In 2019 the WHO came out with a scoping review related to the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being. In the last yeast, in fact, literature has recognized the direct and indirect benefits of art in the prevention and promotion of mental and physical health and in the management and treatment of disease. Although some countries have made progress in developing policies that make use of the arts to support health and well-being, many have not yet addressed the opportunities that exist for using the arts to support health, and for others policy activities have been time limited. Nonetheless, the relationship between art and health has existed since the birth of medicine itself and has strongly influenced its history and its evolution.

Art therapy is the main expression of art in health care. The integration of art in traditional health assistance paths sustains the need to have a holistic approach to health, wellness, and well-being both of patients and other stakeholders, including caregivers and healthcare professionals. Currently the main area of art therapy application is mental health with especially regards to disability, both in developmental age and in elderly and both to cognitive and physical impairment and dementia. However, it is important to remark that mental health does not only refer to mental illness, but also to people's emotional, psychological, and social well-being. These last cases have particularly worsened with the long lockdown periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health care providers seek to promote the use of art as more accessible, free, emphatic, engaging and low-cost instrument to improve mental health and alleviate the symptoms of mental illness. Although the use of art as medical treatment is supported by the WHO, health organizations don’t promote these initiatives, justifying the scarce evidence of obtainable advantages. Hereupon, the objective of this call for papers is to enforce the effectiveness of art therapy in improving mental health and well-being.

We welcome articles that use any innovative and integrative approach, using quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies, that investigate art therapy and the use of owned or available artistic heritage for the promotion of mental health and well-being, across every assistance setting such as health institutions, communities, and homes and with different patients’ target. Papers are welcome if they are multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. Topics may include:

• Use of alternative or innovative arts in mental healthcare;
• Comparison between different art therapy approaches;
• The role of art therapy for informal/family caregivers;
• Innovative methods of art therapy application;
• Management of cultural heritage by health organizations;
• Reorganization of assistance services;
• Training of health workforce on art therapy;
• Public health aspects;
• Health policy and planning strategies;
• Humanization of care
• Spiritual care;
• Health economics.

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Frontiers in Psychiatry

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