Creative Resilience: The Role of the Arts and Creative Arts Therapies in Disaster Preparedness, Response and Recovery

Summary: The arts offer opportunities to express grief, share experiences, and rebuild cultural identity, particularly when these are disrupted by natural disasters or crises. The participatory nature of the arts fosters collective problem solving and strengthens social cohesion, which can support community preparedness and resilience. Moreover, the arts can promote awareness of disaster risks and preparedness strategies through engaging and culturally relevant mediums. Creative arts therapies offer evidence-informed interventions that support emotional recovery, post-traumatic growth, and psychological resilience. They have been integrated into emergency response frameworks to address mental health and psychosocial support for communities. The sensory and embodied nature of the arts can reduce stress, mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and enhance coping mechanisms, enabling individuals to process traumatic experiences in ways that verbal communication alone may not. One program integrating the arts and creative arts therapies into disaster recovery efforts is Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, which has begun to translate its work with military-connected trauma to support for veterans and communities impacted by natural disasters and other emergencies. Following a literature review, needs assessments, and field scans, Creative Forces sent a creative arts therapist to work with the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Hawaii Medical Response and Recovery Team after the Maui Wildfires. This work set the foundation for a multi-year pilot project that is exploring how the arts and creative arts therapies can integrate with emergency response teams and local communities in disaster efforts. Integrating arts-based approaches into disaster management practice policy can enhance the effectiveness of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Future efforts should include building trusted networks and resource hubs between community arts organizations, cultural leaders, and emergency response sectors to support integrating arts-based services into disaster efforts.