Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr;13(7):e7044.
doi: 10.1002/cam4.7044.

Exploring resonance theory and uncontrollability during co-creative art making: A qualitative study among cancer patients

Yvonne Weeseman  1   2 , Michael Scherer-Rath  3 , Nirav Christophe  4 , Henny Dörr  4 , Esther Helmich  5 , Mirjam A G Sprangers  6   7 , Niels van Poecke  1   2 , Hanneke W M van Laarhoven  1   2
Affiliations

Exploring resonance theory and uncontrollability during co-creative art making: A qualitative study among cancer patients

Yvonne Weeseman et al. Cancer Med. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: Co-creation, characterised by artists and patients creating a joint work of art, may support patients with the integration of life events, such as living with cancer, into their life story. In the process of co-creation, resonance relationships between patients, artists and material may evolve that support such integration. Using the framework of resonance theory, we aim to investigate if and how patients move through the three phases of resonance during a process of co-creation and explore the role of uncontrollability in this process.

Methods: Ten patients who received cancer treatment with palliative intent completed co-creation processes, which were audio recorded. These recordings were imported in Atlas-Ti and analysed by applying content analysis. We searched for the three phases of resonance, Being affected, touched and moved; Self-efficacy and responding; Adaptive transformation. We additionally searched for signs of uncontrollability.

Results: Patients used 4-8 sessions (median 5 sessions) with a duration 90-240 min per session (median duration 120 min). We found that patients move through the three phases of resonance during co-creation processes. Uncontrollability both presents a challenge and an invitation to integrate experiences of contingency into one's life narrative. Patients express self-recognition and the experience of contingency in their work of art.

Conclusions: Integration of experiences of contingency into a life narrative can be supported by the process of co-creation of art, which invites patients to relate to their illness, their environment and themselves. The phases of resonance in combination with uncontrollability as a continuously present factor, provide a means to both study and support the integration of experiences of contingency into the life narrative.

Keywords: co‐creation in art; experiences of contingency; palliative cancer patients; quality of life; resonance theory; uncontrollability.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Paintings of the patient. From left to right: (A) initial drawings by the artist, (B) portrait 1, (C) portrait 2 (portrait 2 after Weeseman et al. 16 ). (A) Initial set of upper body portraits made by the artist with words that describe the patient according to herself. (B) Portrait 1, drawing of the patient's whole body gestalt by the artist, coloured in by the patient, which the patient describes as “more elegant”. (C) Portrait 2, drawing of the patients gestalt by the artist, coloured in by the patient, which the patient describes as “tough, like a warrior, amazing how it fills up the whole frame”.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hartog I, Scherer‐Rath M, Kruizinga R, et al. Narrative meaning making and integration: toward a better understanding of the way falling ill influences quality of life. J Health Psychol. 2020;25:738‐756. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kruizinga R, Hartog ID, Scherer‐Rath M, Schilderman H, Van Laarhoven H. Modes of relating to contingency: an exploration of experiences in advanced cancer patients. Palliat Support Care. 2017;15:444‐453. - PubMed
    1. Kruizinga R, Najmeh N, Scherer‐Rath M, et al. Relating to the experience of contingency in advanced cancer patients: an interview study in American patients. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2017;11:1‐24. - PubMed
    1. Van Dalen E, Scherer‐Rath M, Van Laarhoven H, Hermans C. Tragedy as contingency acknowledgement: towards a practical religious‐scientific theory. J Empir. 2019;32:232‐250.
    1. Van Dalen E, Scherer‐Rath M, Van Laarhoven H, Hermans C. Eröffnungen von Möglichkeiten in der Interpretationskrise. Eine empirische Untersuchung van Kontingenzerfahrungen bei KrebspatientInnen. Weg Zum Menschen. 2021;73:55‐69.