The Healing through Arts (HeARTS) program for children bereaved by cancer: Pilot study findings from Singapore

The article aims to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a short-term 3-day art therapy group for children who have experienced parental death to cancer.

The study utilized a pretest-posttest design and included children (n = 20) aged 7-12 years. The feasibility of the intervention was measured by recruitment ability, study compliance, and intervention adherence, while acceptability was assessed using a child-reported satisfaction survey. Efficacy was examined using the child-reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), while the emotional, social, and behavioral functioning of children was measured using the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Paired sample t-tests were used for analyses.

The intervention was found to be feasible (80% recruitment rate and 100% session adherence). Acceptability was high, and all participants were satisfied and found the intervention to be helpful. While results did not reach statistical significance, improvements in psychosocial and physical quality of life were reported by all the children post-intervention and at the 3-month follow-up. Parent-reported a decrease in behavioral difficulties scores and an increase in prosocial behavior scores at post-intervention and at the 3-month follow-up.

The 3-day art therapy group intervention was shown to be feasible to conduct and acceptable to the recipients. The intervention shows promise in improving post-death adjustment and quality of life outcomes of children bereaved by parental death due to cancer that were maintained after 3 months. The use of art therapy groups to ameliorate difficulties associated with parental loss and to assist children in coping day-to-day difficulties should be further investigated.