Fundación EDPNews

The "Ópera y +" programme, a pioneer hospital humanisation project by ABAO Bilbao Opera alongside the EDP Foundation and the “la Caixa” Foundation at Cruces University Hospital, goes into its seventh round in Bilbao's 70th opera season, consolidating the success of previous events.

The most recent event was held on Monday 29 November as an encounter between organisers, benefactors and participants. It was attended by EDP Foundation Executive Director, Vanda Martins, and the organisation's head of activities, Izaskun Simón; Ana Garibi, head of Social Action at CaixaBank in the Northern Region; Inés Gallego, deputy head of Innovation and Quality at Cruces University Hospital, and Maria Luisa Molina, head of management at ABAO Bilbao Opera.

The benefactors accompanied a group of 30 participants in the programme, composed of healthcare staff and patients in the Nephrology and Daycare Hospital divisions and the Inflammatory Intestinal Illness Unit, along with their families, for a sneak preview to see what goes on "on the other side of the curtain", after which they enjoyed the fourth performance of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, both of which had been discussed during educational workshops and talks in the days leading up to the event.

"Ópera y +" emerged in 2015 as a social, pedagogical and cultural programme focusing on opera as a tool for inclusion and personal development. Its main function is to generate emotional wellness and bring culture and theatre to patients with chronic illnesses in the Nephrology and Daycare Hospital divisions and the Inflammatory Intestinal Illness Unit, children in the Paediatric ward and babies in the Neonatology ward, their families, and the healthcare staff accompanying them and caring for them at the Hospital.

The programme is accredited by specialists in education, pedagogy and music at ABAO Bilbao Opera, and by senior medical and nursing staff in these hospital units. This round of the programme will be composed of more than 30 activities inside and outside the Hospital, to the benefit of almost 600 participants.