Examining the artist-patient relationship in palliative care. A thematic analysis of artist reflections on encounters with palliative patients.

Background: Although therapeutic arts are used in the palliative care setting, little has been described about what happens during the artist-patient encounter and how these interactions can complement and integrate into the interdisciplinary model of palliative care. The objective of this study is to describe the artist-patient encounter and how artists can function in the palliative interdisciplinary model of care.

Methods: Authors reviewed 229 reports written by artists about encounters with palliative patients, and performed thematic analysis on 95.