Research into art therapy in cancer care
Studies have used art therapy for people with cancer. Research has looked at using art therapy in the following areas.
Art therapy for cancer symptoms
A review in 2010 looked at all the studies that researched art therapy for cancer symptoms. 12 different studies were included. The symptoms included psychological symptoms, some physical symptoms and some looked at the meaning of experiences of art therapy for people who took part. The researchers found that art therapy seemed to give some improvement in distress, depression, tiredness (fatigue), and general health.
In other studies, art therapy has shown benefits in helping people to express the physical and emotional effects of having cancer. An American study looked at the effect of art therapy on people with cancer who had many different symptoms, including pain and anxiety. The researchers found that many symptoms, including tiredness, were improved, but art therapy did not help with sickness in this study.