Art therapy provides a number of benefits for children with asthma.

According to a recent article published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology from the Department of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health, participation in a 60 minute art therapy program weekly for 7 weeks improved psychological attitudes, decreased anxiety and increased quality of life. There were, however, no differences in asthma exacerbations between the art therapy and the control group.

The authors concluded “this randomized, controlled study using art therapy with children with asthma provides encouraging initial data about how the emotional health of chronically ill children may be improved by using art therapy interventions.” They suggest that further studies are needed “to determine whether art therapy in conjunction with routine outpatient asthma medical care can help enhance patient and family self-management capacity and thereby reduce the frequency and severity of asthma exacerbations and the need for urgent care visits or hospitalization.”

What do you think- has your child participated in an art therapy program? Have you gotten any benefit from creating art? Leave a comment or go to the forum to join the discussion.

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