Palliative Arts
Thrive By Arts
The Thrive by Arts program, part of Bayview Palliative Care Program’s broader Thrive by Design (TBD) initiative, is an innovative approach to promoting team wellness and preventing burnout among palliative care clinicians. Built around the belief that creativity and connection fuel professional fulfillment, the program integrates the arts and humanities into regular team life.
Each month, the interprofessional team gathers for Arts and Thriving sessions, using activities like music, storytelling, and visual art to reflect, connect, and recharge. Past sessions have included narrative reflection through favorite songs, group art exercises in sculpture gardens, and creative team projects. These arts-based practices cultivate empathy, perspective-taking, and joy—helping the team sustain compassion and collaboration even in challenging clinical environments.
By embedding Thrive by Arts into its operations and budget, the program ensures that personal and team wellness remain central to the culture of care, fostering both individual flourishing and long-term program success.
Program Highlights
Memorial Service
With sponsorship from the Center for Innovative Medicine, the Palliative Care Program and Spiritual Care Department co-hosted our inaugural memorial service in July 2025. At the heart of this service was our commitment to seeing people as whole beings — not defined solely by their diagnoses or final days, but by their stories, relationships, and presence. Through music, poetry, personal reflections, and silence, we wove a collective tapestry of memory, grief, and gratitude. Each note played by Sean Brennan, a Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute musician, and each word spoken during the ceremony, reminded us of the beauty and fragility of life — and of our responsibility to carry forward the legacies of those we’ve served. In creating this space for reflection, we cared not only for the memory of our patients, but for the well-being of those who loved and cared for them — including our clinical teams. By integrating the arts into our rituals and rhythms, we stay connected to the soul of medicine: the ability to bear witness, to offer presence, and to honor life in all its stages. This gathering was a sacred reminder that even in death, there is music, there is story, and there is love.
Annual Team Retreat
In 2024, our team spent the day off campus for our annual retreat — a time to reflect, reconnect, and plan for the year ahead. Together, we reviewed our SMART Goals, celebrated our accomplishments, and set a shared vision for the future of our palliative care program. The day offered valuable space for collaboration, creativity, and renewed commitment to our mission of compassionate, patient-centered care.
Celebrating Milestones
Celebrating our amazing palliative care doctors during Doctor’s Week — honoring their compassion, dedication, and excellence with a little ‘Oscar-worthy’ recognition!
At our Palliative Care Thrive Session: Summer Pics & Stories, the team shared snapshots and stories from our vacations — a fun way to reconnect, reflect, and celebrate life outside of work!
At our Palliative Care Thrive Session ‘Talent Show,’ we discovered one of our amazing doctors has some seriously impressive juggling skills!
Smiles (a Thrive by Design Subgroup)
The mission of this committee named SMILES (Society for Making & Integrating Laughter & Enjoyment Secretly) is to integrate team connection through laughter and shared surprises and celebration of our different members on significant days, i.e., birthday celebrations, professional day celebrations, significant event celebrations. This committee aims to create customized, personal, cost-effective experiences for the team. These small gestures make a BIG impact on our team’s Joy.
Narrative Pieces by Our Team
We have found that reflective writing is an important way for us to process the work we do, and we take joy in sharing our stories with others. Here are a few recent examples:
Lessons From A Zoom Thanksgiving Applied to Patient Care
The word “want” may leave patients wanting
Exercising for Wellness During the Pandemic
Insights from “Dying in the Neurological ICU”
Helping Patients Share Disappointing Diagnoses With Loved Ones
End-Of-Life Care During the Pandemic