The Value of the Arts to Medicine and Well BeingI forgot the needle because I was staring at the bunny on the wall. 8‐year‐old patient, Mt. Sinai.

The importance of incorporating art into medicine was recognized by early physicians such as Hippocrates and Galen. They understood the benefits of uplifting their patients’ spirits by exposing them to visually-stimulating environments such as an outdoor marketplace, where contact with the sights and sounds of daily life enhanced the healing process. More recently, research has demonstrated that patients who can view nature through their windows have shorter post-operative hospital stays, make negative comments less often, need fewer doses of narcotics, and have fewer post-surgical complications. During the past twelve years there has been a dramatic growth in the use of the arts in medicine. This growth has taken place in hospitals, hospices, medical schools, healing centres, and it is now emerging on the Internet. One of the leaders in this movement is a website created for the ColoradoCouncil on the Arts,Arts as a Force of Healing, Building, & Empowerment (www.artslynx.org/heal/), with funding from the United States National Endowment for the Arts as a gift to the world community. Over 600 keyword/search engine searches were conducted, in addition to examining the listings available at the most comprehensive meta-sites already developed. From these searches, over 1200 sites were studied. Sites were chosen based on the organization and amount of resources available, inclusion of online galleries, and inclusion of a library of links to other sites, among other factors. The result is a very user-friendly interface of hundreds of independent artists and associations working toward advancing the use of art in medicine. Sites are organized alphabetically and by subject, and discussion forums are available on a variety of healing arts topics. A similar gateway site is the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (www.societyartshealthcare.org/), which encourages the use of arts in healing and provides links to specific artistic programs such as ‘The Difference Music Makes’ (www.starmightfoundation.org/differencemusicmakes.html). This is a musical community service project created to support the musical needs of young hospital patients receiving treatments for life-threatening childhood diseases. The Arts and Healing Network (www.artheals.org/) is yet another comprehensive and content-rich website which includes many examples of successful projects throughout the world. Traditional medical education is also beginning to explore the value of creativity and art. The Right Brain – A Creative Outlet for the Health Professions (www. therightbrain.co.uk/) is a site which showcases creative works gathered from members of the healthcare professions. There are galleries of images, poetry, short stories and music. The authors, a pair of junior doctors from the University of Birmingham, believe that students can learn to ‘see the whole picture’ of a diagnosis, by developing right brain skills. Professional associations have also been formed to promote art in healing. The American Institute of Medical Education (www.aimed.com/) consists of mental health professionals who explore the relationship of art and mind by conducting conferences around the world. AIMED was founded in 1982 to provide continuing education to physicians, social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and others interested in the psychology of artists and the creative process. Independent artists and medical professionals are contributing excellent works of web-based medical art. Anatomy of Anatomy in Images and Words (endeavor. med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/poems/anatomy_of_ anatomy/index.html) is a website based on a book by Meryl Levin, a social documentary photographer who immersed herself in an anatomy course at Cornell University. Interspersed with the colour images are journal entries by medical students. The journal entries and photographs are organized temporally, from the introduction to the dissection laboratory to the final examination and studentorganized memorial service. Art in Medicine (www.artinmedicine.com/) is a website created by John Saito, a paediatric pulmonary fellow at the University of North Carolina. This website attempts to ‘bring to medicine the unifying and healing potential of art. Ultimately, I want to return to people the essential value of art in all our lives. ’ Dr. Saito is interested in researching the benefits of art to caregivers and their delivery of healthcare, and the use of art in improving education and medical compliance in chronically ill children. Art As a Healing Force Web (www.artashealing.org/) concentrates on the power of creativity as a mechanism which unites body, mind, and spirit. This site offers explanations regarding the physiological processes of how art heals, the history of the art and healing, and how individuals can heal themselves with art, music, and dance. Traditional and non-traditional healers describe personal Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 33–34