Art therapy is gaining acceptance by nation's health care providers.

96% of hospitals invest in the arts to help patients

Even at a conference where artistic expression was around every corner, it was difficult not to stop and stare at Nancy O'Brien as she played her harp. O'Brien is not a nurse or a doctor but the face of an evolving health-care industry in which the serene sounds of her melodious instrument, poetry written by patients, even soft lighting and comfy surroundings are believed to be important parts of healing.

O'Brien, a 51-year-old music therapist from Joliet, Ill., could go on about her success stories for hours.

There was the angry man at a rehab facility who was so agitated when she met him she thought he might punch her.

Then there were the children who received cardiac catheterization as she played to calm them.

And then there were the patients in one psychiatric facility who were allowed to experiment with music -- all were soothed and comforted by the power of music and art.

Those involved with health care -- whether health-care providers, artists or architects -- have been saying for decades that artistic expression and welcoming environments can make a pivotal difference for ailing patients, but now that message is going mainstream.

The statistics touted at the 15th annual Society for the Arts in Healthcare conference last week in Chicago were impressive: In a survey of 2,500 hospitals, 96% reported that they invested in the arts to serve patients, 78% used the arts to create a healing environment and a majority employed arts coordinators.

"We are now moving towards a dramatic shift from arts in health care being something hospitals should do to something they have got to do," says Blair L. Sadler, president and CEO of Children's Hospital and Health Center in San Diego.

Sadler, a featured speaker at the conference, pointed to a variety of empirical research.

One such study included recent findings in a joint project between Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare and Florida State University, Sadler says, which showed that 88% of children receiving CT scans and 98% of children receiving an echocardiogram needed no sedation when a guitarist played songs during their procedure.

What's more, the music's calming effects on the children cut down on the time it took to conduct the procedures. Over a year's time, it saved the hospital $250,000 because of reduced costs for nursing and other staff.

"So a big part of this change in attitude is that now those in health care see having art makes business sense as well as helps patients," Sadler says.

Gay Hanna, executive director of the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, based in Washington, D.C., says the field has come a long way since the 1970s, when, as a college student, she walked the sterile, depressing hallways of a Norfolk, Va., hospital. Now a massive building boom to upgrade or construct new hospitals across the nation means that the emphasis on the arts in health care is getting even more of a push.

The conference highlighted a variety of innovative programs -- from a healing garden at one Oregon health facility to a program that let Cleveland youths use cameras to chronicle the effects of HIV on their families.

The featured programs also included Chicago-based Snow City Arts Foundation, which works inside three hospitals to provide arts education programs for children.

O'Brien says she's impressed by the way her field is changing.

"There is, of course, a need for more research, but I always knew what I was doing was working," she says, "because I have seen it help people for years."

Source: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006605080320

this is inspiring to read

how to get an art therapist into the system?

which department in the hospital makes this decision?

My experience with art therapy has been amazing, especially because it allows for resistant clients to express and identify issues that otherwise could not be verbalized.
Some hospitals are actually seeking for grants to implement art therapy programs. I will probably check with the head of the social work department or even with SAMHSA.
Rebeca