Arts as an ecological method to enhance quality of work experience of healthcare staff: a phenomenological-hermeneutic study

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of self-chosen arts-based recreational activities, as opposed to the traditional arts therapy activities, on the well-being of healthcare providers. Three qualitative case studies of programs in which arts-based activities were used to work with healthcare providers, lasting for 10 weeks each, are phenomenological-hermeneutically evaluated using interviews and focus groups. The findings show what we refer to as an “ecological” ripple of effects: (1) the arts-based activities helped to reduce individual stress and to enhance mood over time, (2) the activities helped to transform workplace relationships within wards, and (3) the arts humanized the overall work climate in the healthcare setting. These effects go beyond those of using the art production as a strategy for stress reduction and imply potential for a more encompassing role for the arts within healthcare.

Risk and Protective Factors of Well-Being among Healthcare Staff. A Thematic Analysis

“…Specialized training should be guaranteed in order to enhance interpersonal, emotional, and social competences in healthcare staff [ 34 , 81 ]. Participation in arts-based activities for example has been proved to exert effects on different levels, such as psychological, emotional, and social [ 82 ]. Professionals should be supported not only in facing typical and widespread burnout symptoms, but also to cope with cultural and social rapid transformations which often suggest new and different ways of working.…”

Arts and Humanities Interventions for Flourishing in Healthy Adults: A Mixed Studies Systematic Review

“…Qualitative results. Finally, three studies (i.e., Horwitz et al, 2017;Pearce, 2017;van Westrhenen & Fritz, 2012) examined integrative arts interventions which covered a range of arts domains such as visual arts, dance/movement, singing, creative writing, and drama. The goals and content of the interventions were diverse; however, the two most common PF outcomes that were found in all three studies were relaxation and stress relief and sense of community and belonging.…”

“…Participants of two studies also reported several negative experiences in participating in these interventions. While the CP program provided participants with relaxing effects, they also generated stress and added burden in trying to implement the program (Horwitz et al, 2017). In the community-based adult creative arts education class (Pearce, 2017), some participants reported having a negative view toward themselves compared with their expectations or their classmates and perceiving themselves as isolated and separate from other participants in the class groups.…”

“…Several features regarding the implementation of interventions were also identified by participants as facilitators and barriers. Six implementation features were identified as facilitating the effectiveness of the intervention: group format and process (Daher & Haz, 2011;Horwitz et al, 2017;Kometiani, 2017;Mellor, 2013;Pearce, 2017;van Westrhenen & Fritz, 2012;Zeeman & Lotriet, 2013), supportive and safe climate (Giaver et al, 2017;Mellor, 2013), peer interaction (Baker & Krout, 2012;Mellor, 2013), tailoring (van Westrhenen & Fritz, 2012Zeeman & Lotriet, 2013), spending time outside of routine (Karpavičiūtė & Parkinson, 2015;Pearce, 2017), and other features such as active recruiting efforts (Giaver et al, 2017), modeling (Feagan & Rossiter, 2011), creative methods (Zeeman & Lotriet, 2013), community involvement (Feagan & Rossiter, 2011), and application of knowledge (Zeeman & Lotriet, 2013). On the contrary, three features were identified as barriers to the effectiveness of the intervention: limited time and space (e.g., Giaver et al, 2017;Horwitz et al, 2017;Zeeman & Lotriet, 2013), social barriers (Giaver et al, 2017;Pearce, 2017), and other features such as no-follow-up sessions (Giaver et al, 2017).…”

Using Creative Genograms in Family Social Work to Integrate Subjective and Objective Knowledge About the Family: A Participatory Study

“…The arts create metabolic arousal that mobilizes the organism. Indeed, the arts, from a neurobiological perspective, are a way to group together stimuli into a coherent gestalt or unit and, thus, to organize what one wants to communicate to others (Bojner Horowitz et al, 2017; Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000; Sarid & Huss, 2011). On a community level, this process helps to select and update images and sensations that are momentarily most relevant to the individual, and these images become the base of narratives, rituals, symbols, sports, and other forms of symbolic interaction.…”