The effects of crafts-based interventions on mental health and well-being: A systematic review.
Elise Bromann Bukhave, Jennifer Creek, Anne Kirketerp Linstad and 1 others
PMID 39956657WHAT IT FOUND
Crafts-based activities like pottery, knitting, and clay work showed short-term improvements in depression, anxiety, and well-being across 19 studies.
One study found no effect. Long-term benefits remain unproven.
Key findings
01Six studies with control groups and eleven without controls reported positive changes in depression, anxiety, stress, or well-being. One study found no effect.
02The studies were too different in design, population, and outcome measures to pool into a single analysis. Most had fewer than 50 participants, and effects were measured only in the short term.
03Pottery and clay work were the most common craft media, used across populations ranging from stroke patients to nursing home residents to survivors of trafficking.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The 19 studies were too different in design, population, craft type, and outcome measures to pool or compare directly. Most studies had fewer than 50 participants, so generalising the findings is risky. Effects were measured only in the short term; the one study that followed up at 12 weeks found no sustained change. None of the studies identified the active components of the intervention or the mechanisms of change. Common quality issues included failure to blind outcome assessors, incomplete data, and unclear intervention delivery. The review could not rule out that relevant publications were missed, particularly from low- and middle-income countries.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The work was funded by the University of Southern Denmark.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive short-term results as proof that crafts-based interventions work for any given patient. The studies are small, heterogeneous, and mostly measured effects only immediately after the intervention. The one study that followed up at 12 weeks found no sustained change in depression or anxiety. You cannot yet say which craft, dose, or delivery mode is effective for a specific condition.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →