Arts engagement facilitated by artists with individuals with life-limiting illness: A systematic integrative review of the literature

SAGE Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care

This episode features Jennifer Baxley Lee (Ulster University, Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences Research, Northern Ireland, UK University of Florida, Center for Arts in Medicine, College of the Arts, Florida, USA). An expanding body of evidence demonstrates the positive impacts of the arts on health and well-being. No synthesis currently exists presenting evidence on arts interventions facilitated by artists as distinct from creative arts therapists with individuals with life-limiting illness. This paper presents the first systematic synthesis of the benefits, challenges and key knowledge gaps in arts engagement delivered by artists in palliative and end-of-life care. Findings substantiate beneficial effects of the arts in palliative care, including: 1) a sense of well-being, 2) a newly discovered, or re-framed, sense of self, and 3) connection with others. Challenges associated with practice include navigating the complexity of facilitating arts engagement with individuals with life-limiting illness such as feelings of vulnerability, stigma, anxiety, or fatigue provoked by arts engagement. Recommendations for future research include: 1) consistency in methods and reporting; 2) inclusion of wider perspectives; and 3) key considerations for adapting the arts by health condition and art form to address complexity of arts engagement in palliative care. This review is a step toward aggregating existing evidence to advance knowledge regarding the full potential of arts engagement and to make the arts more widely available to patients in palliative and end-of-life care.