Creative Engagement and Cardiac Health
Connection
Newswise — The Foundation for Art & Healing
today releases the proceedings from its
groundbreaking Arts and the Heart Roundtable
(AHR), a gathering of luminaries from the
medical, arts and public health sectors
regarding the connection between creative
engagement and cardiac health.
Held during the summer of 2009 in New York,
the goal of the meeting was to draw on
research and clinical expertise as well as
the direct experiences of cardiac patients
who have found creative endeavors to aid in
their own personal healing processes.
The Roundtable participants concurred with
the findings of the research review (since
published in theAmerican Journal of
Public Health, February 2010) as related
to cardiac health, calling for a greater
range of research both in establishing the
connection between creative engagement and
positive changes in cardiac health, as well
further understanding the connection.
The Foundation has responded to this call
for action, planning multiple pilot programs
that will not only directly connect
individuals with the healing power of
creative engagement, but provide populations
among which to conduct further evaluation
and research.
“We were quite pleased with the
participation in and results of the AHR,”
stated Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, Founder and
President of the Foundation for Art &
Healing.
“The body of research connecting
creative engagement to healing outcomes is
compelling and it was wonderful to discuss
what more could be done with such a
fantastic group of minds.”
“Put simply, heart disease is affected by
emotion and we know that art deals with
emotion,” said Joshua Smyth, PhD, Professor
of Psychology at Syracuse University.
“Positive physiological and psychological
changes occur in the individual who is
creatively engaged. Although our current
understanding of this relationship is in its
infancy, millions of people can potentially
be helped by combining creative engagement
with more traditional biomedical
treatments.”
As described a bit more poetically by Edward
Hirsch, poet and President of the Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation, “The activity of making
something artistically is transformative but
not entirely rational. Individuals take
their obsession, grief, pain, and hope and
try to turn it into something. This 'making'
may not result in a cure, but it is
ultimately healing.”
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, a leading
cardiologist and Professor at the Yale
University School of Medicine agreed by
saying, “If we can demonstrate that emotion
affects outcomes and art affects emotion,
then a logical path to better outcomes would
involve more attention to engaging people in
artistic pursuits.”
The growing body of research referenced by
Dr. Nobel and reviewed at the Roundtable was
recently highlighted in an article published
in the February 2010 edition of the American
Journal of Public Health.
Titled “The Connection Between Art, Healing
& Public Health: A Review of Current
Literature,” the article demonstrated that
although there is evidence that art-based
interventions are effective in reducing
adverse physiological and psychological
outcomes, the extent to which these
interventions enhance health status is
largely unknown.
In addition to reviewing the existing and
potential research in this area, the AHR
panel also discussed creating programmatic
models for engagement of multiple
populations that could provide immediate
public benefit and serve as evaluation sites
Significant discussion focused on
workplace-based programming opportunities,
recognizing the current interest of
employers in the health of their employees,
and the potentially sizable populations
available in which one could pilot programs
and conduct evaluations of the impact.
For example, Roundtable participant Steven
M. Safyer, MD, CEO of Montefiore Medical
Center, said he could foresee an immediate
benefit for his institution. “There are
17,000 employees working at Montefiore right
now, who could probably benefit from this
type of approach, not to mention the
patients, families and communities we
serve,” said Safyer. “There is no reason not
to get started now!”
To see the full report, please go towww.artandhealing.org/heart.
About The Foundation for Art & Healing
The Foundation for Art & Healing, a 501c3
public charity, was founded in 2003 to
explore the connection between creative
expression and healing. The Foundation’s
mission is to create and expand general
awareness about the relationship between art
and healing, to bring forward through
research and related explorations critical
knowledge about this vital relationship, and
to help make this knowledge available at the
individual and community level in the form
of accessible and effective programs. For
more information, go to:www.artandhealing.org.
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