Sens et motif© An art-therapy device for a best quality of life

Abstract

Cancer treatment can have serious consequences for patients on a physical, psychological and social level. The french state is now focusing on improving quality of life (QoL) for people with cancer. From past research, art-therapy has proved its worth in oncology out-patient services. Improvement has been seen in respect of QoL (Monti et al., 2006), fatigue (Nainis et al., 2006) and the level of anxiety (Vella & Budd, 2011) following participation in art-therapy sessions. This study compare 3 groups of 15 volunteer patients with cancer. One group practice an unstructured art-therapy, one practice “Sens et Motifâ€Â© (SEM) device and one control group. SEM© device it’s a 2-hour session by sense and one for a synthesis. Each session contain a relaxing time, a creation time and a debriefing time. A standard assessment protocol submitted to participants in test and re-test, exploring their creative, emotional and physical spheres. We expect to show : • a general improvement for every participant, • a significant difference between groups practicing art-therapy and control group in all dimensions, • better results after practice of the SEM© device (objectives focusing on sensations and emotions) compared to the others • a correlation between emotional expression, creativity development and QoL improvement. SEM© program ending in the hospital, and the data collection is in progress. We will demonstrate the validity of an art-therapy tool, acting on creativity and emotional expression for a best QoL. Adapted for patients with cancer, it can be presented to people suffering chronic diseases.