ORGANISATION

Bioef the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research.

ARTIST

Tanttaka Teatroa is a Basque theatre company that has been staging plays from various genres since 1983, from naturalistic dramas to comic opera and also dance and musical performances. One of its best-known productions is El Florido Pensil. The artist in charge of this project alongside Bioef is Mireia Gabilondo, film and theatre actress and director. The actor Kike Díaz de Rada has also participated.

CHALLENGE

To identify the major milestones or critical points of a patient’s experience in order to develop improved integrated care, with the understanding that not all cancer patients are the same, in other words, working from individuality.

PROCESS

The Oncology Plan working group and Training Service of the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza) jointly decided to undertake a Creative Pill with Conexiones improbables to address the experience of patients in all aspects of life, not only clinical. In other words, the aim was to truly understand them as individuals. A working group was therefore set up by Osakidetza to achieve this goal comprising the participation of health professionals (two oncologists, an oncology nurse, a primary care physician, the coordinator of the Active Patient programme and a psycho-oncologist), patients who have either overcome cancer or are in the process of being cured and 3 relatives of these patients (one of whom has already passed away).

The process of the Creative Pill was aimed towards generating artistic work and therefore structured in the same way as a theatre script, with a beginning (when cancer appears), crux (moment of treatment) and result (when the ending occurs in either one of two senses). But conceptualising the work was also considered in these three moments for both cancer patients and health professionals. Mireia Gabilondo and Kike Rada thus implemented dramatized techniques that included role changes and work on identifying emotions in both patients and healthcare professionals throughout the various moments of their cancer experiences.

RESULT

The results of the Creative Pill were presented in the form of a play at the International Conference on Integrated Care that was held at Kursaal Congress Centre on 1 April 2019. Here you can see the video of this artistic intervention.

The results also led to a document for internal use within the Basque Health Service (Osakidetza), specifically for its oncology and training services with the aim of improving integrated patient care. By also following the structure of the theatre script, the milestones of both cancer patients and healthcare staff working with them were identified in three crucial moments: when the disease is detected, during the treatment stage and at the end of the treatment (whether positive or negative). The document also includes crosscutting elements throughout the entire process, as well as psycho-oncological and emotional moments.