A free, one-night photo exhibition will tell the stories of people who have early warning signs of heart disease at the Rodman Hall Art Centre on Thursday, Feb. 20.<\/p>\n
Assistant Professor of Nursing Sheila O’Keefe-McCarthy and Brock University\u2019s Heart Innovation Research program team invite the Brock community to the next phase of research in the He-ART-istic Journey, a series of photos depicting the words of those navigating through the recognition of developing heart disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intent of this type of arts-based information dissemination is to connect with people on a very personal level,\u201d O’Keefe-McCarthy says. \u201cThe data has called me to translate the findings into something understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inspired by evidence that has emerged from the\u00a0Heart Innovation Research<\/a>\u00a0program, led by O\u2019Keefe-McCarthy and suggesting that patients want to receive information in ways that are meaningful to them, this event is intended to help change perceptions and increase understanding of the early warning signs of heart disease.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt compelled by the narratives of those in my study to take what they were saying further,” O\u2019Keefe-McCarthy explains. ‘It is imperative to bring attention to this knowledge in a way that transcends traditional ways of disseminating research. I have created an integrated qualitative arts-based methodology which layers artistic genres together called the Arts-Based Embodied Layered Exploration (ABELE) approach to really open up the data which permits a heightened level of resonance.\u201d<\/p>\n