Arts in Medicine for the Reduction of Pain and Stress in Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy

Context. Rates of pain and stress are found in greater numbers in cancer patients than in the general population. Cancer patients often are concerned about unwanted side effects that can arise from taking medications to lower their pain and stress. As doctors are reaching for evidence-based, nonpharmaceutical, adjunct modalities, previous research indicates that visual artmaking shows promise to help improve perceptions of pain and stress caused by a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Objectives. This mixed-methods pilot study was conducted at the Orlando Health Cancer Institute and included 54 participants to determine whether a 90-minute watercolor visual arts intervention was a viable option to reduce perceptions of pain and stress in adult cancer patients with mild to moderate pain and stress during outpatient chemotherapy sessions. Methods. Paired T-Tests were conducted to determine the effect of the bedside visual arts intervention by comparing differences between pre- and postratings of self-reported pain and stress. Results. The results indicated a significant decrease from pre- to postratings for both perceived pain and stress that corresponded with large effect sizes. Conclusion. This suggests that a watercolor visual arts intervention is a viable and feasible nonpharmaceutical complementary alternative to opioid prescriptions for pain management. J Pain Symptom Manage 2025;69:546-551. (c) 2025 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.