Two years ago, Dr. Wendy Stewart, Associate Professor and Director of the Medical Humanities-HEALS Program at Dalhousie Medicine New Brunswick, was approached by Tammy Selman. A Med 2 student at the time, Tammy had an idea about how art might be used as an alternative treatment option for mental health concerns and if there was a possibility of exploring something like that here in the Maritimes.

This exchange inspired Dr. Stewart to look into the literature and, together with a keen group of seven medical students, developed a research project that used the viewing of visual art in mental health care. In collaboration with the Saint John Arts Centre, Dr. Stewart applied for and received a $24,992 SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant entitled: “Prescribing Art: An Innovative Partnership to Positively Impact Individuals Diagnosed with Depression.”

A number of research studies have looked at the positive impact of art on mental health; however, much of the literature has, up until now, focused on the use of art therapy rather than viewing art. Dr. Stewart intends to change this with the “Prescribing Art” study. Before viewing the art at the gallery, participants will learn how to look at art in a structured way through an animated video designed by Dr. Stewart in collaboration with the students and the Saint John Arts Centre.

“There’s some data in the literature that suggests if you provide education around any type of art form, people get more out of it and so I felt that rather than just sending them off to the gallery without any guidance, we should be more purposeful. That was the idea behind the animation,” says Dr. Stewart. “What the animation will do is take participants through visual thinking strategies in a fun way with an animated character and they get to watch that just before going around the gallery or viewing the art online.”

Participants will be selected at random to view the art face-to-face at the Saint John Art Gallery or via an online module, which will feature photographs of the pieces currently in the gallery.

“I’m curious to see the differences between the online versus the face-to-face because we’re inherently social beings and there’s been some interesting work that suggests settings like art galleries are safe spaces for people,” muses Dr. Stewart. “Many who struggle with depression may be socially isolated, so going to the gallery could present the opportunity to connect with people you may not otherwise ever meet and chat about some of the pieces on display.”

All participants will complete measures of mental health and wellbeing before and after viewing the art, and some will participate in an interview. Transcripts of these interviews will subsequently be analyzed to identify common themes. This qualitative portion of the project is a Research in Medicine project for Med 2 student, Mariam El Serafi.

The “Prescribing Art” study will begin in Saint John, New Brunswick, but Dr. Stewart intends to eventually include the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and inform family medicine offices in both Saint John and Halifax of the project, so they can make their patients aware of it. She also plans on hiring a research associate who will help to coordinate the participants.

It is Dr. Stewart’s hope that this study will allow her to contribute data to the literature that really shows the value of the humanities and how it can be used in mental healthcare, as well as provide exposure to this type of research to medical students.

“I feel that the humanities offer a way to think differently, more deeply,” shares Dr. Stewart. “Things like narrative medicine and portraits are all about stories and stories are really who we are as people and what medicine is all about. It gives you another framework to think about people more wholly and prompts you to consider patients as whole beings that have other things in their lives – not just the illness that they’re coming to you with. I believe the humanities offer ways for students to really come to terms with that.”