Sage Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care

This episode features Jennifer Baxley Lee (Ulster University, Institute of Nursing and Health Sciences Research, Northern Ireland, UK University of Florida, Center for Arts in Medicine, College of the Arts, Florida, USA). An expanding body of evidence demonstrates the positive impacts of the arts on health and well-being. No synthesis currently exists presenting evidence on arts interventions facilitated by artists as distinct from creative arts therapists with individuals with life-limiting illness. This paper presents the first systematic synthesis of the benefits, challenges and key knowledge gaps in arts engagement delivered by artists in palliative and end-of-life care. Findings substantiate beneficial effects of the arts in palliative care, including: 1) a sense of well-being, 2) a newly discovered, or re-framed, sense of self, and 3) connection with others. Challenges associated with practice include navigating the complexity of facilitating arts engagement with individuals with life-limiting illness