| The purpose of this study was to examine if art-making could reduce stress and have a positive impact on the well-being of pediatric patients suffering from chronic disease.;The following research questions were examined in this study: 1) Is there a significant change in the patient's feelings pretest to posttest? 2) Is there a significant change in the patient's feelings pretest to posttest based on sex? 3) Is there a significant change in the patient's feelings pretest to posttest based on age?;Participants in this study were pediatric patients, age 12-18, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, in Cincinnati, Ohio. To participate in the study, patients suffered from at least one chronic disease. A total of 42 females (67.7%) and 20 males (30.3%) participated in the study. The participants suffered from cancer and blood diseases, chronic pain, and mental health illnesses.;Paired-sample t-tests and independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the data. Results were analyzed based on sex and age. To conduct the t-test for age, the samples were dichotomized into two groups (12-14 years old) and (15-18 years old) based on the median split. Survey results indicated an overall statistically significant decrease from pretest to posttest by 4.85%. When responding to quantitative questions, such as how angry the patient felt before the art-making session versus how angry they felt after the session, 66.2% strongly agreed that they felt angry before the session versus 85.7% who strongly disagreed that they felt angry after the session. When asked if they were sad, 36.9% of the participants strongly agreed that they felt sad before the workshop, as compared to more than 57.1% who strongly disagreed that they felt sad after the workshop. 55.4% of the participants felt afraid before the art-making session, as compared to 73% of them who strongly disagreed that they felt afraid after the session.;The following qualitative questions were asked on the survey. 1) How did art-making make you feel? 2) What did you like about art-making? 3) What would you change about art-making? 4) What are your overall thoughts on art-making? 5) Would you like to have another time to make art? Overall the patient's responses to the art-making session were very favorable.;Three overarching themes were evident in the responses. Overall, the patient's indicated that they felt less stress and were positively distracted while they were making art, that they felt independent and free, and perhaps the most impactful, that the art-making provided an overall sense of well-being. Patients commented that they felt happy, free, calm and even joyful. In addition, they felt confident and relieved of anxiety.;This study demonstrated that art programming had a statistically significant positive impact on well-being and reduced levels of stress of those suffering from chronic disease. More research should be completed to document the positive effects art-making, art in the environment, and art therapy, can have on patient outcomes. |
