Galileu Hospital's Crochet Workshop Transforms Hospitalization Time into Learning, Affection, and Hope
The activity encourages patients' creativity and reinforces comprehensive care, showing that treatment goes beyond the clinical aspect
Between threads, needles, and smiles, time seems to take on a different rhythm inside the Galileu State Public Hospital (HPEG) in Belém. Artistic and cultural workshops, such as crochet, have been transforming the hospital environment into a space of coexistence, creativity, and hope — where care goes beyond the field of medicine and extends to the emotional and social.
The activity is part of the humanization actions promoted by the hospital, which aims to provide a broader welcome to patients undergoing orthopedic treatment. During the workshops, they learn new manual skills, share stories, and discover, among colorful threads and light conversations, a new way to cope with the time spent in the hospital.
Housewife Selma Anadias Batista, 64, a resident of Altamira in the Xingu region, was referred to the unit for shoulder prosthesis surgery. While waiting for the procedure, she found in the crochet workshop a new hobby — and an unexpected comfort. “I never imagined I would learn crochet here in the hospital. It was a blessing! Besides occupying the mind, we forget a little about the pain and make friends. This porch will be a reminder of my strength and the affection I received here,” she said, emotionally, while showing the first stitches she learned.
Also hospitalized after a femur fracture, Anieli Caroline, 22, from Conceição do Araguaia in southeastern Pará, discovered in the activity an ally for emotional recovery. “Crochet became my therapy. While my hands work, my heart calms down. I feel useful, productive. Now I want to keep learning when I go back home,” she said, with a shy smile that reflects the lightness of her new days.
Weaving Bonds and Well-being
According to Anny Segóvia, the coordinator of the Humanization sector at HPEG, the workshop is one of the strategies of the unit's well-being program, which seeks to reframe the time spent in the hospital.
“The hospital is a place of care, but it can also be a space of affection and expression. Activities like crochet help alleviate anxiety, strengthen the sense of belonging, and boost self-esteem. It is a moment when the patient sees themselves again as a creator, not just a recipient of treatment,” she emphasized.
In addition to stimulating emotional balance, many patients discover a talent that can become a source of income after hospital discharge. In some cases, the products made are donated to other patients or displayed in the hospital's common areas, symbolizing the power of art as part of healing.
For the executive director of Galileu Hospital, Cledes Silva, the initiative reinforces the essence of the work developed by the institution: to offer comprehensive care that values the human being in all its dimensions. “Caring for health also means caring for the emotional. Crochet, music, conversation circles — all of this is part of our commitment to welcoming. The hospital is made up of people and stories, and treatment is also woven with gestures of empathy and art,” the manager emphasized.
About Galileu Hospital
The Galileu State Public Hospital (HPEG) operates as a low and medium complexity unit, with 104 inpatient beds, being a reference in orthopedic trauma and bone reconstruction. The unit offers Bone Lengthening and Reconstruction Services, as well as trachea and urological surgeries, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, renal exclusion, and prostate biopsy screening.
Managed by the Institute of Social and Environmental Health of the Amazon (ISSAA), in partnership with the State Department of Public Health (Sespa), the hospital is located at Avenida Mário Covas, No. 2553, in Greater Belém, and has the mission of uniting technology, humanization, and comprehensive care in the recovery of patients.
Text: Roberta Paraense
