RoseMarie Maughan

Rose Marie Maughan Is the National Traveller Youth Programme Coordinator with the Irish Traveller Movement. She has been working in the Irish Traveller Movement since 2004 on a local, regional, national and international level in different capacities such as Board member, National Accommodation Officer, Membership Officer, Education Officer, Project coordinator.

She has both a lived experience of being a young Traveller in Ireland and issues facing young Traveller youth today alongside an in-depth analysis of youth work and issues facing the sector. She strongly believes in youth’s right to self-determination and meaningful participiation in finding solutions to issues affecting their lives.

In her current role as National Traveller Programme Coordinator, she is overseeing the implementation of the Irish Traveller Movement’s Traveller Youth 5yr strategy working towards giving Traveller Youth a voice in all sectors of society.

Garry McHugh

Garry McHugh is National Director of Young Irish Film Makers, Ireland’s national youth film organisation. Responsible for strategic planning, fund raising, artistic and programme development. Managing partnerships with national funding bodies such as the Arts Council, Dept. of Children & Youth Affairs, Screen Ireland and the Education & Training Board.

Since taking over the National Development of the organisation in 2014, Garry has worked with the team at YIFM to grow the capacity of YIFM programmes to work with double the number of young people over the past five years, delivering five times the number of contact hours with participants. Young Irish Film Makers now work with over 1500 young people annually across Ireland through the youth arts practice of film and animation. Demand is continuing to grow as YIFM film making and animation workshops are recognised for their ability to deliver high quality outcomes for young people from all backgrounds.

Garry is heavily involved in the programme design and delivery of informal education workshops delivering quality personal, social and creative outcomes for young people across Ireland. With a focus on film and animation workshops for secondary schools, youth development agencies and youth workers nationwide.

Before he became involved in youth development and youth arts work, Garry was a professional filmmaker, musician and enjoyed treading the boards as an actor. He believes this grounding in the creative industries led him to where he works now, with young people through youth film programmes. He has twenty five years of experience in film production, broadcast radio and informal education & training. His CV ranges from corporate communications and music video production to training and informal education programmes in film, animation and digital media production.

Reuban Murray

My experience comes from my many years within the Irish Second-Level Students Union, chiefly as president during 2020-21 where I represented student’s throughout the covid-19 pandemic, working with the Department of Education and education stakeholders as part of the State exams Advisory group to do what was best for our young people through an extremely challenging time.

My other experience across other organisations such at Spuntout.ie national action panel or partnering with other organisations here such as ICTU on young workers rights gives me the necessary experience to bring a new perspective to the governance of the NYCI.

I have been a representative of young people for the last 5 years at a local, regional national and international level – with my particular focus on youth representing and how that can be best achieved – I hope you can put your confidence in me to work as a member of the NYCI board to deliver this for you and continue the outstanding work of the NYCI.

Niamh Quinn

Niamh Quinn is a Manager with Foróige. Niamh has extensive direct youth work and management experience within the youth work and non formal education sector. With Forόige since 2004, Niamh’s previous roles include Outreach Youth Officer working with young people aged 14 – 18 years most at risk; Senior Youth Officer and Acting Area Manager.

Niamh’s current role is supporting the development, roll out and delivery of CPD training and processes for the national School Completion Programme.

Niamh is the current Vice President of NYCI. Niamh is also the current Chair of the NYCI HR & Governance Sub Committee.

Niamh is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin.

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