The Effect of Expressive Art on Fatigue in Palliative Medicine Fellows (S715)

Abstract

1.Identify qualities of fatigue in clinicians of palliative medicine.2.Describe benefits of expressive art and art therapy on fatigue.3.Identify the role of expressive art in fatigue for clinicians of palliative medicine. Physicians in palliative medicine are subject to fatigue. Many studies exist that look at the fatigue of patients, but little research is done for the clinicians who take care of them. There have been no studies addressing fatigue in fellows training in palliative medicine. Expressive art and art therapy are methods that have a positive effect on fatigue. To examine the effect of expressive art on fatigue in a group of palliative medicine fellows. Six palliative medicine fellows were recruited to participate in the study. The fellows participated in four 60-minute sessions over 4 weeks. The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) and the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were administered prior to each of these sessions. Fellows participated in an expressive art activity during Sessions 1 and 3. The BFI was administered again immediately after. Differences in the BFI and PSQI scores were examined across the four sessions using a general linear model for repeated measures. The effect of expressive art on fatigue in Sessions 1 and 3 was examined using factorial repeated measures on evaluation time (2 [Session 1 and Session 3]) and intervention (2 levels: pre-session and post-session). Two-thirds of the pre-session PSQI scores were greater than five, associated with poor sleep quality. This was unchanged across the study period. Pre-session BFI scores were below seven, indicating moderately severe fatigue. This was unchanged across the study period. BFI scores showed a significant decrease in fatigue immediately following the art sessions (F 1, 5 = 26.96, p = 0.003). Expressive art had an immediate salutary effect on fellows’ fatigue.