Art as a Bridge: Using Paintings to Enhance Pain Assessment and Communication in Medical and Surgical Practice

This paper describes the potential of an art-based tool to enhance pain assessment, communication, and management in healthcare settings. It elucidates a novel tool, artistic pain exploration (APE), for healthcare providers to gain deeper insights into the subjective experiences and expressions of pain beyond traditional clinical assessment tools. We propose that visual art offers an expressive conduit to communicating and understanding not just the nature of pain but also each patient's unique experience. Using Edvard Munch's seminal and visceral painting, The Scream, as a case study, we demonstrate that the APE tool can be used both at the bedside and in health profession education. The APE tool is currently being evaluated in a randomized controlled trial involving surgical patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD), further exploring its clinical utility. The paper argues that integrating art into clinical practice and education fosters more patient-centered care and presents a flexible, adaptable framework for understanding pain across diverse healthcare contexts and cultural backgrounds.