This report, The Arts: A Promising Solution to Meeting the Challenges of Today’s Military—A Summary Report and Blueprint for Action (PDF, 1.27 MB) is intended to open the door for a national conversation and the development of a National Action Plan that will ensure the availability of arts interventions for our service men and women and their families, and integrate the arts as part of the “Standard of Care” in military clinical (VA and military hospitals) as well as programs in community settings across the country.

It was developed from the work of a roundtable meeting were participants were charged with recommending a framework for a “blueprint for action”, outlining possible strategies that will be necessary over the next several years in order to expand the use of the arts across the military continuum: from military service pre-deployment, deployment, post-deployment to veterans as well as families and caregivers.

The Roundtable held on November 15, 2012 brought together a group of concerned and dedicated military, government, private sector and nonprofit leaders gathered at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC for the Arts & Health in the Military National Roundtable.  The Roundtable was hosted by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, VSA and the Kennedy Center, and co-chaired by Robert L. Lynch, president & CEO, Americans for the Arts and Anita B. Boles, executive director, Global Alliance for Arts & Health (formerly the Society for Arts in Healthcare).

The Arts & Health in the Military National Roundtable represents the second step in the ongoing development of the multi-year National Initiative for Arts & Health in the Military.

This report, The Arts: A Promising Solution to Meeting the Challenges of Today’s Military—A Summary Report and Blueprint for Action (PDF, 1.27 MB) is intended to open the door for a national conversation and the development of a National Action Plan that will ensure the availability of arts interventions for our service men and women and their families, and integrate the arts as part of the “Standard of Care” in military clinical (VA and military hospitals) as well as programs in community settings across the country.