Art Imitates Health

Imagine you’re standing a foot away from a wall 12 feet high. 16 feet across. Stories and messages spray-painted in layered and intriguing patterns. At the center of this storm of color and light is – a person. Trying to survive and thrive in this seeming chaos, either despite it or with it – attempting to absorb its power as their own.

You can’t look away.

Because artist Jher Seno has managed to make the invisible visible. The persistence inescapable. The daily struggles of people with chronic respiratory diseases like sleep apnea, COPD, and asthma relatable.

Jher, a graffiti artist from Denver, premiered his mural “The Gift of Breath” at this week’s inaugural ViVE conference in Miami. The event featured industry-leading physicians, digital technologists, device engineers, all focused on helping more people access the right technology, to provide the right care at the right time to have a better quality of life. And Jher’s exhibit literally stood out at this esteemed gathering, not to outshout their messages, but to amplify them and give them greater prominence in a unique and universally engaging way. He humanized the need for better solutions through art.

Art for understanding

Improving healthcare for all people requires us not only to understand problems and solutions, but to appreciate and empathize with people’s stories – particularly the stories of those we don’t see every day because their diseases and symptoms are invisible to the naked eye. These stories can be expressed in a variety of mediums, including dialogue and artistic expression.

“Stories impact more than just thinking,” says director of photography Ryan White, “they tap a deeper and more visceral part inside. What better way to convey the patient experience than an unexpected mashup of immersive personal storytelling and interpretive visual art.”

I have asthma, a chronic disease that can render the sufferer struggling to breathe. If you’d just seen me from across the room, you likely wouldn’t know I have it unless you witnessed me having an attack or taking my inhaled medication. But even then, it’s hard to know the thoughts and stresses a person with asthma carries with them each moment of their day as they perform their job, pursue their dreams, raise children, or seek a quick break from their daily grind.

We have to humanize the person's experience with their disease and the healthcare system to understand how to create effective and clinically appropriate policy. While clinical research is critical for the safety and efficacy of any patient therapy, understanding their experiences through art provides insight in how we can truly help people live easier, healthier, longer lives. Because breathing better isn’t the goal, but a fundamental part of life.

Art for inclusivity

Art can share the unsaid perspective of underrepresented populations with decision-makers’ minds. Data is key to shaping sound policy that makes real impacts more equitably. But art can remind us who makes up our communities, giving a unique opportunity to express different voices. Not only does art broaden these conversations, it also invites more people to engage in them.

We all learn and comprehend in different ways. Dialogue is one effective avenue for communicating the benefits of a treatment plan or policy change, but it’s not the only one and most people, particularly those from underrepresented communities, cannot engage in this dialogue. We must tell and hear stories in multiple ways – engaging all our senses –to optimize our understanding and empathy while providing new opportunities to participate in the conversation.

Art for ethics

The American Medical Association’s Code of Ethics states: “Whenever engaging in advocacy efforts, physicians must ensure that the health of the patients is not jeopardized and that patient care is not compromised.”

For all the reasons stated above, consuming art in the context of learning about healthcare issues can help ensure that we consider all individuals – and the whole individual – when determining the impact of a particular policy, technology, and more. To ensure we put people first, we first have to see people. Art can do just that.

I’m thrilled to have worked with Jher and people with sleep apnea, COPD, and asthma whose stories he interpreted through graffiti. His breathtaking art can now be seen by policymakers who can help give the gift of breath to millions of Americans and around the world by enabling better access to beneficial treatments and digital health solutions.

“We all know it’s fundamental to rehumanize medicine and healthcare,” says Gilles Frydman, executive director of the American Sleep Apnea Association. “There is no better way than to bring art into the conversation.”