DooR to DooR’s Acoustics of Care: Interrupting and Transforming the Biomedical Landscapes of Western Hospitals

ABSTRACTThe present study was conducted at the University of North Carolina Hospitals. Data were collected from DooR to DooR (D2D), a healing arts program that brings professional artists into the hospital. Drawing from ethnographic data, we forefront music in health communication literature by exploring its performance by D2D artists in hospital settings that range from in-patient oncology wards, waiting rooms, and even burn units. From a narrative theoretical approach, we situate art programming in the historical development of the contemporary hospital system in the U.S. and our analysis amidst growing bodies of literature on the narrative and aesthetic potentials of healthcare. We offer an in-depth analysis of how D2D’s music disrupts the soundscape of UNC hospitals, distracts patients from troubling exigencies, and fosters self-expression and storytelling among participants.