Knowing the power of music to connect people and spark conversation, he saw this as a way to give back to people who are particularly vulnerable at this time. Zheng, who has played piano since he was 9, performed as part of music therapy in several long-term care homes while studying for his undergraduate degree. Aside from students at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, Creative Connection has engaged medical school volunteers from the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, Queen’s University and the University of Calgary. Some volunteers spend the chat time knitting or crocheting along with the residents, running virtual paint nights, or chatting about shared interests or in the residents’ native languages. The varied performances include piano, violin, cello, flute, guitar and singing. “I looked into myself to see what skills I have to try to help in any way I can.”Ĭreative Connection has enabled more than 170 student volunteers from medical schools across Canada to connect with more than 750 residents and patients through video chats. “When the pandemic hit, I was really inspired by the other initiatives that my classmates were involved in,” Zheng said. And the mission is expanding to continue beyond the pandemic, and to not only reduce social isolation in healthcare institutions but to make such therapeutic recreation more accessible and frequent through the virtual format.
The interaction was part of the initiative Creative Connection that Zheng is spearheading, along with classmates Alex Hillyer and Heidi Li, to bring live virtual musical performances to adults living in long-term care homes, palliative care and mental health centres, as well as inpatients in hospital wards who may be feeling isolated as a result of the pandemic. It sparked a conversation and a few shared laughs. She told him how much it reminded her of her childhood when her mother used to play piano in the evenings. When David Zheng, a third-year medical student at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry, finished playing the last few notes of a Chopin piece over video chat, the woman on the other end of the call smiled.