We report on art therapy for dementia and its quality of evidence, with the objective of furthering its development. We first describe the mechanisms of art therapy for dementia, followed by the Cochrane Library’s findings on this therapeutic approach. The mechanism of art therapy was such that person-centered care and improvement of well-being were the foundations of the therapy. The quality of evidence for art therapy for dementia was rated by Cochrane as “very low”. In art therapy for dementia, there are methodological limitations to randomized controlled trials, and verification of evidence is difficult. The evidence can be strengthened by changing the perspective to observational studies or a narrative approach.

Art is an activity of life that creates the manifested from the unmanifested. Art therapy is its practical application in mental health services. It enables individuals to restore power for living by sharing energies among those who participate in a programme and then touching their true selves in the process of creating works of art. Consequently, they will receive healing and awareness, possibly motivating them to walk away from the past and experience the new ‘me’. Furthermore, they will build a relationship between self and society that is different from the relationship that they had previously. According to results of a survey issued by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2004, one in two persons felt stressed in the past one month. Moreover, one in five would suffer from a mental disorder while living in Japan. As individuals participate in art therapy, they will learn to become resilient. We have been living in an age of uncertainty. Fortunately, it seems that the art of awareness and resilience acquired through an art therapy session can play a significant role for individuals in both adverse and favourable circumstances in a stressful society.