An Arts-Based Workshop Using Scalp Tattoos to Connect Students with Cancer Patients' Experiences of Chemotherapy and...

Students eager to enter the medical field must develop perspective-taking skills that enhance their ability to connect with patients. Toward this goal, the authors developed a pilot workshop for undergraduate students that included an art activity during which they collaborated to design scalp tattoos to symbolize cancer patients' experiences with chemotherapy and hair loss.

A 90-minute, arts-based workshop was held in April 2019. One author selected anonymous excerpts from previously conducted interviews with patients experiencing ovarian and uterine cancer. These excerpts were shared with students to humanize patients' perspectives and give context to the difficulty of coping with chemotherapy-induced alopecia. Students discussed these excerpts and images of scalp tattoos from the internet. Together, they then designed scalp tattoos representing their perspective on the experience of coping with chemotherapy and hair loss and drew them onto mannequin heads.

Twenty members of the university community participated in this workshop, including 3 faculty members and 17 undergraduate students. Participants worked together to create 2 sets of scalp tattoos. Of the 20 participants, 75% (n = 15) responded to the postworkshop survey. All respondents were undergraduate students, and 73% (n = 11) reported an increase in empathy toward patients and 87% (n = 13) an increased connection with the patient experience. All respondents agreed that the art activity demonstrated the importance of taking the patient's perspective.

This arts-based workshop is effective and can be replicated for other audiences, including undergraduate students, medical students, and practicing clinicians, to encourage perspective-taking and compassion for patients. Further analysis of students' skill development using pre- and postworkshop data is needed.