Art for Recovery: An Arts Based Quality of Life Intervention

Author(s): Wallace, D. H., Rosenbaum, E. H.

Journal/Book: International Journal of Arts Medicine. 1994; 3:

Abstract: Patient quality of life has become an increasingly important consideration in the delivery of medical care. As a result of advances in detection and treatment technologies, many patients now experience increasingly longer survival periods following treatment. This increase in longevity raises questions regarding quality of life, such as whether the increased survival period, in months or years, has been purchased at the cost of quality. While solutions to this problem are being debated, a parallel issue concerns the role arts-based interventions may have in the maintenance or restoration of a patientÕs quality of life. This article describes the development of the Art for Recovery program at the University of California San Francisco/Mount Zion Medical Center, originally conceived as a time-management program for inpatients on the oncology unit, and now expanded to include the HIV and Bone Marrow Transplant Units, and the Pediatric Oncology Clinic. To place the programÕs activities in context, a brief review of selected literature pertaining to art therapy in a medical environment will be presented. This will be followed by a description of the program and a case history that depicts the program in action.

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