L’Artiste en milieu hospitalier : une expérience musicale en hémodialyse pédiatrique

Abstract Culture at the hospital is part of a policy of providing everyone access to culture. This article describes a musical intervention that provides patients and healthcare professionals a central role in creation; qualitatively assesses the benefits of these interventions for children and caregivers; evaluate the lessons learned from this ongoing experience in the pediatric hemodialysis unit of Rouen University Hospital. Ninety-minute sessions take place twice a week, with eight children aged from 18 months to 19 years, during dialysis. To assess the effects of artistic interventions in the unit, a qualitative methodology was chosen (observation grid). The progression of the project is evaluated to highlight what has helped the children and caregivers reach autonomy in artistic creation while respecting the time allotted, the artistic approach, and the esthetics of each participant's creation. The results indicate that this approach allows children to be actors, that the time at the hospital is relativized, and that the relationship with the healthcare professionals is less oriented towards care. A discussion follows on the place of the artist and the untapped potential of bringing patients to the creative act; the issue of esthetics, which then becomes secondary; the complementarity between musical activities and creation, and the role each actor plays in an artistic project. The hospital can provide access to culture; however, it is possible to go further and reveal patients’ creativity.