UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine

09/04/2026

The Criser Cancer Resource Center is closed Monday, September 7th, in recognition of Labor Day. Arts in Medicine services will also be paused.

09/03/2026

In the '25-26 fiscal year, we celebrated 35 years of arts in health service by bringing more arts engagements to our clinical and broader communities than ever before. 🎉

The AIM Impact Report shows how.

In this report, discover the stories that shaped our year of facilitating arts-based engagements to support the health and wellbeing of those in the healthcare setting and beyond.

Explore the report:
https://artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org/resources/impact-report-archive/2025-2026-aim-impact-report/

09/03/2026

At Arts in Medicine, we bring the arts to you!

To further this creative access, we've added four new faces to our team this summer: 🎨 Caro Alzate, visual arts
✏️ Collin Whitlock, storytelling and oral history collection
💃 Lucía del Valle Penella, dance
🎨 Wanda Burnette-Walker, visual art

Learn more about the cohort at the link below:
https://artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org/2026/09/02/local-artists-expand-community-programming/

09/01/2026

A recent Washington Post article explores how playing the harmonica may offer benefits for people living with Parkinson’s disease. The article features one man’s experience using the instrument to help strengthen his voice, while Dr. Michael Okun shares insight into how harmonica playing alongside speech therapy may support speech and swallowing and potentially reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia.

Read the full article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/08/28/surprising-musical-instrument-that-may-help-people-with-parkinsons/

08/31/2026

Creativity brings us together! 🎨
Here, a patient and her nurse create together during AIM's Artful Arrivals workshop on the antepartum unit, offering a new path of connection for these two artists 💙

08/28/2026

Would you clip a compliment to a coworker? 🤔

Wellness Resource Partners (WRPs) met this week to create Compliment Clips—colorful clothespins decorated with compliments, encouragement, and a little workplace humor to clip onto a coworker as a quick way to say, “I see you!” 💙

WRPs are members of the UF Health nursing staff who support peer health and well-being by helping connect their units with wellness resources. The quarterly in-person meetings give WRPs from different units a chance to connect face-to-face and get to know each other as a team.

They’re also a chance to nourish the WRPs themselves, with breakfast provided by GatorCare Wellness and an activity that offers a little creativity, reflection, or reset while giving them something they can take back to their units. 🤗

This month, everyone left with a jar of Compliment Clips ready to share!

08/27/2026

08/27/2026

Applications for the Arts in Medicine Practitioner positions are now closed.

Thank you to all who have applied or expressed interest in joining the AIM team! Future job postings will always be shared here on Facebook, on Instagram () and on our website at artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org

08/26/2026

An extra special episode of our hospital-based radio show, Shift Change Radio Hour, aired today! 📻

When Sadie Long, 8, began building her fictional world through AIM's Worldbuilding Initiative from her hospital bed, she didn't expect how inspired our team would become!

Her detailed description of the fictional landscape and the characters who live there inspired the radio show's hosts to compile her stories into a radio drama full of adventure, cats & dogs, a touch of drama, and lots of love.

Discover the story on our website:
artsinmedicine.ufhealth.org/shiftchange

08/26/2026