Evaluation of an arts therapies approach to team development for non-acute healthcare teams in low control and high-pressure environments

Healthcare teams that experience substantial and multiple pressures and lack team social support are at an increased risk of depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, and ultimately problems with staff retention and patient care. A team development arts therapies approach was developed and piloted to address this issue. Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance was used to design a mixed methods evaluation of the programme following the acute phase of COVID-19 pandemic. Two outcome measures were administered, and a qualitative open text survey underwent thematic analysis. We recruited 92 participants for the evaluation; 90 completed the open text survey and 42 participants completed the outcome measures. The qualitative analysis produced the following themes: Getting to Know the Team in a Meaningful Way; Creative Expression and Reflection; Communicating and Processing Difficult Feelings and Resistances; More Time For Processing; Practical Problems with Whole Team Engagement; Difficulty Engaging in Creative Exercises; Inclusivity and Equality; Psychological Safety. Quantitative results were significant with indications of changes to team social systems. The results of our study show good accessibility, acceptability and effectiveness.