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PPE Portraits Project

The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Portrait Project is a hybrid art and medical intervention designed to improve patient care and team dynamics by humanizing the alienating appearance of PPE through warm and smiling headshot portraits fixed to the outside of a healthcare worker's PPE.

The purpose of these portraits is to:

  1. Reduce patient isolation and fear                                             

  2. Increase trust and connection with the healthcare worker  

  3. Increase patient awareness of who is taking care of them   

  4. Humanize healthcare workers and increase team dynamics

 

The PPE Portrait Project was created by Mary Beth Heffernan in response to the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project gained more momentum at medical centres around the world. In order to continue our mission of humanizing healthcare in the absence of volunteering from March to August 2020, the ICUBP team reached out to Mary Beth Heffernan for her guidance in implementing this initiative in Montreal hospitals. This would develop into a separate initiative called PPE Portraits Canada (PPC), which would deliver over 4000 portraits to 27+ different healthcare workers across 5 provinces in 26 cities.

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PPE Portraits in Action

Medical Students
Peri-operative clinic
Physicians Ob/Gyn
ICU Bridge Program Volunteers
Music Therapist
ICU Bridge Program Volunteers
Pediatrician
Kinesiologist
Physician, Plastic Surgery
Researcher
ICU Staff
Kinesiologist
Medical Students
Students
Anesthesiologist
Physician
Twitter Feature

Features

CBC PPE Portraits Canada
Harriet Yan on CJAD 800 on the Andrew Carter Morning Show
00:00 / 04:52
CJAD Dr. Mitch Praises PPE Portraits Project
00:00 / 01:57
(Français) Caroline Coutu sur Radio Canada
00:00 / 05:42

Research/Art/Awards

Click to check out our: 1) Art and 2) Research!

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2021 MUHC Nursing Awards of Excellence (NAE) Patricia O’Connnor Award for evidence informed program was awarded to Caroline Coutu (2nd row 4th image), Adamo A. Donovan (1st row 3rd image), and PPE Portraits Canada for my collaboration with nurse Caroline Coutu for the implementation of PPE Portraits Canada.

Team & Supporters

Executive Team

  • Adamo A. Donovan

  • Ana Seara

  • Andrea Vucetic

  • Caroline Gregory

  • Hui (Harriet) Yan

  • Jammy Zou

  • Jason Tran

  • Jessica Wang

  • Jyoti Prashad

  • Laura Rendon

  • Merit Sadek

  • Michelle Lim

  • Nuri Song

  • Philippe Hwang

  • Rayoun Ramendra

  • Sebasian Aniol

Volunteers

  • Adrian Goin

  • Alyssa Salaciak

  • Brynn Walker

  • Caitlin Blewett

  • Cynthia Ventrella

  • Daamoon Ghahari

  • Diana Di Iorio

  • Emily Yang

  • Erica Sirdevan

  • Erin Artna

  • Fadi Touma

  • Hannah Kim

  • Ikram Mohamed

  • James Sanayei

  • James Taylor

  • Katie Harding

  • Kayla Zhang

  • Kenneth Williams

  • Lauriane Forest

  • Marleine Azar

  • Megan Chan

  • Sara Choi

  • Simrin Dhillon

  • Valerie Doyon

  • Zoe Thompson

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