An evaluation of Arts on Prescription in subacute hospitals: Reported impact on psychological well-being

This is an evaluation study of the Arts on Prescription (AoP) in hospitals program, which is an ongoing service part of routine care in the participating hospitals. It was first implemented into routine care April 2022. For the purpose of this study, data will be collected from participants that attend at least one AoP in hospital session during the 16-month data collection period (April 2023 to July 2024). The AoP in hospitals program is a service offered to people admitted on the palliative care, rehabilitation, and older persons’ mental health wards (service users) of the three participating hospitals. Service users are prescribed AoP by a member of their subacute healthcare team (staff) to address health and well-being needs identified during their admission. An experienced artist attends the site weekly to facilitate art sessions face to face with referred service users either on a one-to-one basis or in a group setting (often determined by the capabilities and preferences of the service users). Group sessions involve up to eight service users with one artist. Each ward has a set environment for the AoP in Hospitals program to take place (group and one-to-one sessions), or one-to-one sessions can also take place in the service user’s room. The location of one-to-one sessions are determined by the service user’s preferences and ability. Artist provide multiple sessions on the one day a week they attend, providing service users with the opportunity to attend up to two sessions a day/week, dependent on their preferences, other commitments (e.g. medical review, off-ward appointments/investigations, allied health sessions), and own capabilities. During the AoP in hospitals sessions different forms of art are offered and practised, such as portraiture, card making, clay work, drawing, and water colour painting. The type of art selected is negotiated between the artist and service users based on their preferences. The duration and level of participation in the sessions varies based on individual service user’s capabilities (e.g. medical needs, functional ability, fatigue) but on average the sessions run between 30 and 60 minutes. Nursing staff are available on the wards to assist artists during the sessions (e.g. with medical needs that may arise, transporting service users to the program location). Basic service user demographic details (age range, gender, ward type, hospital location) and reason for referral are collected by the member of the subacute healthcare team as part of the AoP in hospitals program referral form (paper-based). Basic program details (date, session number, session type [group or individual], session duration, art form) are also routinely collected for the AoP in hospitals program by the artist (electronic). The research team will extract these routinely collected data, which will be de-identified, directly from medical records of service users who provide written, informed consent to participate in this study. In addition to the routinely collected data, service users who participate in this stiudy will complete two paper-based psychological well-being outcome measures (Positive Well-being Umbrella - Generic [PWU-G] and the Negative Well-being Umbrella - Generic [NWU-G]) before and after each AoP session they attend (at least one). After each AoP session artists will complete the Pittsburgh Rehabilitation Participation Scale to measure level of engagement of service users (paper-based). Each of the outcome measures collected for the purpose of this study take approximately five minutes to complete. Service users who attend at least two AoP sessions, as well as staff and artists from the participating wards will be invited to participate in the study's qualitative evaluation. This will be in the form of a 30 minute semi-structed interviews for service users (conducted face-to-face), and one hour focus groups for artists and staff (conducted online using Microsoft Teams). Participants will only have to attend one semi-structured interview/focus group, which will be conducted by a member of the research team at a location and time suitable for participants. The qualitative analysis will explore the impact of AoP in the subacute setting from the perspective of service users, artists, and staff. It will also explore the perceived usability of the PWU-G and NWU-G as an evaluation tool of the AoP in hospitals program.