Creative and Expressive Therapies in Head and Neck Cancer Care: A Scoping Review and Evidence Map of Interventions, Outcomes, and Implementation Models

This registration outlines a scoping review protocol to map the evidence on creative and expressive therapies for people with head and neck cancers (HNC) across the full cancer trajectory (diagnosis, active treatment, rehabilitation, survivorship, and palliative/end-of-life care). Head and neck cancer and its treatments often affect communication, swallowing, appearance, and social functioning, contributing to substantial psychosocial distress and quality-of-life impairment. Creative and expressive therapies (e.g., art-based approaches, music therapy, dance/movement, drama/theatre-based interventions, guided imagery, narrative approaches, expressive writing/written emotional disclosure, and technology-enabled expressive modalities) may provide person-centered supportive care by facilitating expression, coping, and connection. The review will follow PRISMA-ScR guidance and use the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework. We will search MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO from inception to the search date, restricted to English-language publications. Eligible sources will include primary empirical studies of any design (quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods), feasibility/pilot studies, and implementation or program evaluations that deliver an expressive/creative therapy component to an HNC population or an extractable HNC subgroup. Editorials and commentaries without empirical data will be excluded. Two reviewers will independently screen titles/abstracts and full texts, with disagreements resolved by discussion and adjudication if needed. Data will be charted using a standardized extraction form capturing study characteristics; participant and disease features; intervention modality, components, dose, format, and setting; delivery personnel and training/credentialing; implementation characteristics (acceptability, feasibility, adherence, fidelity, safety/adverse events, ethical considerations); and outcomes (patient, caregiver, and implementation outcomes). Findings will be synthesized descriptively and presented via an evidence map (therapy modality × outcome domain) and an implementation model framework to identify evidence clusters and gaps relevant to oncology nursing practice, education, and future research. Protocol amendments will be documented with dates and rationale. No ethics approval is required because only published literature will be analyzed.