Rehabilitation with Culture

During the years 2016-2018, the Rehabilitation with Culture project was ongoing at Danderyd Hospital for patients with long-term condition. People with long-term condition were offered rehabilitation with culture twice a week for eight weeks. The participants received cultural experiences such as a concert, dance performance and art show, and themselves participated in activities in dance, music, crafts, art and film. The cultural programs were put together by Region Stockholm's county cultural facilities, and led by cultural educators. The activities were adapted for people with low level of function and prolonged pain.
The project is unique because it has been researched from both a humanistic and medical perspective. Qualitative research has been conducted with a focus on the participants' experiences and benefits of cultural activities in the rehabilitation and quantitative research through extensive questionnaire surveys before and after the rehabilitation. In addition to this, medical examinations have been carried out through blood tests, blood pressure and pulse taking before and after the rehabilitation.
The research team has consisted of Monika Löfgren, lay physiotherapist, docent and university lecturer at Karolinska Institutet, Georg Drakos, docent in ethnology and Helena Bani-Shoraka, Senior Lecturer in Interpreting Studies, Stockholm University.