Hospital Bracelet Project

When an individual enters a hospital and becomes a patient, despite the best intentions of hospital staff, the series of interactions required to streamline the care process also can transform individuals with stories into patients with symptoms, erasing aspects of each patient’s broader story. Patients are given a hospital bracelet with critical identity markers: their name, date of birth, and a barcode that can be scanned for more information about their medical history. Upon entering an exam room, they are asked to change into a hospital gown to facilitate an exam, stripping away the clothes that help to express certain aspects of their identities. In the Hospital Bracelet project, patients are invited to reimagine the bracelets that facilitate their care and identification as tools for expression. Patients and family members work collaboratively to create bracelets from fabric scraps collected by themselves or by friends or family that remind them of significant people, places, or moments in their lives. They layer the scraps to create a new piece of fabric which volunteers embroider, and then cut and glue these fabric scraps to create cuff bracelets. They share and record the stories of the fabrics they used to create their bracelets, and these recordings are edited and woven together with the help of student volunteers to tell a story about the patient’s life. Tags are affixed to bracelets with safety pins, and audio recordings are linked to each bracelet using barcodes which can be scanned on-site at the hospital in an exhibit displaying the patient’s stories. Participants receive a thumb drive with the final audio recordings to accompany their bracelet.