New research led by Dr Theresa Van Lith, in collaboration with Saoni Banerjee at La Trobe University and Heather Spooner at University of Florida, has highlighted a gap in understanding about the different professionals who deliver arts-based programs in healthcare.
“When hospitals and health services bring arts into care, they often don't realise there are two different kinds of professionals doing what, on the surface, looks like the same thing,” she says.
“For example, a creative arts therapist is a trained, credentialed mental health professional who uses art to treat psychological needs. An artist in healthcare, on the other hand, brings creativity into the hospital environment to lift people's spirits but they do not provide therapy.”
To explore how these roles are perceived and put into practice, Dr Van Lith and her team surveyed 74 healthcare administrators responsible for hiring and policy decisions. Less than half could correctly distinguish between creative arts therapists and artists working in healthcare.
“This suggests that people are being placed in the wrong roles or asked to do work they aren't trained for. This can lead to poorer care, ethical risks and burnt-out staff,” Dr Van Lith says.
“The practical upside of this research is that it gives organisations a clearer understanding of how the two roles differ in training, responsibility and purpose, so managers can match the right professional to the right need.”
Dr Van Lith's next step is to work with healthcare organisations to test whether clearer role definitions improve patient outcomes, practitioner wellbeing and workforce retention over the long-term.
