Emily Phillips, Clinical Nurse Specialist with the Cardiac Sciences program and PhD candidate in Applied Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba, has successfully created one of the first-ever definitions of what early mobility after cardiac surgery means, by having former patients share their experiences through art, in a process called body mapping.
Over three days in June of 2024, Phillips and her research team invited former patients who underwent various open-heart surgeries (bypass, valve surgery, etc.) to return to St. B a year to two years later. Gathered in the I. H. Asper Institute at the Hospital, Phillips asked two groups of participants, “What was it like to first move after your heart surgery?”
She handed each person 6-foot rolls of poster paper, markers, glue, stickers, scissors, bubble wrap, and any other craft supplies they might need to make individual body maps.
“Art is a powerful way to put patients in the driver’s seat and really hear their stories how they want to share them,” explained Phillips. “It’s hard to put experiences into words, if I asked them to tell me about their experiences moving after surgery. I would get a very different story than what they’ve drawn on their body maps.”
A body map is a life-size artistic representation of a person’s body, sort of like a self-portrait from a moment in time. The former patients were given the opportunity to express where in their body they experienced pain, what it felt like to first move, and what they were thinking about in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) following their surgery.
Definition of early mobility unclear
“It’s amazing, you can express so much more through art than you can through words. If I want to understand your thoughts, I’ll ask you with words, but if I really want to understand your experience, using art is a powerful way along with words. You can express so much more,” said Phillips.
“There wasn’t an agreed-upon definition of what early mobility is, in the ICU or after heart surgery,” she said.
“Based on how they described moving, we have created the first patient-informed definition of what early mobility after cardiac surgery is. We’ve created a definition that’s informed by patients and the ICU health-care team, and that’s the first time that I’ve seen that.”
Former patients expressed pain, confusion
“If we don’t understand the patient experience, then we’re not going to be able to do our best care for patients.”
Participants had their bodies traced – some lying down, others while sitting. While they worked on telling their stories, they eventually started looking at each other’s body maps, asking questions and making suggestions. “It was amazing to see them working together,” said Phillips.
Next: sharing findings with the care team
Before her planned graduation in the spring of 2026, Phillips will continue to share the findings of her research with the ICU health-care team at the Hospital.
“When we say early mobility, if we’re all thinking something different, we’re not speaking the same language. We’re not going to be able to work together as a team. If we don’t understand the patient experience, then we’re not going to be able to do our best care for patients,” she said.
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