Grant: Project Grant - PA: Research in First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis Health

Research shows that spirituality is important to healing and well-being, but the urgency associated with treatment often shifts the focus away from spiritual distress in healthcare settings. People can feel that their spiritual needs go unmet. Given the significant changes in ideas about religion and spiritual practices, new, equitable, and culturally relevant approaches to spiritual care are needed in healthcare. Art can provide alternative, meaningful ways to connect our internal worlds with something greater than ourselves, and has long been associated with the sacred, especially in Indigenous communities. However, there is a lack of understanding around how to effectively integrate art into spiritual care. Our team will address this gap by investigating how integrating art into spiritual care can support diverse people facing illnesses. We have a unique mix of team members who have established partnerships and bring important ideas and expertise to this work. They include spiritual care practitioners, health and social science scientists, Indigenous mentors, patient partners, healthcare professionals, artists, and students. Together, we will review inclusive practices in arts and health initiatives and ensure our three initiatives integrating art and spirituality are relevant for a wide range of people. Then, we will evaluate these initiatives at three healthcare sites in BC and Manitoba. Based on our learnings, we will develop a practitioner's guide explaining how to integrate art with spiritual care, providing guidance for clinical practice and research. We will also create an art exhibit that illustrates our findings with participant artwork to share with the public. Our goal is to enable spiritual care practitioners and the interdisciplinary healthcare team to design and implement more inclusive healthcare interventions to serve Canadians in all their diversity. Art can help them do that.