Exploring the Promise of Improvisational Theatre Applications in Health Care: A Scoping Review

An increasing number of health care practitioners, educators, and researchers are discovering the benefits of applying improvisational theatre principles and techniques in health care settings. Practitioners are understanding how key improvisation principles, such as acceptance (commonly referred to as "Yes, and"), collaboration, deep listening, and visual cue identification, can lead to positive benefits for health care professionals, learners, patients, and caregivers. We sought to examine what is known about the design, implementation challenges, and value of applied improvisational theatre programs in health care contexts for different participant groups. We screened 694 sources published from January 1, 1973, through December 31, 2024, using PubMed (including MEDLINE), Ovid (Embase 1974 to November 18, 2024), Ovid (Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews), Scopus, Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), and ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center). From this screening, we read 135 full-text sources and selected 81 for abstraction and analysis. Program objectives mentioned most often in sources included improved communication, personal self-efficacy, teamwork, and public speaking. Skills targeted during the programs included listening, empathy, cue recognition, cue modulation, observation, and collaboration/cooperation. Group size varied from 5 to 50 participants. We also observed an increasing number of programs for patients and their caregivers, especially in the realm of dementia care. No longer a novel approach, applied improvisation has become a valuable experiential learning method in a variety of health care settings.