Elsevier

The Arts in Psychotherapy

Volume 62, February 2019, Pages 12-18
The Arts in Psychotherapy

Research Article
Using distance technology to deliver the creative arts therapies to veterans: Case studies in art, dance/movement and music therapy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.11.012Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Telehealth improves access to care, particularly for participants who experience health disparities due to distance or disability.

  • The creative arts therapies are included in the VA’s initiative to expand telehealth services throughout the VHA health system.

  • More creative arts therapists should receive telehealth training to become adept at adapting their practices to distance delivery.

  • Case studies are one way for creative arts therapists to conceptualize how their hands-on practices can be adapted for distance delivery.

Abstract

Three case studies of veterans are presented who received either art therapy, dance/movement therapy or music therapy via in-home, synchronous clinical video telehealth through a VA medical center in the southeastern United States. As the use of distance technology becomes more widely implemented within healthcare, it becomes increasingly important for providers to receive adequate training and develop comfort and confidence in adapting their practices to distance delivery. Case studies are one way for creative arts therapists to conceptualize and demonstrate how their in-person practices can be adapted for distance delivery via telehealth.

Section snippets

Methods

The three case studies below demonstrate how telehealth was specifically implemented into creative arts therapies treatment with a representative sample of veterans in the RVTRI CAT program. One example was chosen from each of the disciplines offered at the medical center. One veteran worked with two different providers in two different disciplines. In some cases, the individual creative arts therapists incorporated multimodal techniques. Examples of the integration of writing are specifically

Art therapy

Valerie: (Pseudonym) is a woman who underwent complex surgery, after which an occupational therapist referred her to creative arts therapy. Valerie served in the army and subsequently she worked in the Pentagon as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense. She survived a work accident in which she was severely injured. She required intensive inpatient rehabilitation for her injuries and experienced long-term impacts associated with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress

Discussion

As telehealth is becoming more widely implemented, it is increasingly important for providers to receive adequate training and develop comfort and confidence in adapting their practices to distance delivery. As noted, studies have indicated that despite adequate funding, personnel, technology and assistance, providers can be hesitant to adopt telehealth. It is the intent of this set of case studies to demonstrate the potential of this form of creative arts therapies delivery as a means of

Conclusion

The presentation of these case studies endeavors to encourage further exploration of distance delivery of rehabilitation and mental health care broadly, and the creative arts therapies specifically, in order to increase access to healthcare for veterans. These three case studies demonstrate the potential and feasibility in-depth through a single case per discipline. In each case study, therapeutic gains, challenges, and opportunities, were examined to better understand the practice of distance

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the VA Office of Rural Health, as well as Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network for their partnership with the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, which allowed RVTRI CAT to welcome a music therapist to its team in 2017. Creative Forces is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and the state and

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