Health for Life, a new program created by the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT) at the VA, is changing the way they talk about healthcare to include the arts in healing as a valued asset to whole health care and well-being for our Veterans.

Art in the healing environment is not a new practice. However, the way VA is currently focusing on the influences art has on medical outcomes is new. Recently, the Veterans Health Administration, VA NY/NJ Veterans Healthcare Network (VISN 3), Americans for the Arts, Johnson & Johnson and the National Center for Creative Aging joined together and held a national Arts in Healing Symposium. The purpose of this symposium was to expand and collaborate with community partners to foster Arts in Healing. Arts in Healing is not limited to just visual arts like painting, drawing and photography. Healing arts also include music, writing, and other forms of self expression. Watch this brief video to discover one Veteran's story about how art has made a positive impact on his life.

The catalyst for the shift to arts inclusion for the treatment of our military service members, veterans, their families and caregivers has its roots in the National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military’s White Paper, which intended to stimulate more conversation about arts in healing and provide a framework to further develop the art as an option for integrative health services for the men, women, and their families in VA and other military hospitals around the country.

Arts inclusion at the VA is not limited to experiencing the arts through creative arts programming, but can also be discovered in the way buildings and patient rooms are designed. The San Francisco VA Medical Center has developed a new program, Community Integration Through Creativity, that have advanced Veterans’ skills in theater, digital media, music, visual arts and dance with the help of established professional artist/contractors in the community.

For more information on the National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military, please visit us at ArtsAcrosstheMilitary.org.  For information on the VA's Arts in Healing and Patient Centered Care, please click on the link.