The Center for Arts in Medicine engages in research to explore the impacts of the arts on individual 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. 

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

Recent Faculty Publications

Dewey Lambert, P., & Sonke, J. (2019). Professionalizing Arts Management in Healthcare Facilities. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 1-16.

Sonke, J., Helgemo, M., & Pesata, V. L. (2018). Arts in health mapping project: Florida. Arts & Health, 1-8.

Levy, C. E., Spooner, H., Lee, J. B., Sonke, J., Myers, K., & Snow, E. (2018). Telehealth-based creative arts therapy: Transforming mental health and rehabilitation care for rural veterans. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 57, 20-26.

Van Lith, T. & Spooner, H. (2018). Art therapy and arts in health: Identifying shared values but different goals using framework analysis. Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 35(2), p. 88-93.

Sonke, J., Pesata, V., Baxley Lee, J., Granham-Pole, J. (2017). Nurse Perceptions of Artists as Collaborators in Interprofessional Care Teams. Healthcare.

Sowalsky, K. L., Sonke, J., Altmann, L., & Hass, C. J. (2017). 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. 

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.