ABSTRACT

Background

The COVID-19 global pandemic was a profoundly traumatic experience, in which healthcare workers were stressed, anxious, and overwhelmed as they laboured amidst chaos, upheaval, and mounting death. During such challenging and uncertain times, it is imperative to prioritise self-care in order to maintain mental and emotional wellbeing.

Aims

This study explored the impact of an art-based self-care practice on the resilience of a healthcare worker during a 14-day quarantine on a trip to South Korea during COVID-19.

Methods

Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed to analyze written reflections of artwork created during my quarantine. I employed a grounding art therapy directive consisting of six steps: find a comfortable position, identify my feelings, allow thoughts or images to arise, create and respond to the images, engage in art dialogue with the artwork, and give a name to the whole process.

Results

Three phases emerged reflecting a journey in which states of powerlessness and confusion gave way to a release of frozen feelings and a renewal of body awareness. Elaborated healing images then emerged representing a return of hope, spirituality, growth, and a longing to reconnect with others.

Conclusions

Amidst such a chaotic overwhelming traumatic experience art-based self-care practices can be a way to regain a sense of control and self-efficacy.

Implications for practice/policy/future research

Art-based self-care practices can be valuable for healthcare workers during times of crisis and stress. Including semi-structured interviews inquiring into the experiences of a larger number of participants and controlled experimental designs would help validate these findings.

Plain-language summary

The COVID-19 global pandemic was a profoundly traumatic experience, affecting individuals worldwide and causing acute anxiety, stress, and sense of overwhelm. Healthcare workers, in particular, were stressed and exhausted due to work overload. During such challenging times, it is imperative to prioritise self-care to increase resilience. I had been working as art therapist in a psychiatric unit of a hospital for 9 months when I had to return to my birthplace of South Korea to attend to a family matter. Facing a 14-day quarantine, I decided to practice art-based self-care as a way to soothe and attend to my anxious emotional state.

I wanted to understand the benefits of art-based self-care on resilience in healthcare workers. The directive consisted of six steps: find a comfortable position, identify my feelings, allow thoughts or images to arise, create and respond to the images, allow verbal responses to the images, and give a name to the whole process. I examined the written reflections of the artwork I created during daily self-care practice.

The results reflect a journey, in which a state of fragmentation and exhaustion gave way under the exploration of my complex inner state, releasing diverse emotions, and leading to bodily awareness and emotional restoration. I rediscovered a sense of hope and a spiritual inclination to reconnect with others. Art-based self-care helped facilitate reconnection with myself, my needs, my body, and others, which in turn enabled me to prioritise self-care during the stresses of COVID-19.

Policymakers and healthcare organisations should consider incorporating art-based self-care programmes for healthcare workers to support their resilience and emotional wellbeing. Future researchers should consider interviewing a larger number of healthcare workers who follow the grounding art-therapy directive I used. Stronger research designs could be used to further support my findings and inform future interventions for healthcare workers.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 期间基于艺术的自我护理

摘要

背景

COVID-19 全球大流行是一次极其痛苦的经历，医护人员在混乱、动乱和不断增加的死亡人数中工作时感到压力、焦虑和不知所措。在这样充满挑战和不确定的时期，必须优先考虑自我保健，以保持精神和情感健康。

目标

本研究探讨了基于艺术的自我护理实践对一名医护人员在 COVID-19 期间前往韩国进行 14 天隔离期间的恢复能力的影响。

方法

采用解释现象学分析（IPA）来分析我在隔离期间创作的艺术作品的书面反映。我采用了由六个步骤组成的基础艺术治疗指令：找到一个舒适的位置，确定我的感受，允许思想或图像出现，创建图像并对其做出反应，与艺术品进行艺术对话，并为整体命名过程。

结果

三个阶段的出现反映了一段旅程，在这段旅程中，无力和困惑的状态被冰冻的情感释放和身体意识的更新所取代。随后出现了精心制作的治愈图像，代表着希望、灵性、成长的回归，以及与他人重新联系的渴望。

结论

在如此混乱的压倒性创伤经历中，基于艺术的自我护理实践可以成为重新获得控制感和自我效能感的一种方法。

对实践/政策/未来研究的影响

在危机和压力时期，基于艺术的自我护理实践对于医护人员来说非常有价值。包括半结构化访谈，调查大量参与者的经历和受控实验设计将有助于验证这些发现。

通俗易懂的语言总结

COVID-19 全球大流行是一次深刻的创伤经历，影响到世界各地的个人，并造成严重的焦虑、压力和不知所措的感觉。尤其是医护人员，由于工作量过大，压力很大，疲惫不堪。在这样充满挑战的时期，必须优先考虑自我保健以增强抵御能力。我在一家医院的精神科担任艺术治疗师九个月，当时我不得不返回我的出生地韩国处理家庭事务。面对 14 天的隔离，我决定进行基于艺术的自我护理，以此来舒缓和处理我焦虑的情绪状态。

我想了解基于艺术的自我护理对医护人员的适应能力的好处。该指令包括六个步骤：找到一个舒适的位置，确定我的感受，允许想法或图像出现，创建并响应图像，允许对图像进行口头响应，以及为整个过程命名。我检查了我在日常自我保健实践中创作的艺术品的书面反思。

结果反映了一段旅程，在探索自己复杂的内心状态下，让碎片和疲惫的状态消失，释放多种情绪，导致身体意识和情绪恢复。我重新发现了希望和与他人重新联系的精神倾向。基于艺术的自我护理有助于促进与我自己、我的需求、我的身体和其他人的重新联系，这反过来又使我能够在 COVID-19 的压力下优先考虑自我护理。

政策制定者和医疗保健组织应考虑为医疗保健工作者纳入基于艺术的自我护理计划，以支持他们的恢复能力和情绪健康。未来的研究人员应该考虑采访更多遵循我使用的基础艺术治疗指令的医护人员。更强有力的研究设计可用于进一步支持我的研究结果，并为医护人员未来的干预措施提供信息。