In this post-COVID era, when healthcare workers’ burnout regularly makes headlines, a study conducted at a cancer center sheds interesting light on the practice of art therapy in hospitals. Designed for patients in the department, it also improves the quality of life for healthcare workers on the job.
Art therapy, which involves using artistic creation for therapeutic purposes, is becoming increasingly common in hospitals. Its benefits for patients are well documented, particularly in oncology, where it helps patients cope better with their illness. But what about its impact on the healthcare workers themselves?
This is the question that researchers in a palliative care unit for cancer patients sought to explore. Their study involved approximately 20 healthcare providers (nurses and nursing assistants). This work illustrates the unexpected and positive effects of art therapy—and artistic expression in general —on the quality of life at work for healthcare staff. This issue is addressed in particular in the book Work in Care, Care in Work.
Caring for patients with cancer at the end of life is an emotionally demanding task. Caregivers are confronted daily with suffering and death, which can lead to stress, fatigue, and burnout, as reported by those interviewed: One nurse shares: “It’s not an easy job to support people and their loved ones, to accompany them at the end of life.”
Other healthcare workers note: “We go through intense and overwhelming emotions. On top of that, the pace of work is intense: we’re pushing ourselves to the limit all the time—it’s a 12-hour day packed into 8 hours.”
In this context, the introduction of art therapy sessions for patients has had unexpected beneficial effects on the caregivers and their work.
First of all, the atmosphere in the rooms changes. Art therapy seems to soothe the patients, which in turn makes it easier to provide care. One nurse observes: “When I stop by after the art therapist has been there, I find that it’s always calmer and more serene.”
This also changes the relationship to time. While healthcare providers are often pressed for time, the art therapist takes the time to engage with the patient. This contrast allows healthcare providers to become aware of another possible sense of time within the care relationship.
Art therapy allows caregivers to see patients in a new light, beyond their illness. Artistic creations reveal patients’ personalities and life stories. This restored sense of the patient’s humanity helps caregivers find greater meaning in their work, as one caregiver explains: “It’s always nice to get to know a patient in a different way… it’s always more pleasant to meet the person rather than just the cancer. Through their artwork, I realize that they are still a person in their own right—I mustn’t forget that.”
Patients’ artistic creations also serve as a means of starting a conversation, particularly with patients who don’t communicate much. One nurse explains: “Sometimes, that’s how we’re able to connect with patients we can’t seem to reach.”
This makes it possible to tailor care and build a relationship of trust: “It creates a bond of trust when the patient feels that we’re trying to take into account all the aspects of who they are.”
Unexpectedly, art therapy also seems to ease the emotional burden on caregivers. By providing patients with a space to express their emotions, it indirectly brings relief to caregivers: “It even helps us let go of our feelings of guilt.”
The art therapist provides some of the emotional support, which allows caregivers to refocus on technical care while maintaining a relational aspect.
The integration of art therapy into the department has also strengthened the sense of teamwork. Caregivers report feeling less alone when it comes to providing comprehensive patient care: “It has highlighted the value of the teamwork we were doing,” “It adds value to our teamwork.”
Some even express a sense of pride: “I’m proud to work in a department that offers alternative treatments.”
Ultimately, this study shows that art therapy, although initially intended for patients, has positive effects on several aspects of healthcare providers’ quality of life at work by:
improving the work environment
strengthening relationships with patients
reducing the emotional burden
strengthening teamwork
a sense of pride and purpose at work
Our observations have shown that art therapy spaces contribute to the creation of new images that biomedical care has tended to suppress. These images are primarily related to representations strongly influenced by illness, and the relationship with the art therapist—through materials, colors, and multiple avenues for self-expression and imagination—highlights other dimensions of the individual and their life story.
It is these images that give rise to a new dialogue: with others (by creating a community centered around the patient as a person), with biomedical indicators and technical care, and with the work of caregiving and its creativity.
If there is a transfer —as described by Georges Devereux —of emotions and parallel journeys from the caregiver to the patient, which is so characteristic of palliative care, it seemed to us that this transfer was reoriented by art therapy and the art therapist.
This creates a new space for care work in which the caregiver’s creativity is expressed through new, co-created care objects (the room shared with the art therapist, the shift change area, the drawers in the managers’ office, the hallway, the art therapist’s cart, and art therapy materials).
All in all, this “shift in perspective”—so often described as such, and a concept that has so occupied our minds, our methods, and our own perspective as researchers—actually reflects this alternative vision of care and patients in palliative care.
At a time when burnout among healthcare workers is a major issue, these findings open up new possibilities. They suggest that incorporating practices such as art therapy helps improve working conditions for healthcare workers while enhancing patient care.
Science and society feed off each other and benefit from dialogue. Research can draw on citizen participation, improve people’s daily lives, or even inform public decision-making. This is demonstrated by the articles in our series “Science and Society: A New Dialogue,” published with the support of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
