Art in Occupational Therapy: an indispensable tool for promoting health

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  • For more than a century, art has been used to improve people’s quality of life, because it allows them to express emotions and feelings that cannot surface in conventional therapies
  • Occupational therapy uses art as a therapeutic tool, makes artistic activities accessible to each person and works in a team with other health professionals to offer a comprehensive therapy environment
  • The subject Artistic Activity as Therapy helps students to learn to support individual processes in a genuine, holistic way
  • For years, the ISaMBeS research group and the Chair in Mental Health have been providing scientific evidence on the benefits of art therapy and promoting the Vic, Culture and Wellbeing programme, which is a pioneer in Catalonia

Art and health are two concepts that go hand in hand when it comes to improving people’s quality of life. Art, understood as a means of reflection and expression, has been used as a healing tool for more than a century. Art therapy helps people overcome trauma and other emotional problems, because it allows them to express emotions, ideas and feelings that are difficult to bring out in conventional verbal therapy.

In this context, “what Occupational Therapy does is to make artistic activities accessible because they are adapted to the individual needs of each patient, and it involves working in a team with other health professionals to offer a comprehensive approach to therapy,” stated Judit Rusiñol, coordinator of the bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC).

“Occupational therapy makes artistic activities accessible because they are adapted to the individual needs of each patient”

Therefore, occupational therapy uses art as a tool to help people develop their motor, perceptual and cognitive skills, and to improve their coordination, strength and precision in everyday life. This is particularly relevant for people who have suffered an injury or have a physical or mental disability that affects their ability to carry out activities of daily living. It is also a very effective means of improving mood, since any creative process can increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which are the neurotransmitters related to the feeling of wellbeing and happiness. Therefore, it helps to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. Finally, in addition to helping to maintain and improve cognitive skills, such as planning, problem solving and decision making, it can be a very effective way to improve social interaction, due to the simple fact that it can help people to express themselves and improve their mood.

Teach art therapy

Marco Antonio Raya is a teacher on the degree in Occupational Therapy and an art therapist and occupational therapist at the Guttman Institute. He teaches the subject Artistic Activity as Therapy in the fourth year of the bachelor’s degree at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare at the UVic-UCC, an optional subject that aims to explore the therapeutic and social use of other languages of expression and communication, such as drawing, photography or collage. “What is key in this subject is knowing how to accompany an individual, genuine, holistic process, and not carry out closed interpretations or prescribed proposals,” he stated. According to him, it is important that through occupational therapy we can help people to access or rediscover artistic tools: “Imagine what it feels like when you discover that you had so much to say and in so many ways, or that what you were never able to explain can be embodied in a photograph, a poem or a drawing, and that, what is more, it takes shape in a creation of your own. “It's very exciting!”, said Raya, who considers that: “You need to have confidence in the resource, training and experience, to be able to help people see the potential of their own production and expression through the range of languages within artistic practice.” He concluded that, as in all professional mediation: “The potential benefit of therapy will depend on the quality of the professional as a facilitator of the possibilities provided by a safe and trusting environment, and the role of the person within their own process.”

“You need to have confidence in the resource, training and experience to be able to help people see the potential of their own expression”

Joana Juliana Puig

Joana Juliana Puig: "It helps me put myself in the other person’s situation and be more sensitive to the fears and needs of the people I will have to work with.”

Fourth year Occupational Therapy student

"The subject has served as a tool for introspection and has helped me put myself on the other side to understand how therapies are received and to be more sensitive to the needs, fears and doubts of the people I will have to work with.
What seemed most interesting to me was the fact of understanding that art therapy does not necessarily have to be linked to people who know and enjoy drawing; there are many other techniques where it is not necessary to have this skill so that different people can participate in therapeutic activities through art. Being able to understand and relate each technique to a specific profile, person or moment seemed “magical” to me. So, for example, at first, you don’t know if someone feels comfortable drawing, so it might be more interesting to opt for an activity through photography or collage.”

Irene Serrano: “A subject that provides tools in the professional and personal sphere”

Fourth year Occupational Therapy student

“The subject Artistic Activity as Therapy gives me tools to be able to work with our users and helps me make observations about myself in the personal sphere, in a more intense way. With art, you can see the capabilities of people and it allows you to reflect those emotions that are often lost with other more conventional methods. As occupational therapists, it is essential for us to learn how to approach the thoughts or experiences of the people we treat; that’s why I see myself using this therapy in my work in the future.”

Vic, Culture and Wellbeing, an example of pioneering art therapy in Catalonia

The impact of art and culture on health and social participation is one of the lines of research of the research group Innovation in Mental Health and Social Welfare (ISaMBeS) and the Chair in Mental Health UVic-UCC, of which researcher Salvador Simó is co-coordinator and deputy director, respectively. This group promotes the Vic, Culture and Wellbeing project, which aims to promote health through art and culture for people with dementia and mental health problems and, from this year, also people with intellectual disability, those at risk of social exclusion and refugees.

The project, promoted by the UVic-UCC and Vic City Council, through the Departments of Culture and Social Welfare, every year proposes a programme of cultural activities, spread over two semesters, in which all the cultural facilities of the city are involved, including the Cineclub, the Contemporary Arts Centre, the Theatre and Cinema Space, the Medieval Art Museum, the Leather Art Museum, VicPuntZero, L'Atlantida and EMVIC, and even the UVic Inclusive Orchestra. This involvement of all the city’s cultural structures makes the project an innovative and pioneering benchmark in Catalonia and a model to be exported to other cities.

This involvement of all the city’s cultural structures makes the project an innovative and pioneering benchmark in Catalonia

Last year, the programme served 360 people in 19 programmed activities. In this year’s edition, it is expected that more than 800 people will participate in 40 activities. This qualitative and quantitative increase is accompanied by an inflow of funds from the Catalan Government and Barcelona Provincial Council.

In 2021, the research group presented the results of the project Vic. Culture and Alzheimer’s, which is what this project was called initially when it was only aimed at patients with this disease. The report provided scientific evidence of the fact that neurodegenerative diseases take longer to affect creativity, artistic expression and appreciation rather than recent memory. The study showed how art improves the quality of life of people suffering from neurological problems and has qualitative benefits for caregivers, including families and professionals. It revealed that occupational therapy based on art and culture promotes psychological and emotional health, and improves self-confidence, self-perception and socialization.

The first pilot test of the project Vic. Culture and Alzheimer’s was carried out in 2018 as a continuation of the CCCB Alzheimer programme project, started in this cultural centre in 2010 and of which the Chair in Mental Health of the UVic-UCC already carried out an evaluation, which demonstrated the positive impact on wellbeing and social participation. The same benefits were demonstrated in the research project led by the team at the Barcelona Auditorium with the National Orchestra of Catalonia in 2019, and in experiences that have been replicated at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, the Serralves Foundation in Porto (Portugal) or the Winnipeg Art Gallery in Manitoba (Canada), among others. As Salvador Simó stated: “Art and culture are a basic human right and it is our responsibility to guarantee access to the most vulnerable groups, through the co-creation of inclusive communities.” He also highlighted the need to “strengthen the current trend towards a more inclusive culture and museums.”