The Mataró Hospital (Maresme) is participating in a project that will allow us to verify whether art therapy can be an effective intervention to help cancer patients improve their emotional well-being. The study is promoted by the Nueva Cumbres Foundation and also has the participation of other centers such as the Althaia Foundation, the Terrassa Health Consortium, the Kalid Sant Pau Foundation, the Barcelona Clinical Hospital, and three centers of the Catalan Institute of Oncology ( ICO Hospitalet, ICO Badalona and ICO Girona).
Art therapy is a discipline that proposes a space for encountering oneself, where one can dialogue with different artistic languages, with the aim of promoting emotional integration and seeking new ways of incorporating difficult experiences through creative capacities. In order to participate, it is not necessary to have previous knowledge in the artistic field.
To carry out the study, each center will be in charge of managing a group of people undergoing treatment in the oncology unit or service of the same hospital. The sample will be divided into two groups: a group made up of users who will receive the usual care provided for in the follow-up of people with cancer, and who will be offered to participate in the workshops once their collaboration is over; and a group that will participate in twelve sessions of art therapy guided by art therapists with accredited training. In this way, the results of each group of users can be analyzed and the effectiveness of art therapy can be assessed.
The people who will participate in the workshops will receive a box with material that will help them express their emotions through various artistic languages. The sessions are divided into three stages. It will begin with a first contact, in which the concerns of the participants will be discussed. Next, there will be a relaxation activity that will allow you to get ready for work. Next, a proposal will be carried out aimed at artistic production, whether it be plastic arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, collage …), written expression (poetry or narration), music, body language, dramatization, etc.
The last part of the session will be dedicated to reflection, since the experiences they have experienced will be shared, putting words, talking with the art therapist and finding new meanings to the emotions felt. The sessions will be held online to avoid the risk of contagion from Covidien-19, with the intention of changing it to a face-to-face format when epidemiological conditions allow it.
Cancer is considered an event of great impact in people’s lives, and it can produce the appearance of fears, fears and uncertainties, circumstances that can generate varying degrees of stress and emotional distress. Each person faces the disease in a different way, and this study aims to verify that art therapy can be an effective intervention to improve the emotional well-being of users and improve their abilities to cope with the disease, their quality of life and reduce levels of anxiety and depression.
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