Understanding public perceptions of healing: An arts-based qualitative study

Most healing research has focussed on the views of healers, complementary and alternative medical (CAM) practitioners or medical professionals, and little is known about how the general public conceives of healing. Because healing is a complex and often abstract concept, we addressed this gap in the knowledge using creative qualitative approaches with members of the public. We aimed to elucidate the views of members of the public about their healing, to help offer a better understanding to healthcare professionals.

Our qualitative arts-based drawing method invited people to respond using crayons and paper to the question 'What does the word healing mean to you?' These drawings were followed by a short recorded interview in which people explained their image. We used convenience sampling to approach members of the public visiting a large wellbeing show and a museum. We analysed images and interviews in tandem using a focus on metaphor.

We interviewed 59 people, including three children. Almost two thirds of participants were female. Participants' images and interviews documented three main models of the healing process: i) Healing comes from a great external force, exemplified by the sun; ii) Healing comes from other people, whether medical professionals, CAM practitioners or healers; and iii) Healing comes from within, and the individual has the ability to self-heal. People described practices and inner states that could help achieve healing. Some people depicted more than one model, demonstrating the interlinkages between the models, and some described the outcome of healing (wholeness) rather than the process.

The drawing-based approach encouraged an intuitive way of thinking, capturing concepts that cannot easily be verbalised. Members of the public have nuanced, complex understandings of the concept of healing, and these echo historical and modern concepts of healing and healthcare. The models our participants described often interlink, suggesting an overarching framework for the way people conceive of healing. The findings may be useful both as a guide to further research and as insight that may facilitate healthcare processes.