First View – Article (published on 28 September 2022)
Foundations for change management in integrating the arts into healthcare: An empirical study
Jennifer MacRitchie, Alison Short, Stella Dion & JosephineSFChow
ABSTRACT
The uptake of arts-based practices into health care has been slow despite drivers such as increasing awareness of value, policy initiatives, patient satisfaction and quality services. Approaching the issue from within the Consolidated Framework for Implementation of Research (CFIR), our study asked i) if experiences of staff influenced willingness to implement arts and health interventions, ii) about awareness of current music and visual-art programs within the hospital and iii) about staff perceptions of barriers to implementation of arts within healthcare. This mixed methods study used an initial quantitative online survey of staff recruited from a large metropolitan tertiary hospital (n=38) followed by a qualitative semi structured focus group (n=6). Staff largely reported a willingness to improve integration of arts initiatives, not influenced by their personal experience of the arts. Staff seemed relatively unaware of successful instances of arts programs in their own hospital, unless they were directly involved in its delivery. Barriers to implementation were perceived to come from upper management, with successful programs resulting from individuals or individual team motivations. Results from this initial study suggest that understanding staff perceptions and providing carefully designed educational programs are likely to be key in promoting the change necessary for incorporating the arts into regular patient care.
KEYWORDS
arts and health change management, readiness for change, hospital services, Australia
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Jennifer MacRitchie is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Sheffield, and Adjunct Researcher at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development at Western Sydney University. Her research focuses on using music for health and wellbeing, particularly for older adults and those living with dementia. [j.macritchie@sheffield.ac.uk]
Alison E. Short, PhD, RMT, MT-BC, RGIMT, is Senior Lecturer, Master of Music Therapy, and Academic Advisor, Industry Engagement with the university-wide “Health and Medicine” Cluster at Western Sydney University, Australia. Alison leads the Pneuma Network and is a past President of the Australian Music Therapy Association. [a.short@westernsydney.edu.au]
Stella Dion is a Clinical Psychologist who currently works for the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice. The current paper is based on her Psychology Honours project at Western Sydney University.
Josephine SF Chow is the Director Strategy & Partnerships at the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), the Foundational Professor in Nursing and Midwifery Research Alliance of the SWSLHD and the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, the Clinical Professor of the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney and the Western Sydney University. Her research focuses on using innovative technologies to support models of care. [josephine.chow@health.nsw.gov.au]