The Center for Arts in Medicine engages in research to explore the impacts of the arts on indivudal and community health, wellness, and healthcare systems as well as to define and articulate the many ways that the arts impact health.  Center faculty undertake research, and the Center also supports the research of UF students and professionals in the field by periodically offering competitive research grants. 

CAM Interdisciplinary Research Lab

The Center for Arts in Medicine's Interdisciplinary Research Lab is a highly dynamic research lab comprised of 35 undergraduate and graduate students, research associates, and faculty from the arts, health sciences and other disciplines. With faculty mentorship, students provide research assistance on an array of studies that represent collaborations across numerous disciplines. Students are also supported in designing and executing their own research. The program engages students in interdisciplinary research, helps them develop research and leadership skills, and encourages creativity in interdisciplinary research. 

Applications for Summer 2018 are closed. Applications for Fall 2018 are now being accepted. Please e-mail Keely Mason at kmason@arts.ufl.edu for more information.

Faculty Research

Current faculty research initiatives include:

• Music in Emergency and Trauma Care
• Arts and Well-being Indicators: Assessing the Relationship between Arts Participation and Community Well-being
• Theatre for Health Literacy
• The Arts and Health Communication in the United States
• Rural Veterans Telerehabilitation Initiative Creative Arts Therapy Project
• Talking about Arts in Health: 
• Florida Arts in Health Mapping Project
• Collaborating Across Disciplines: Arts in Medicine and the Arts Therapies
• Evaluation of the UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine Program

Undergraduate Student Research

• Suicide Prevention Through Theatre Intervention; Ariel Reich, University Scholar Awardee
• Assessing Music Activity for Children on teh Autism Spectrum; Michele Cabeza, University Scholar Awardee
• Assessing the Impact of Dance on Menstural Pain; Danielle Grinberg, University Scholar Awardee

Graduate Student Research

• The Impact of Arts Activities on Workplace Satisfaction in Pediatric Waiting Rooms; Anna Martin
• Amplifying the Self: Music Education and Health, Kristen Perry
• Considering Patient Preference for Structured versus Non-Structured Art Activities, Jillian Olmo
• Compassion Flag Project; Saundra Shanti

• Use of Creative Writing to Illustrate Lived Experiences in Dialysis-Dependent Children with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD); Helen Currier

Recent Faculty Publications

Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Baxley Lee, J., Graham-Pole, J. (in press). Nurse Perceptions of Artists as Collaborators in Interprofessional Care Teams. Healthcare.

Sowalsky, K. L., Sonke, J., Altmann, L., & Hass, C. J. (in press). Title: Biomechanical Analysis of Dance for Parkinson’s Disease: A Paradoxical Case Study of Balance and Gait Effects? Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing.

Sonke, J. Lee, J., Rollins, J., Carytsas, F., Imus, S. Lambert, P., Mullen, T., Spooner, H., Helgemo, M. (2017) Arts in health: Considering language from an educational perspective in the United States. Arts & health. 1-14.

Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Nakazibwe, V., Ssenyonjo, J., Lloyd, R., Espino, D.,Hahn, P., & Kerrigan, M. (2017). The Arts and Health Communication in Uganda: A Light Under the Table. Health Communication, 1-8.

Sonke, J. Lee, J., Rollins, J., Carytsas, F., Imus, S. Lambert, P., Mullen, T., Spooner, H., (2017). Talking about Arts in Health: A White Paper Addressing the Language used to Describe the Discipline from an Academic Perspective. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine.

Bucciarelli, A. (2016). Art therapy & tablet computers. In M. Wood & B. Jacobson (Eds.). Handbook of Art Therapy in Hospice and Bereavement Care: International perspectives on working with individuals, communities, and Nations. Routledge. Manuscript in preparation.

Bucciarelli, A. (2016). The arts therapies: approaches, goals, and integration in arts and health. In S. Clift & P. Camic (Eds.), Oxford textbook of creative arts, health, and wellbeing: international perspectives on practice, policy and research (271-277). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sonke, J., & Lee, J. (2015). Arts for health in community settings: promising practices for using the arts to enhance wellness, access to healthcare, and health literacy. Oxford Textbook of Creative Arts, Health, and Wellbeing: International Perspectives on Practice, Policy and Research, 103-112.

Sonke, J., Rollins, J., Graham-Pole, J. (2015). Arts in healthcare settings in the United States. Oxford Textbook of Creative Arts, Health, and Wellbeing: International Perspectives on Practice, Policy and Research, 113-122.

Sonke, J., & Pesata, V. (2015). The arts and health messaging: Exploring the evidence and lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak. BMJ Outcomes. 1(1);36-41.

Kasule, K. M., Kakinda, K. F., & Sonke, J. (2015). Arts in healthcare in Uganda: an historical, political, and practical case study. Oxford Textbook of Creative Arts, Health, and Wellbeing: International Perspectives on Practice, Policy and Research, 123-128.

Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Arce, L., Carytsas, F. P., Zemina, K., & Jokisch, C. (2015). The effects of arts-in-medicine programming on the medical-surgical work environment. Arts & health, 7(1), 27-41.

Rollins, J. (2015). Arts, health, & wellness. In C. Lord (Ed.), Arts & America (79–91). Washington, DC: Americans for the Arts.

Rollins, J. (2015). Bedside arts activities. In P. Dewey (Ed.), Managing arts programs in healthcare. London: Routledge.

Rollins, J. (2015). The arts in pediatric healthcare settings. In P. Dewey (Ed.), Managing arts programs in healthcare. London: Routledge.

Lambert, P., Rollins, J., Sonke, J., Cohen, R. (2015). Introducing the Arts in Healthcare Field. In: Lambert, P. D. (Ed.). (2015). Managing Arts Programs in Healthcare. London: Routledge.

Sonke, J. (2015). Professionalizing the Arts in Healthcare Field. In: Lambert, P. D. (Ed.). (2015). Managing Arts Programs in Healthcare. London: Routledge.

Sonke, J. (2015). Performances in Public Spaces. In: Lambert, P. D. (Ed.). (2015). Managing Arts Programs in Healthcare. London: Routledge.