Date of Award

5-9-2019

Access Restriction

Research Projects

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Marital and Family Therapy

School or College

College of Communication and Fine Arts

First Advisor

Jessica Bianchi

Abstract

This document reviews qualitative assessments used to explore the impact on art therapy interventions with patients in cancer treatment. The study explored the use of qualitative assessment in evaluating patient perspective on receiving art therapy adjunctly with cancer treatment. In addition, the research aimed to determine if art therapy interventions are perceived as effective in helping cancer patients reduce stress, cope, improve quality of life, express emotions, and reduce cancer-related symptoms during and after cancer treatment through qualitative assessment. Approximately 300 cancer patient experiences were reviewed through surveying qualitative studies that explored the effects of art making in cancer treatment through qualitative assessment such as interviews, questionnaires, observations, and open-ended questions. This archival research used a thematic approach to identify emergent themes in format, administration techniques, and impact in qualitative assessments to learn about the patient art therapy experience. The emergent themes were discovered while surveying information regarding types of formats and administration procedures used in qualitative cancer research. These findings suggest that qualitative assessments used in art therapy programs are a useful tool to determine how art interventions may help address patient's psychosocial needs, provide coping skills, and relieve cancer–related symptoms.

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