“Reflective and transformative”
Our Waterford Healing Arts Programme in the Renal Dialysis Unit at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) offers patients the opportunity to engage in visual art, creative writing and poetry, film, photography and live music during their lengthy periods on dialysis.
Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts has been running the Arts Programme in the Renal Dialysis Unit at UHW since 2007 (following a pilot programme in 2006). The Renal Dialysis Unit is an 18-bed unit which accommodates approximately 90 chronic renal dialysis patients every week from the south-east of Ireland. Each patient undergoes dialysis for 3-4 hours, usually three times per week. Artists Philip Cullen and Hanna Hollywood-Begley work in the unit on a weekly basis, engaging patients in art making, including visual art, photography, writing and music. Storyteller Joe Brennan visits the unit on Thursdays to engage patients in storytelling, on a one-to-one basis, and members of the Réalta staff team deliver the Movie of the Week, offering patients the opportunity to lose themselves in an absorbing film for a few hours, to help while away their time on dialysis.
Our Healing Sounds musicians also visit the Renal Dialysis Unit, lifting the spirits of patients and staff with their extensive live music repertoire. Read more about Healing Sounds here
The Arts Programme is funded by the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund and is supported by the staff members on the unit who are keen to provide positive, creative and absorbing activities for their patients. A Steering Committee was set up in 2023 to support the programme, involving patients, the wider renal team (consultants, nurse managers, staff – present and past) artists and our own Réalta team.
In 2024, we set up a new art programme for patients attending the BBraun Wellstone Wexford Renal Care Centre in Wexford. The aim of the programme, called Making My Mark, is to support patient wellbeing and promote quality of life through creative activity during the long hours which each patient is required to spend on dialysis. The programme is delivered by artist Kate Murphy, managed by the staff of the Renal Care Centre, in partnership with Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts, and funded by the Punchestown Kidney Research Fund. The BBraun Wellstone Wexford Renal Care Centre is a 15-bed unit which accommodates approximately 60 chronic renal dialysis patients from the south-east of Ireland every week. The Wexford Centre is a satellite unit to University Hospital Waterford (UHW). Because we have been delivering a successful Arts Programme in Renal Dialysis in UHW for so long, and understanding the benefits to patients of this programme, the teams in Wexford and Waterford came together to design an art programme for the Wexford patients, and this became Making My Mark.
It is never a requirement to produce an artistic outcome but due to the nature of dialysis and the long-term connections that develop between patients and artists, some wonderful artistic outcomes have emerged from the programmes, including poetry collections, exhibitions, audio recordings, memoirs and our first comic book. These include:
Captured Time – an exhibition and accompanying book of artworks and poetry by Johanna Tanner, Frank Curtis and Philip Cullen (2009)
Captured Time II – an exhibition of artworks and writing by Frank Curtis, Johanna Tanner and Philip Cullen (2011)
Beyond Captured Time – a series of artworks and writing by Frank Curtis, Johanna Tanner and Philip Cullen to accompany the Captured Time II exhibition (2011)
All About Us – Memories, stories and poems by patients and staff from the Dialysis Unit, Waterford Regional Hospital (2012)
Unfolding Time – a book and CD of stories and poems by Liz McCue, Bríd Ryan and Johanna Tanner (2013)
Nature’s Reflections exhibition and Nature’s Whispers book by Kate Quinn (2016)
Thursday’s Child: Stories from a feisty renal warrior, by Liz McCue (2017)
Red House Legends: Woodford to Waterford, A Life’s Journey in Verse by Martin McShea (2017)
77 Years A-dreaming: Recollections and reflections on a wonderful life, by Jack Kelly (2018)
Braveman, by Ben Kelly (2021)
Alfie’s Escapades: Stories from a mischievous Jack Russell and his feisty renal warrior, by Liz McCue (2022)
Making My Mark – an exhibition of artworks by patients at the BBraun Wellstone Wexford Renal Care Centre (2024)
Witches, Cats & Flowers: Incredible art by Nicola Power – an exhibition of artworks by renal dialysis patient Nicola Power (2025).
In 2018-2019, Waterford Healing Arts commissioned an independent evaluation of the Arts Programme in the Renal Dialysis Unit at UHW, with a view to informing the future development of the programme. Conducted by independent researcher Leigh Tesch, the evaluation report was overwhelmingly positive and concluded that “The programme can adapt (to) and support the individual person receiving dialysis, so that their journey with kidney disease can be eased, explored and lead to remarkable and meaningful opportunities”. Commenting on the publication of the research, Leigh Tesch said “I found that the Waterford Healing Arts programme in renal dialysis not only offers a way to pass the time while undergoing treatment, but a reflective and transformative personal experience. It is to be commended and can inspire other Units and healthcare settings.”
The Executive Summary of the evaluation is available here
The full report can be accessed by contacting Réalta/Waterford Healing Arts at info@realta.ie / 051 842664.