'Creating health': evaluation of three arts for health training events for GP trainees.

BACKGROUND: General practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals have a key role in signposting their patients to appropriate opportunities for engaging in arts and creative activities for the health and wellbeing benefits they may bring. Training is needed to ensure that GPs are aware of the evidence supporting the role of the arts, and the local availability of 'creative arts for health' activities for their patients. AIM: This article describes the content and evaluation of three arts and health training events for trainee GPs conducted over the period 2016-2019. They took place in association with Guy's and St Thomas, Hillingdon and York and Scarborough General Practice Vocational Training Schemes (GPVTS). METHODS: Evaluation was undertaken for the London events using a specially constructed questionnaire, with rating scales, completed before and after the training events. For the York event, a simple bespoke evaluation questionnaire was employed at the end of the training day. All participants gave consent for photography and filming during the events. RESULTS: Feedback from GPs on the training events revealed increased awareness of the evidence for arts and health interventions, and more positive attitudes towards the role of creative arts in primary care in promoting the health and wellbeing of patients. An additional finding was a recognition by GP trainees that creative activities can enhance a holistic approach to patient care and play a positive part in supporting their own wellbeing. CONCLUSION: Training events of the kind described, with opportunities for creative participation for GP trainees, can enhance awareness of the benefits of creative activity for patient health and wellbeing, and may motivate future GPs to signpost patients towards opportunities for engaging in creative activities. This training model is applicable for any health worker who can refer patients to arts for health activities and has potential to be scaled up nationally.

Competence Enhancement Program of Expressive Arts in End-of-Life Care for Health and Social Care Professionals: A Mixed-Method Evaluation.

In the recent decades, expressive arts (EXA) has been used in end-of-life care (EOLC) for facilitating the quality of life of the patients and the caregivers. However, it may not be practical for every EOLC service to dispense EXA activities solely by extensively trained art therapy specialists. There is currently a lack of brief training for nonart therapists, which may have stifled the application of the techniques in clinical settings. The current study therefore described and evaluated the effectiveness of a 2-day EXA training workshop in enhancing practice, knowledge, and self-competence among health and social care professionals working in EOLC using a mixed-method approach. The quantitative findings show significant improvement in perceived competence of providing services per holistic and person-centered EOLC objectives, nonpharmaceutical management of symptoms, and evidence-based psychosocial care as well as self-competence in death work (SCDW) after the workshop. The qualitative findings corroborated the quantitative results by suggesting that the improvement in competence could be associated with enhanced communication, meaning reconstruction, and therapeutic relationship with the clients as well as the improvement in mood, socialization, and self-esteem among the clients through the learned EXA activities. Our findings support the efficacy of a brief training of EXA activities for nonart therapists in enhancing multifaceted intervention competence. Further research on brief training will be needed to promote the use of EXA activities in the EOLC context.

Evaluation of an art in health care elective module--a nurse education initiative.

BACKGROUND: International literature suggests that nurse educators perceive a value in the arts and literature as a teaching strategy in helping nurses express a personal philosophy of nursing, teaching spirituality and non-verbal communication. PURPOSE OF STUDY: The purpose of this study was to evaluate nursing students experiences of undertaking an interdisciplinary 'Art in Health' elective. STUDY DESIGN: The formative evaluation approach was based on the reflective practice model that encourages students (n = 60) to evaluate their own learning experience. FINDINGS: 88% of nursing students valued the experience of learning with students from other disciplines or colleges. 63% commented on how they enjoyed the creative aspect of studio work and the element of diversity in brought to nursing. 63% indicated that the module gave them a greater insight into the presence of art in health care contexts and felt that they gained a deeper understanding of how art can help people in hospital. CONCLUSION: The module presents an innovative model of interdisciplinary curriculum development which appears to facilitate students in viewing patients from a more holistic perspective. As an education experience this module appears to have the potential to help students develop skills in working collaboratively with other health care and non health care disciplines.

Student impressions of an art therapy class.

Art therapy facilitates the expression of thoughts and feelings and thus may serve as a self-care strategy. This paper describes the implementation of an expressive art therapy class to teach self-care during a required sophomore level nursing wellness course and the outcomes of the class through the eyes of six students. While students were initially reluctant to engage in the activity, the shared stories revealed feelings of relaxation, empowerment, value clarification, and increased self-awareness. The implication for nursing education is that the integration of art therapy into curricula may serve as an effective strategy to teaching self-care and core professional values.

[The impact of an art therapy programme for cancer patients--an analysis from different points of view]. / Die Bedeutung einer kunsttherapeutischen Intervention für onkologische Patienten aus Sicht der Teilnehmer, der Kursleitung und der Supervisorin.

BACKGROUND: Art therapy is used in the whole field of psycho-oncological maintenance to support coping mechanisms with creative techniques. Previous studies stated effects of art therapy just by referring to the participants' ratings. This study wants to extend the perspective by including the views of all involved parties--participating patients, dropouts, art therapist and supervisor. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We developed and tested an art therapy programme for cancer patients. The participants' and dropouts' ratings were documented by using a questionnaire with open and closed questions upon completion of the intervention. The art therapist and the supervisor described their personal point of view. RESULTS: 74 patients took part in the intervention whereof 18 dropped out. Of these, 8 could be interviewed regarding the reasons for not participating further in the study. The dropouts evaluated the intervention positively(4/8) or could not make a final statement (3/8). 55 questionnaires were available from the 56 participants. They described the importance of the programme in several ways. Most of all, they reported of: stimulation of imagination (50/55), emotional stabilisation(48/55), enlargement of means of expression (45/55) and contact with other patients (42/55). The dropouts named several reasons for their decision to cancel: too intense focus on the disease(N = 3), modern drawing (N = 1), too much talks (N = 1) and too much sketching (N = 1) were some points of criticism. The art therapist as well as the supervisor emphasized activation as a main outcome for the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Positive effects of the intervention programme highlight the importance of establishing an art therapy in ambulant care. It enlarges the range of psychosocial maintenance and enables oncological patients to cope with the disease and its consequences with artistic means.

An art therapy in-service program model for medical students and residents.

This paper examines the author's experience implementing an art therapy in-service program into the training of medical students and residents in an urban hospital teaching facility. Emphasis is placed on specific aspects of planning and implementation, including formal and informal assessment, as well as methods of engaging medical students in art therapy experientials relevant to their experience as helping professionals. Benefits and challenges encountered throughout the process are also discussed. This paper is based on a presentation given at the 36th annual American Art Therapy Association conference.

Drawing cure: children's drawings as a psychoanalytic instrument.

This essay deals with the special case of drawings as psychoanalytical instruments. It aims at a theoretical understanding of the specific contribution made by children's drawings as a medium of the psychical. In the influential play technique developed by Melanie Klein, drawing continuously interacts with other symptomatic (play) actions. Nonetheless, specific functions of drawing within the play technique can be identified. The essay will discuss four crucial aspects in-depth: 1) the strengthening of the analysis's recursivity associated with the graphic artifact; 2) the opening of the analytic process facilitated by drawing; 3) the creation of a genuinely graphic mode of producing meaning that allows the child to develop a "theory" of the workings of his own psychic apparatus; and 4) the new possibilities of symbolization associated with the latter. In contrast to classical definitions of the psychological instrument, the child's drawing is a weakly structured tool that does not serve to reproduce psychic processes in an artificial, controlled setting. The introduction of drawing into the psychoanalytic cure is by no means interested in replaying past events, but in producing events suited to effecting a transformation of the synchronic structures of the unconscious.

Education of creative art therapy to cancer patients: evaluation and effects.

BACKGROUND: The course Cancer and Creative Art offers cancer patients the possibility to cope with their illness through creativity and self-expression. METHODS: Five groups of 35 participants, predominantly composed of women with breast cancer, participated in an explorative evaluation and effect study; premeasures and postmeasures were applied. RESULTS: The course met the needs of participants that included personal growth and contact with fellow sufferers as well as exploration and expressing their emotions and coping with their feelings. The participants were satisfied with the organization of the course, but most felt that the sessions were too short and asked for more time for follow-up discussions. They indicated positive changes in coping with their emotions, the awakening of a process of "conscious living," and the development of creativity. Many of the participants felt the intake interview with a psychiatrist was not necessary. Measures taken before and after showed that the activities of daily living deteriorated due the course of the disease. However, the participants indicated that their quest for meaning in life increased after the course. Their mood did not change. The course also improved the general quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Creative art therapy benefits the quality of life of cancer patients. Follow-up studies should provide more insight into the change process during creative art therapy and its long-term effect on the quality of life for people with cancer.

Lowering stress while teaching research: a creative arts intervention in the classroom.

Undergraduate students often request "hands-on" research experience but seldom have the time and opportunity during a one-semester introductory course to participate in such a project. The purposes of this educational approach, implemented during a beginning research class for baccalaureate nursing students, were to provide an opportunity for students to participate in an experimental research study, and test the effect of a creative arts intervention on students' stress, anxiety, and emotions. Students designed, participated in, and analyzed the results of the project. The intervention significantly reduced stress and anxiety and increased positive emotions in this student population, while providing a creative research experience. For future use, the intervention may be helpful with a variety of vulnerable groups.

Balancing the focus: art and music therapy for pain control and symptom management in hospice care.

Pain and symptom management are a major part of hospice care. Literature and direct experience suggest that pain can be resistant if psychological, emotional, or spiritual issues are not addressed. This article explains how art and music therapies can work in conjunction with traditional medical treatment of pain control in the hospice setting. The process of pain modulation through the use of art and music interventions is diagrammed and described. Brief clinical examples demonstrate the use of art and music therapies for pain reduction with a variety of hospice patients. Information regarding appropriate education and training necessary for art and music therapists to practice in their field is presented.