Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jul 21:S0003-9993(24)01127-4. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2024.07.008. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Appreciation for the utility of creative arts therapy in rehabilitation is on the rise. The limitations of conventional approaches to address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring traumatic brain injury (TBI) is spurring the development and increased use of the creative arts therapies, especially in U.S. military healthcare systems. However, emerging applications of creative arts therapies in rehabilitation extend well beyond PTSD/TBI and military populations to span the continuum of care, from the intensive care unit, post-operative recovery unit, acute inpatient medical and surgical wards, outpatient clinics, and home health, as well as in traditional long-term care and psychiatric settings. Critical steps to more fully integrating creative arts therapies in rehabilitation include the following: 1) Incorporation of education about the creative arts therapies into the curricula across rehabilitation disciplines; 2) alteration of national and state policies to promote greater inclusion of the creative arts therapies as reimbursable treatments for a wide array of clinical diagnoses and conditions; and, 3) significant expansion of the creative arts therapies’ evidence base: This can be achieved by increasing funding levels to encourage rigorously designed and controlled studies to determine the efficacy, populations, diagnoses and conditions, co-factors and the mechanisms of action of the creative arts therapies. The time has come for a concentrated effort from the community of rehabilitation professional associations, advocacy organizations, and practitioners to promote the advancement and inclusion of the creative arts therapies into appropriate clinical settings to optimize outcomes for patients.

PMID:39043332 | DOI:10.1016/j.apmr.2024.07.008