TITLE:
Efficacy of Art Therapy for Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy along the Uncertainty Theory and Patients’ Coping
AUTHORS:
Michiyo Ando, Hiroko Kukihara
KEYWORDS:
Chemotherapy, Cancer Patients, Art Therapy, Uncertainty Theory, Coping
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.12 No.12,
December
25,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy sometimes experience psychological distress like depression, anxiety, or illness uncertainty. Art therapy is one of the psychological interventions, but it was no wonder how art therapy was useful for them. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) potentiality of art therapy for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, 2) making patterns from separating patients along the Uncertainty theory to understand their psychological state, 3) coping with cancer to find a chance from uncertainty to certainty. Method: Nine cancer patients participated in this study in a general hospital. A patient made arts such as tree drawing, free drawing, or collage in a chemotherapy room individually with a psychotherapist. The duration of a session was about 1 hour and there were two times total. They also answered the question of how they recognized and coped with cancer to find factors changing from uncertainty to certainty. Results: Patients could express their emotions or thinking in the art therapy, and most arts in the second session were much better than first. Patients were separated into 4 patterns based on Uncertainty theory: a) treatments continued, psychology calm, b) living beyond the life expectancy and continuing treatments, psychology calm, c) receiving the life expectancy announcement, psychology instability, d) stopping chemotherapy, psychology confusing. We could understand patients’ psychological state from the arts. Coping categories were “Various ways to receive the announcement”, “Regret of delaying medication”, “Confronting side effects or aftereffects”, “The desire to fight with cancer”, “Letting things drift”, and “Recognition of living the day”. Conclusion: Art therapy may be useful for cancer patients as catharsis undergoing chemotherapy. Referring to the Uncertainty theory is useful for psychologists or medical staffs to understand patients’ psychological states. Patients’ coping may be helpful to go over uncertainly like “the desire to fight with cancer” or “Letting things drift”. In the future, we need to include the number of participants and approve the utility of the art therapy.