“When their loved one might be in surgery, we’ll offer an audio guide tour to get their mind off what’s going on. It’s therapeutic – art and healing – to be able to enjoy the art throughout the facility… It’s therapeutic for our patients and our visitors – It’s holistic healing.”
– Kathi Robinson, Senior Director of Professional & Support Services, Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
Executive Overview
Novant Health is a not-for-profit integrated system of 15 medical centers and 1,380 physicians in 530 locations, as well as numerous outpatient surgery centers, medical plazas, rehabilitation programs, diagnostic imaging centers and community health outreach programs.
Novant Health wanted to provide patients and visitors with new opportunities for healing through art at its medical center in Huntersville, North Carolina. Creative arts is a holistic approach to healing and recovery, one that goes beyond a specific ailment by considering a person’s overall well-being. The non-profit organization expanded its services to include an audio art tour that enables listeners to reduce stress and anxiety through soothing and inspiring content.
Business Challenges
Each of Novant Health’s facilities has a donated collection of artwork ranging from blown glass and scenic oil paintings to works focusing on health-related issues such as breast cancer. Its Huntersville art collection is displayed throughout the campus for the enjoyment of visitors and patients. Novant Health wanted to increase their level of engagement with the collection to help take their minds off illness and promote a positive relationship among body, mind and spirit.
While the artwork in itself already created a positive experience for visitors, Novant Health set out to enhance the connection by offering a more personal one-to-one experience. Developing an intellectually engaging tour visitors could take at their own pace would enable Novant Health to offer an alternative educational platform for people interested in learning about art.
The organization wanted its art collection to be a source for healing, positivity and meaning. Hospital staff realized it did not have the internal expertise to write and produce a premium tour script up to the quality required. Scriptwriting for audio tours is a highly specialized skill. It’s said, audio listeners aren’t one audience of thousands; they are thousands of audiences of one. Scriptwriters know how to connect one to one.
For these reasons, Novant Health knew it would take a professional script to produce the kind of memorable tour in line with its world-class facility. The organization entered a collaborative creative process with AudioConexus that leveraged the knowledge and expertise of its writers.
Solution
Novant Health’s goal was to create an engaging, positive experience that connected patients and visitors to the art and artists showcased in its collection and promote a feeling of emotional well-being. The quality of the audio tour was paramount. It had to fit into the Novant Health mission, “To improve the health of the communities one person at a time and to deliver the most remarkable patient experience every time.” For this, Novant Health entrusted AudioConexus to write and produce its tours.
Building upon AudioConexus’s experience in providing premium tours for the tourism and cultural sectors, the organization collaborated with AudioConexus Creative Services to create a self-guided audio art tour. A professionally produced tour that was reliable and easy to use meant hospital staff could concentrate on its top priority–patient care.
“People have had a very positive response; they really enjoy it. It gets people out and gets them walking and helps de-stress the situation. For the future, we’re definitely looking at how we can grow and expand on this, as well as expanding to other facilities as we are a 15-hospital system. It really makes a difference. Not everyone has an opportunity to go to a real art gallery. It talks about our artists, our art donors, the inspiration – it’s pretty special.”
– Kathi Robinson, Senior Director of Professional & Support Services, Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
Key Outcomes
By deploying an audio guide solution in its facilities, Novant Health launched a program of self-directed learning, enabling patients and visitors to experience art at their own pace, on their own terms. It is a powerful educational resource with messages of love, tranquility, balance and harmony.
“We are very happy with our new kids tours, it’s been a big hit for us. Kids are engaged in their surroundings and really enjoy the new tours.”
– Vincent Geljon, Owner, Blue Boat Company
Health Care Results
- Increased Patient and Visitor Satisfaction
- Improved Patient Care Services
- Reduced Emotional Stress
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