Art Therapy Based Curriculums with Patients who Have or Had Cancer

Patients who have/had cancer are often left with emotional distress, as well as, anxiety, and depression amongst other effects. Art therapy based curriculums have been utilized with patients that have/had cancer with promising results of decreasing emotional distress and other effects. Five different art therapy based curriculums are explored through archival research approach. Through this approach, information is collected to explore five research questions that are presented to understand how these art therapy-based curriculums can help patients who have/had cancer. These research questions explore the type of interventions being utilized in the curriculum when the curriculum is being implemented in the patient’s treatment, what the demographics are for the curriculums that are being used, the structure of the workshops where these curriculums are taking place and what the impact was of the curriculums. The significant finding was that interventions such as mindfulness, relaxation activities and reflection on self decreased emotional distress. A more extensive selection of curriculums would have been beneficial in finding more themes and provide evidence that art therapy based curriculums can help the patient that has/had cancer