Harmony Palliative Arts Collective
~ story and photos by Bob Gustin
Rick Clayton draws on his formal education, along with his years as a rock and roll musician, minister, and hospice chaplain, to lead the effort to establish a new approach to end-of-life services in Brown County.“ I was born for this,” he said. The Harmony Palliative Arts Collective expects to open its facility in May at Harmony Church in Van Buren Township.
The church at 3999 Mt. Liberty Road has seen declining attendance in recent years. Historically, a church at the intersection of Mt. Liberty Road and Bellsville Pike has served the community for more than 170 years. The new version will house families whose loved ones are nearing death, providing a place to stay where nonmedical palliative music, therapeutic touch, aromatherapy, and other services will be offered at no cost to the patient or family.
Clayton graduated from Carmel High School and spent 20 years on the road as a guitarist with a band called“ The Late Show.” He and his wife Kimmie lost a baby in the mid-1990s, an experience that led him to change paths and earn a bachelor’ s degree in Bible and comparative religion at Anderson University and later a master’ s in theological studies at Butler University.
He is a minister focused on the lessons of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount as recounted in the book of Matthew. He retired as minister at Harmony Church to lead the new initiative.
A near-death experience led to another change in direction as he accepted a hospice chaplain position at Southern Care Indiana, based in Bloomington and covering seven counties.
Clayton is a multi-instrumentalist who plays the cello, harp, and Native American flute. He is trained in other neuroaesthetic areas, such as Reiki and aromatherapy. Neuroaesthetics is a growing field studying the impact art, music, and other sensory experiences a has on the human brain.
He uses his musical abilities in his hospice work, saying he wants to“ dose” people with music, not perform. Hearing music can release serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin chemicals in the brain altering our biology and bringing balance to people close to death.
“ The right music at the right time can make a difference,” he said,“ helping people to hang on to life or to let loose of it.”
The Harmony initiative is being funded by grants and donations, but medical services will be administered by hospice providers. Nursing or medical teams will visit patients at least once a week, and medicines can be administered by family members or caretakers.
Based on the“ doula” model sometimes used in childbirth settings, the goal is to“ provide compassionate care, and maintain dignity and personal freedom for those at the end of life,” the non-profit’ s literature states. The church’ s basement has been remodeled into spacious living quarters which include a large kitchen, accessible shower, laundry facilities, a meditation or prayer room, computer space, sitting areas, and
44 Our Brown County May / June 2023