Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:38:02.415Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“I Left the Museum Somewhat Changed”: Visual Arts and Health Ethics Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2018

CLARE DELANY  and
HEATHER GAUNT
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

A common goal of ethics education is to equip students who later become health practitioners to not only know about the ethical principles guiding their practice, but to also autonomously recognize when and how these principles might apply and assist these future practitioners in providing care for patients and families. This article aims to contribute to discussions about ethics education pedagogy and teaching, by presenting and evaluating the use of the visual arts as an educational approach designed to facilitate students’ moral imagination and independent critical thinking about ethics in clinical practice. We describe a sequence of ethics education strategies over a 3 year Doctor of Physiotherapy program, focusing on the final year professional ethics assessment task, which involved the use of visual arts to stimulate the exploration of ethics in healthcare. The data (in the form of student essays about their chosen artwork) were analyzed using both thematic and content analysis. Two key themes centered on emotional responses and lateral thinking. The use of artwork appeared to facilitate imaginative, emotional, and conceptual thinking about ethics and clinical experience (both past and future). This study provides some evidence to support the effectiveness of the use of the visual arts in promoting students’ recognition of ethical dimensions within their clinical experience and reflection on their emerging professional identity. As one student noted, she left the museum “somewhat changed.”

Keywords

ethics educationbioethicsvisual artspedagogy
Type
Departments and Columns
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , July 2018 , pp. 511 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1. Jensen, GM, Richert, AE. Reflection on the teaching of ethics in physical therapist education: integrating cases, theory, and learning. Journal of Physical Therapy Education 2005;19(3):78–85;Google Scholar Purtilo, R, Jensen, GM, Royeen, CB, eds. Educating for Moral Action: A Sourcebook in Health and Rehabilitation Ethics. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company; 2005.Google Scholar

2. McKneally, MF, Singer, PA. Bioethics for clinicians: 25. Teaching bioethics in the clinical setting. Canadian Medical Association Journal 2001;164(8):1163–67;Google ScholarPubMed Campbell, AV, Chin, J, Voo, T-C. How can we know that ethics education produces ethical doctors? Medical Teacher 2007;29(5):431–36;Google Scholar Gillam, L, Delany, C, Guillemin, M, Warmington, S. The role of emotions in health professional ethics teaching. Journal of Medical Ethics 2014;40(5):331–5.Google Scholar

3. See note 2, McKneally, Singer 2001; Campbell et al. 2007.

4. See note 2, Campbell et al. 2007.

5. Delany, C, Gillam, L, Mcdougall, R. Ethics in clinical education. In: Delany, C, Molloy, E, eds. Clinical Education in the Health Professions. Sydney: Elsevier Australia; 2009:173–86;Google Scholar Stirrat, GM. Reflections on learning and teaching medical ethics in UK medical schools. Journal of Medical Ethics 2015;41(1):8–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

6. See note 5, Stirrat 2015; van den Hoven M, Kole J. Distance, dialogue and reflection: Interpersonal reflective equilibrium as method for professional ethics education. Journal of Moral Education 2015;44(2):145–64.

7. Beauchamp, T, Childress, J. Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2001.Google Scholar

8. Oakley, J, Cocking, D. Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9. Delany, C, Fryer, C, van Kessel, G. An ethical approach to health promotion in physiotherapy practice. Health Promotion Journal of Australia 2015;26(3):255–62.Google Scholar

10. See note 5, Delany et al. 2009; Goldie J. The formation of professional identity in medical students: considerations for educators. Medical Teacher 2012;34(9):e641–e648.

11. See note 2, McKneally, Singer 2001; see note 5, Delany et al. 2009.

12. See note 7, Beauchamp, Childress 2001.

13. See note 10, Goldie 2012; Laliberté M, Hudon A. Do conflicts of interest create a new professional norm? Physical therapists and workers’ compensation. The American Journal of Bioethics 2013;13(10):26–28; Delany C, Spriggs M, Fry CL, Gillam L. The unique nature of clinical ethics in allied health pediatrics: implications for ethics education. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 2010;19(4):471–80.

14. See note 5, Stirrat 2015; see note 13, Laliberté, Hudon 2013.

15. See note 2, McKneally, Singer 2001.

16. See note 2, Gillam et al. 2014; Karkabi K, Castel OC. Teaching reflective competence in medical education using paintings. Medical Humanities 2011;37(1):58–9.

17. Guillemin, M, Gillam, L. Emotions, narratives, and ethical mindfulness. Academic Medicine 2015;90(6):726–31;CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed Greenfield, BH. The meaning of caring in five experienced physical therapists. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice 2006;22(4):175–87;Google Scholar Frank, AW. The pedagogy of suffering: moral dimensions of psychological therapy and research with the ill. Theory & Psychology 1992;2(4):467–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18. Jones, T, Wear, D, Friedman, LD. Introduction: the why, the what, and the how of the medical/health humanities. In: Jones, T, Wear, D, Friedman, LD, eds. Health Humanities Reader. London: Rutgers University Press; 2014:1–11Google Scholar

19. Garden R. The humanities, narrative, and the social context of the patient–professional relationship. In: Jones 2014 (see note 18), at 127.

20. See note 19, Garden 2014, at 134.

21. Perry, M, Maffuli, N, Wilson, S, Morrissey, D. The effectiveness of arts-based interventions in medical education: a literature review. Medical Education 2011;45(2):141–8;Google Scholar Naghshineh, S, Hafler, J, Miller, A, Blanco, MA, Lipsitz, SR, Dubroff, RP, et al. Formal art observation training improves medical students’ visual diagnostic skills. Journal of General Internal Medicine 2008;23(7):991–7;Google Scholar Dolev, JC, Friedlaender, LK, Braverman, IM. Use of fine art to enhance visual diagnostic skills. JAMA 2001;286(9):1020–1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

22. See note 16, Karkabi, Castel, 2011; Schaff P, Isken S, Tager R. From contemporary art to core clinical skills: observation, interpretation, and meaning-making in a complex environment. Academic Medicine 2011;86(10):1272–6.

23. Zazulak, J, Halgren, C, Tan, M, Grierson, LEM. The impact of an arts-based programme on the affective and cognitive components of empathic development. Medical Humanities 2015;41(1):69–74.Google Scholar

24. Hooper–Greenhill, E. Museums and The Interpretation of Visual Culture. New York: Routledge; 2000;Google Scholar Chatterjee, HJD, Hannan, LD, eds. Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing; 2015.Google Scholar

25. See note 24, Chatterjee, Hannan 2015.

26. Doukas, DJ, McCullough, LB, Wear, S. Perspective: medical education in medical ethics and humanities as the foundation for developing medical professionalism. Academic Medicine 2012;87(3):334–41;CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed Friedman, LD. The precarious position of the medical humanities in the medical school curriculum. Academic Medicine 2002;77:320–2.Google Scholar

27. See note 7, Beauchamp, Childress 2001.

28. See note 5, Delany et al. 2009.

29. See note 7, Beauchamp, Childress 2001.

30. Borromeo M, Chiavaroli N, Gaunt H. The arts and visual thinking in education at the melbourne dental school. In: McLean CL, ed. Creative Arts in Humane Medicine. Calgary: Brush Publishing; 2013:40–5.

31. Housen A, Yenawine P. Visual thinking strategies: understanding the basics. New York; 2001; cited January 16, 2017; available at http://www.vtshome.org/system/resources/BAhbBlsHOgZmIjwyMDExLzEwLzI1LzExXzA4XzIxXzMyNl9WVFNfVW5kZXJzdGFuZGluZ190aGVfYmFzaWMucGRm/VTS_Understanding_the_basic.pdf; (last accessed 5 Mar 2017); Reilly JM, Ring J, Duke L. Visual thinking strategies: a new role for art in medical education. Family Medicine 2005;37(4):250–2.

32. Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 2006;3(2):77–101; Charmaz K. Constructing Grounded Theory. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage; 2014.

33. Elo S, Kyngas H. The qualitative content analysis process. Journal of Advanced Nursing 2008;62(1):107–15.

34. Daly J, Kellehear A, Gliksman N. The Public Health Researcher: A Methodological Approach. Melbourne: Oxford University Press; 1997.

35. Tango H. Sea Tears, neon and mixed media. 2014; available at http://hiromitango.com/Sea-Tears. (last accessed 28 Feb 2017).

36. Mackinnon W. The Passage, synthetic polymer paint, oil, and automotive paint on canvas. 2014; available at http://www.janmurphygallery.com.au/artist/william-mackinnon/news/ (last accessed 1 Mar 2017).

37. Ramsay H. Seated Girl, oil on canvas on board. c. 1894–1906, The University of Melbourne Art Collection; available at http://www.art-museum.unimelb.edu.au/collection/named-collections/namecol/7. (last accessed 28 Feb 2017).

38. Robinson J. Twitch, boiled wool, thread, timber, press studs, and fabric .2012; available at http://www.greenaway.com.au/Artists/Julia-Robinson/jrmisc-works.html. (last accessed 28 Feb 2017).

39. Mackinnon W. Light and Dark, 2016, from Keeping the Black Dog at Bay series, oil and enamel on canvas; available at https://www.hugomichellgallery.com/portfolio/william-mackinnon/2016-basil-sellers-art-prize-ian-potter-museum-art/ (last accessed 1 Mar 2017).

40. Gibbs G. Learning by Doing: A Guide to Teaching and Learning Methods. Oxford: Oxford Brooks University; 1988.

41. See note 40, Gibbs 1988.

42. See note 38, Robinson 2012.

43. Andrew B. Sanctuary, Tombs of the Outcasts, Now Open at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne. April 21, 2015; available at https://brookandrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/sanctuary-tombs-of-the-outcasts/ (last accessed 1 Mar 2017).

44. Albert T. Once Upon a Time, mixed media on paper. 2014; available at https://sullivanstrumpf.com/artists/tony-albert/exhibitions/basil-seller/views/once-upon-a-time-installation-view-1/ (last accessed 1 Mar 2017).

45. See note 17, Guillemin, Gillam 2015; Kasman DL, Fryer-Edwards K, Braddock CHI. Educating for professionalism: trainees’ emotional experiences on IM and pediatrics inpatient wards. Academic Medicine 2003;78(7):730–41.

46. Haidt J. The emotional dog and its rational tail: a social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review 2001;108(4):814–34.

47. See note 2, Gillam et al. 2014; Herman B. The practice of moral judgment. The Journal of Philosophy 1985;82(8):414–36.

48. Kearney MK, Weininger RB, Vachon MS, Harrison RL, Mount BM. Self-care of physicians caring for patients at the end of life: “being connected . . . a key to my survival.” JAMA 2009;301(11):1155–64.

49. See note 2, Gillam et al. 2014.

50. See note 7, Beauchamp, Childress 2001.

51. De Bono E. The Use of Lateral Thinking. London: Penguin Books; 1967.

52. Sharp A, Thomson L, Chatterjee HJ, Hannan, L. The value of object-based learning within and between higher education disciplines. In: Chatterjee HJ, Hannan L, eds. Engaging the Senses: Object-Based Learning in Higher Education. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited; 2015:97–116; Barrett T. Taking it personally: coming to know oneself and others through interpretations of art. In: Boyd Acuff J, Evans L, eds. Multiculturalism in Art Museums Today. London: Roman & Littlefield; 2014:231–44.

53. Gentner D, Bowdle B, Wolff P, Boronat, C. Metaphor is like analogy. In: Gentner D, Holyoak K, Kokinov B, eds. The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. London: The MIT Press; 2001:199–253.

54. Colby A, Sullivan W. Formation of professionalism and purpose: perspectives from the Preparation for the Professions Program. University of St. Thomas Law Journal 2008;5(2):404.

55. Barnett R. A curriculum for critical being. In: Davies M, Barnett R, eds. The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education. New York: Palgrave MacMillan; 2015:63–76; Siegesmund R. Why do we teach art today? conceptions of art education and their justification. Studies in Art Education 1998;39(3):197–214.

56. Weaver GR. Virtue in organizations: moral identity as a foundation for moral agency. Organization Studies 2006;27(3):341–68.

57. Wellbery C, McAteer RA. The art of observation: a pedagogical framework. Academic Medicine 2015;90(12):1624–30.

58. See note 21, Perry et al. 2011.