Participatory Action Research with therapeutic arts practitioners: Research capacity building in a pediatric hospital

The therapeutic arts (TA) encompass a vast area of practices including art, music, drama, dance, and horticultural therapy in multiple settings. However, TA often lack recognition in hospital settings and may be viewed as expendable programming. Credibility and visibility obtained through research was needed to build effective links to partners and policymakers at a pediatric hospital. In terms of research methods, we used participatory action research to guide the process of facilitating the building of research capacity in TA practitioners. We interviewed eight hospital stakeholders to investigate barriers and facilitators to TA research. Interview themes included: barriers to research; strategies to facilitate TA research; research gaps; and practice gaps. Research capacity growth included a shift from a passive role in research to a more active role; this factor occurred alongside the difficulties of juxtaposing research with practitioner duties. We conclude that with a clearer understanding of the hospital research environment, TA practitioners can build support and a social network for research engagement; this process has begun, in part, as a result of this research