Experiences of engagement in creative activity at a palliative care facility

Objective: To investigate the meanings that people with advanced cancer ascribe to engaging in creative activity in palliative occupational therapy. Methods: Sixteen interviews were conducted with eight participants over a period of 8–12 months. Participants were asked to narrate about their engagem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palliative & supportive care 2007-09, Vol.5 (3), p.241-250
Main Authors: la Cour, Karen, Josephsson, Staffan, Tishelman, Carol, Nygård, Louise
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Aged
Attitude to Death
Cancer
Creative therapy
Creativity
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms - psychology
Neoplasms - therapy
Occupational therapy
Occupational Therapy - methods
Palliative care
Palliative Care - methods
Sweden
Terminally Ill - psychology
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Summary:Objective: To investigate the meanings that people with advanced cancer ascribe to engaging in creative activity in palliative occupational therapy. Methods: Sixteen interviews were conducted with eight participants over a period of 8–12 months. Participants were asked to narrate about their engagement in creative activities at a palliative intervention program. Transcribed interviews were analyzed with a phenomenological method. Results: Engagement in creative activities was found to ease life in proximity to death for persons with advanced cancer and limited survival time. For the participants, creativity meant that some of the consequences of incurable cancer could be confronted and alternative potentials could be explored and acknowledged. This occurred in an ongoing process of creating alternative ways to deal with life. Significance of results: Creative activity is a means for participants to develop ways to adapt and cope with declining physical abilities and existential concerns through working with their hands and bodies. This complements the often negative focus in palliative phases of cancer with an understanding of how enriching aspects of life can be maintained. The results highlight how people in palliative care experience their engagement in creative activity in the form of crafts, and how such engagements may be a significant tool for finding alternative ways to handle challenges in ongoing life.
ISSN:1478-9515
1478-9523
DOI:10.1017/S1478951507000405