This essay by Naj Wikoff from the book Managing Arts Program in Healthcare focuses the need for programs to assist military personnel and their families in healing and how the arts offer effective solutions to help in the process of healing military experiences.

Approximately a quarter of service members deployed to war have PTSD. The psychological injuries of war, PTSD, moral injury, and related conditions, lead to other issues with employment and intimate relationships. There are conventional, evidence-based therapies that are effective—if the service member or veteran is able to tolerate the treatments. However, the clinicians in the military and veteran’s health-care systems are innovative. They have experimented with alternative ways to engage veterans. These include mindfulness, art therapy, stellate ganglion block, training

"This volume describes a burgeoning area of psychotherapy that employs the art of fi lmmaking and digital storytelling as a means of healing victims of trauma and abuse." [p.1]

A evaluation catalogue that can assist individuals and organizations in providing programming for veterans and military members in their communities. It consists a University of Oklahoma program evaluation of the pilot arts program for residents at the Norman Veterans Center, offered through a collaboration of the Oklahoma Arts Council and Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

"Our findings demonstrate that training in a visual art production group enhances functional connectivity of the DMN, particularly between the parietal and frontal cortices. No such effects were observed in a cognitive art evaluation intervention group."

"This comprehensive summary of SRs demonstrates that MT treatment improved the following: global and social functioning in schizophrenia and/or serious mental disorders, gait and related activities in Parkinson’s disease, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. MT may have the potential for improving other diseases, but there is not enough evidence at present. Most importantly, a specific adverse effect or harmful phenomenon did not occur in any of the studies, and MT was well tolerated by almost all patients."

This strategy sampler summarizes existing policy goals, services and relationships of SAAs and RAOs working to support military and veteran populations through the arts. It also highlights programmatic issues and other challenges these agencies face in rea lizing their arts and military goals .

The American Music Therapy Association presents this briefing paper to mili-tary leadership, military support personnel, federal government officials, repre-sentatives of arts and other related organizations, music therapy professionals, and non-profit policy makers. The purpose of this paper is to describe the state-of-the-art of music therapy with military populations and to provide recommen-dations for program development, research, and practice policy. [Overview p. 5]

This document provides evidence that supports successful creative arts therapies and arts in healthcare programs in hopes of encouraging growth of these program to improve our country's health and wellness.

Transcript of Yo-Yo Ma's lecture, for the 26th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy on April 8. 2013.