Getting Creative in Healthcare

The contribution of creative occupations to Australian healthcare was examined using a mix of statistics and case studies. Creative occupations were found to be making significant, growing and widespread contributions to the development and delivery of healthcare goods and services, the initial training and ongoing professionalism of doctors and nurses and the effective functioning of healthcare buildings. Key functions that creative activities addressed were information management and analysis and making complex information comprehensible, assisting communication and reducing psycho-social and distancemediated barriers, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of services. Reports in this Series: Educating for the creative workforce: rethinking arts and education. Beyond the creative industries: mapping the creative economy in the United Kingdom. Australia’s Creative Economy Information Sheet: Creative Workforce in 2006 Update Australia’s Creative Economy: Basic Evidence on Size, Growth, Income and Employment Australia’s Creative Economy: Mapping Methodologies Acknowledgements: The project was realised through the partnership between the Australia Council for the Arts and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation. In particular we would like to thank Dr David Sudmalis the Manager of Strategic Development and Evaluation (Community Partnerships). The project would not have been possible without the generosity of many people who gave their time and expertise to assist with case studies and other aspects of the report. In particular, we gratefully acknowledge the help of the interviewees – Dr Richard Baker, Ron Billard, Jane Carthey, Professor Enrico Coiera , Lisa Colley, John Easterby-Wood , Associate Professor Gary Egan , Dr Chris Farmer, Amanda Grauze , Terry Houguet-Pincham , Dr Jan Janssen, Jason Line , Dr Katrina McFerran, Dr Tim Metcalf, Johnathon Nicholas , Sam Pappas , Dr Michael Sandow , Dr Peter Spitzer , Jennie Swain , Dr Wei Wen, Dr Martin Van Der Weyden, Peta Williams and Associate Professor Kanagasingam Yogesan.