As a founding board member and chair of the Professionalization Committee of the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH), I, Ari Albright, had the privilege of co-editing the Core Curriculum for Arts in Health Professionals. This book, published in fall 2021, serves as a comprehensive resource for professionals in the field of arts in health, providing them with foundational knowledge and best practices.

One of my main responsibilities as chair of the Professionalization Committee was to lead the development of the Core Curriculum and the Code of Ethics and Standards for Arts in Health Professionals. The Core Curriculum is designed to be the basis for academic coursework and institutional, community, and continuing education training programs. It is also intended to provide a path to professional certification for artists, arts administrators, and arts consultants based on their demonstrated command of best practices and their adherence to the Code of Ethics and Standards for Arts in Health Professionals.

The Core Curriculum for Arts in Health Professionals is a dense outline form, containing chapters on the history and evolution of the field, creative and expressive arts therapies, arts in health program administration, arts in health environments, healthcare culture, care delivery, inclusion, accessibility, and specific populations, and research in arts in health. These chapters were developed by teams of subject matter experts and countless hours of collaboration went into creating this detailed resource.

I am proud of the work that has gone into creating the Core Curriculum for Arts in Health Professionals and I believe that it will be an invaluable tool for professionals in the field. The NOAH Board of Directors and I would like to extend our gratitude to the dozens of contributors who so generously shared their expertise in creating this resource. The Core Curriculum has laid the foundation for exciting new steps in advancing and professionalizing the field of arts in health.

NOAH Core Curriculum released: https://thenoah.net/core-curriculum/

Code of Ethics and Standards for Arts in Health Professionals: https://thenoah.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/NOAH-Code-of-Ethics-and-Standards-for-Arts-in-Health-Professionals.pdf