Creative Arts
KANCHANA S. BOSEROY, MD
Hello friends.
This is the summer 2022 newsletter of SDBP. I am excited to start my Creative Arts section with this article published in this newsletter combining my love of creative arts and medicine together.
In October, I will present on the same topic in Denver at the annual meeting of SDBP. Oct 23, 2022.
After high school, I was given the choice of going into any professional field that was suited to my intellectual potential. Arts/humanities were not options, though they were my affinities and passion. At that time, I chose Medicine because even 40 years ago, I firmly believed that the study of medicine is a Science, but practice of medicine is an Art.
Art of Medicine is now a science with evidence-based literature on empathy, communication, compassion, even prayers, and the “Doctor’s word” are salient determinants in prognosis and well-being of patients. Even medico-legally, “Informed Clinical Opinion” is the key to diagnosis and management. A doctor’s “gut feeling” should be scientific and evidence based, but include knowledge, experience, and that sixth sense – the factor that we call the Art of Medicine which is so important in this electronic era. (“Scrubs” had an episode on this).
Art in Medicine is used in different ways and literature is vast on the different modalities used and their effect on different disease entities. ”Arts in Healthcare 2009: State of the Field Report” is a comprehensive report worth reading.
When the arts – music, writing, drawing –are used in hospitals and palliative care settings, pain and anxiety are reduced for patients, promoting healing. Research indicates these same patients have shorter hospital stays, take less medication, and have fewer complications. There is less staff turnover and more satisfaction and hence, financial benefits too.
Creative Arts Therapy as a therapeutic modality is well recognized in depression/anxiety and is used with persons with ASD/ADHD and other behavioral/mental health diagnoses.
Spoken word/hip-hop music, dance, drama, cartoons, films, puppet shows, painting, singing, needlework, crochet, knitting – all modalities are used to promote not only wellness but community awareness and social justice. We did a multimodal presentation on bullying using community youth, including children with disabilities. School bullying, cyberbullying, domestic violence as bullying, and political bullying as war crimes were depicted using different Art modalities. While raising awareness it decreased performance anxiety in the children with ASD/ADHD. Art as Medicine for all! While in NYC, I wrote a fun book in poetry format on ADHD to promote awareness in the Bengali community. It was made into an animated video and a puppet show using children with different abilities. Art in behavioral medicine. We have also used Spoken word to express racial and gender identity, and videos/films to express sexual identity. Art had been used in children with Autism even as a career path for financial self-sustainability.
As a Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician, I have personally used Art in the practice of Medicine and as medicine for my patients, trainees, and my own well-being. Closer to home, at the SDBP meeting last year, my Ignite talk was in poetry format as was the abstract, and Bollywood dance was a lounge activity. Promoting wellness with Art as Medicine is a lot of FUN!