Effectiveness of Expressive Art Therapy on Depression and Quality of Life Among Destitute Women

Objectives: Background: This study explored how expressive art therapy can significantly enhance the quality of life of destitute women with depression. Expressive art therapy offers a unique approach that combines various art forms to help individuals to creatively express their emotions, thoughts, and experiences. Methods: A quasi-experimental research design was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of expressive art therapy in improving quality of life and decreasing depression levels in destitute individuals with depression. Twenty destitute women were included in the study and, after obtaining informed consent, were equally assigned to control and experimental groups (10 in each)The “control group” was given routine care, while the experimental group was given expressive art therapy consisting of visual art, music, and dance, for 12-week period. The tools used were Zung Depression Rating Scale to assess the depression and The WHOQOL-BREF is a short version of the WHOQOL-100, which is a 26-item questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life of destitute women to assess the quality of life of the destitute women. Fisher’s exact test and two-way RM ANOVA were used for the statistical analysis. Results: The post assessment revealed that the “control group” showed a 14.2 % increase in depression, while the “experimental group” showed a 5.8 % decrease. The “control group” showed 16.3 % increase in quality of life, while the “experimental group” showed a 25.5 % increase, indicating the advantage of the intervention. Conclusion: This study revealed the potential benefit of expressive art therapy in decreasing depression and improving quality of life among destitute women.