Influencing factors of art-mediated educational strategies on life attitudes of teaching hospital staff: a quantitative study.

BACKGROUND

Art-mediated educational strategies are increasingly recognized for fostering transformational learning (TL), reshaping perspectives and life attitudes. This study explored how engagement frequency, professional category, and years of work experience influence the effects of participating in art creation and appreciation on healthcare providers' (HCPs) life attitudes in a teaching hospital.

METHODS

An annual art-based workshop, "Whole-Person Care Experience Sharing," was conducted at a teaching hospital. While most participation was voluntary, some staff were assigned to create artworks, and others could choose to appreciate or not. Afterward, the Short-Form Life Attitude Inventory (SF-LAI) was distributed to all hospital staff and collected anonymously. Retrospective analyses included responses from 2020 (n = 835, 24.8%) and 2021 (n = 474, 14.9%). Respondents were stratified by engagement level: non-engaged, attendees (appreciators), participants (creators), or both. A factorial ANOVA assessed the effects of gender, engagement frequency, professional category, and years of work experience, including interaction terms, with post hoc Bonferroni tests identifying subgroup differences.

RESULTS

Staff who both created and appreciated art exhibited the highest life attitude scores, followed by those who either created or attended, with non-engaged staff scoring the lowest (p <.001). Gender and professional category did not significantly affect scores. However, greater engagement frequency (p <.001) and more years of work experience (p <.05) were associated with higher life attitude scores. A trend toward an interaction between engagement frequency and professional category (p =.05-0.07) showed that physicians and nurses had increased scores with more frequent engagement, a pattern absent in other or non-medical professions. Considering engagement frequency, professional category, and work experience together, a significant interaction emerged between professional category and years of experience (p <.05), indicating frequent engagement was especially beneficial for early-career physicians and nurses.

CONCLUSIONS

Art-mediated educational interventions enhance life attitudes among hospital staff, with engagement frequency, professional category, and work experience as key moderators. Physicians and nurses with less experience benefit most. These findings underscore the value of integrating art-based strategies into healthcare education to foster holistic growth and well-being among HCPs, especially in the early-career stages of physicians and nurses.