Arts-In-Medicine Movement

Although the healing power of the arts has a long history, the arts-in-medicine movement as a modern grassroots movement evolved from therapeutic art in psychiatry in the 1940s and art therapy as an acknowledged profession by 1960. The expanded focus of the movement in the late 20th century was the nonclinical concept of art and artists. The arts-in-medicine movement distinguishes between passive enjoyment of art created by others and art that participants—patients, their families, and caregivers—create. The involvement of a patient in the creative process (and increasingly self-help for caregivers) serves to enhance self-esteem, autonomy, and ability to take charge of a critical situation.

The healing power of the arts featured in the temple rituals and dream work of the Greek god of healing, Asklepios. In modern times, there are three main areas of art activity within health care. First, art in health care settings assumes that enhancing the physical environment of health care facilities promotes patient care; examples include architectural design and signage, art installations, sculptures, and live performances in public and private spaces. Second, community art refers to the practice of using art to deliver health promotion messages to wider communities in order to have an impact on the health and well-being of the population. Examples include anti-smoking billboards and popular theater performances in shopping centers and public squares. Third, medical humanities, as part of higher education and continuing professional education for doctors and nurses, is designed to change the way in which health care practitioners interact with patients. As a daily practice of the arts-in-medicine movement, medical staff and volunteers alike are encouraged to find the artist within and add creative expression to their healing approaches. Nurses are often in the best position to make the link between patients and artist, identifying both artist and art form (visual, music, dance, puppets, magic, clowning, etc.) that meet the patient's needs and creative energies. The so-called artists-inresidence—both paid and volunteer—are increasingly part of the health care team in hospitals and hospices in North America and Europe. The incorporation of the arts as an integral component of health care was formalized with the founding of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare in 1991. The society's website and annual conference are primary resources for identifying the programs, research, and professional opportunities that are available internationally.

Patch Adams, M.D., portrayed by Robin Williams in the 1998 film Patch Adams, is perhaps the most visible social revolutionary of the arts-in-medicine movement. He is the inspiration for healer-clowns in many health care settings. With a few colleagues, Patch Adams founded the Gesundheit Institute in Virginia in 1972—a home-based family medical practice that advocates for humor, clowning, and healing art to accompany traditional medical treatment. Gesundheit Institute charges nothing for its services and raises funds in order to welcome anyone from anywhere. Gesundheit Institute grew out of a recognition of the health care crisis in the United States and as a provocative stimulus to a peaceful revolution, opposing the “for-profit-not-people” health care system in America. The mission statement on Patch Adams's website underscores that the arts-in-medicine movement aspires to a snowball effect of activism that supports sustainability of individual and community health.

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