Harnessing the Power of Museums by Elizabeth Lahti

Harnessing the Power of Museums by Elizabeth Lahti

Museums are uniquely positioned to foster well-being, empathy, reflection, and human connection. As cultural institutions respond to growing needs in health, education, accessibility, and community engagement, Harnessing the Power of Museums provides a practical, evidence-informed guide for designing, facilitating, adapting, and evaluating museum-based well-being programs across museums of all disciplines. Drawing on interdisciplinary collaborations and workshops serving more than 20,000 participants, the contributors share proven frameworks, case studies, and evaluation strategies refined through partnerships with museums, medical schools, universities, healthcare systems, and community organizations.
Grounded in narrative medicine, reflective practice, and the ARCC Framework, Harnessing the Power of Museums offers adaptable approaches for engaging museum visitors, educators, healthcare professionals, students, caregivers, and community members. Through practical tools and real-world examples, readers will discover how museums can become powerful spaces for curiosity, belonging, dialogue, resilience, and flourishing.

Elizabeth Lahti MD is a clinical hospitalist and Director of Narrative Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), where she developed the narrative medicine curriculum funded by an American Medical Association grant. She is co-founder of the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative, a nonprofit community of practitioners, educators, and scholars. Her research focus is humanities in medical education, clinician well-being, and empathy in healthcare.

Lisa Abia-Smith is the Chief Curator of Education at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and a Teaching Professor at the University of Oregon, School of Planning Public Policy and Management. She is founder of the internationally recognized Art Heals initiative and co-developer of the
ARCC framework, a museum-based approach integrating visual art, dialogue, reflection, and creative practice to support well-being and human connection. Her work bridges museum education, healthcare, accessibility, and higher education through collaborations with museums, medical schools, universities, and healthcare organizations across the United States and Europe, positioning museums as spaces for empathy, inquiry, reflection, and flourishing.