Archive: Research: Effects of the Arts in Healthcare

A Study of the Effects of the Visual and Performing Arts in Healthcare

A Study of the Effects of the Visual and Performing Arts in Healthcare is an ambitious research project currently taking place at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital under the aegis of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Arts.

The aim of the study is to produce a quantitative analysis and critical evaluation of the arts on patients, staff and visitors to the hospital. It is based on rigorous scientific methodology and statistical analysis of measurements using control groups. The need for proper clinical evaluation to support the wealth of anecdotal evidence concerning the value of the arts in the healing process has long been recognised, and this pioneering research will contribute to the development of the integration of the arts into healthcare.

The study was instigated by Susan Loppert, Director of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Arts and is directed by Dr Rosalie Lelchuk Staricoff, who was shortlisted for the first Wellcome SciArt Awards in 1997 for her project Fast Blue, Slow Red - the brain's construction of colour, supported by research assistant Jane Duncan. The first year of the study was funded by a small grant from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Charitable Funds Research Committee, and funding for the second and third years has been awarded by the King's Fund. The research is © Dr Rosalie Lelchuk Staricoff.

The research began 1999 and will finish in June 2002. The final report should be available in late 2002. An article detailing the results of the first phase of research, originally published in Hospital Development, is available in Rich Text Format below.

The research has been carried out by:

Dr Rosalia Lelchuk Staricoff, Director
Jane Duncan, Research Assistant
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Arts Research
Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust
369 Fulham Road
London SW10, 9NH

Follow this link to download the full report as a Rich Text Format document: 3.3Mb