Creative Arts Therapies in Rehabilitation

Appreciation for the utility of creative arts therapy in rehabilitation is on the rise. The limitations of conventional approaches to address posttraumatic stress disorder and co-occurring traumatic brain injury is spurring the development and increased use of creative arts therapies, especially in US military health care systems. However, emerging applications of creative arts therapies in rehabilitation extend well beyond posttraumatic stress disorder/traumatic brain injury and military populations to span the continuum of care, from the intensive care unit, postoperative recovery unit, acute inpatient medical and surgical wards, outpatient clinics, and home health, as well as in traditional long-term care and psychiatric settings. Critical steps to more fully integrating creative arts therapies in rehabilitation include the following: (1) incorporation of education about creative arts therapies into the curricula across rehabilitation disciplines; (2) alteration of national and state policies to promote greater inclusion of creative arts therapies as reimbursable treatments for a wide array of clinical diagnoses and conditions; and (3) significant expansion of creative arts therapies’ evidence base. This can be achieved by increasing funding levels to encourage rigorously designed and controlled studies to determine the efficacy, populations, diagnoses and conditions, cofactors, and the mechanisms of action of creative arts therapies. The time has come for a concentrated effort from the community of rehabilitation professional associations, advocacy organizations, and practitioners to promote the advancement and inclusion of creative arts therapies into appropriate clinical settings to optimize outcomes for patients.