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Review
. 2018 Mar 10;5(1):2055102918760042.
doi: 10.1177/2055102918760042. eCollection 2018 Jan-Jun.

Start making sense: Art informing health psychology

Ad A Kaptein  1 , Brian M Hughes  2 , Michael Murray  3 , Joshua M Smyth  4
Affiliations
Review

Start making sense: Art informing health psychology

Ad A Kaptein et al. Health Psychol Open. .

Abstract

Growing evidence suggests that the arts may be useful in health care and in the training of health care professionals. Four art genres - novels, films, paintings and music - are examined for their potential contribution to enhancing patient health and/or making better health care providers. Based on a narrative literature review, we examine the effects of passive (e.g. reading, watching, viewing and listening) and active (e.g. writing, producing, painting and performing) exposure to the four art genres, by both patients and health care providers. Overall, an emerging body of empirical evidence indicates positive effects on psychological and physiological outcome measures in patients and some benefits to medical training. Expressive writing/emotional disclosure, psychoneuroimmunology, Theory of Mind and the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation are considered as possible theoretical frameworks to help incorporate art genres as sources of inspiration for the further development of health psychology research and clinical applications.

Keywords: art; films; music; narrative health psychology; narrative review; novels; paintings.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Expanded version of the Common Sense Model of Illness (from Hagger et al., 2017). EW/ED: expressive writing/emotional disclosure; ToM: Theory of Mind; PNI: psychoneuroimmunology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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