8/30/2007

Dr. Gaelynn Wolf-Bordonaro, Director ESU Art Therapy Program and CHART Clinical Director, took part in a live telemedicine session linking Xi'an, China, Mumbai, India, Bangkok, Thailand and Miami, USA. 

Gaelynn's presentation was titled 'Art Therapy in Developing Countries and in Post Disaster Zones'.  The presentation in Mumbai was entitled 'Telemedicine and Primary Care Needs in Developing Countries by Dr. A. Nandakumar, ERNET.  Also presenting in Miami was a surgeon,  Dr. Ana Tamayo, Memorial Miramar Hospital, discussing 'Hysteroscopy and Uterine Ablation'.  Chairing the session was Dr. Hina Sharma, pediatrician and founder of Sangha , a Miami-based nonprofit that CHART has been collaborating with since 2006 on projects in India involving art therapy. 

 

APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Networking) is a non-profit international consortium established in 1997. APAN is designed to be a high-performance network for research and development on advanced next generation applications and services. APAN provides an advanced networking environment for the research and education community in the Asia-Pacific region, and promotes global collaboration. 

 

The significance of this recent event originating from Xi'an, China is twofold:  first, it is a demonstration that stresses the important linkage between primary medical care needs and mental health needs for the developing world.  The inclusion of mental health (art therapy) in this medical session is to be noted, since telemedicine has mostly involved basic medicine to this point in history.  And more specifically, it demonstrates the potential for using this type of technology to deliver training in art therapy or even clinical interventions. 

 

Dr. Sharma from Sangha has been taking the lead in developing a telemedicine capability to support her NGO's activities in India's remote Andaman & Nicobar Islands.  CHART has been involved with this project in providing the art therapy component to the target population, which consists of children and youth who suffer from various disabilities - as well as having endured the 2004 tsunami.  These projects may provide a 'laboratory' for testing the efficacy of 'distance art therapy' .