KidzArt Official Blog

According to The National Center For Creative Aging, research is showing the positive impact that creativity can have on the health and well being of people as they age.  Clinical evidence has revealed that older adults who participate in the arts have significantly better overall health, fewer falls and doctor’s visits, diminished use of medications and better scores on the geriatric depression and loneliness scales.

Psychiatrist Gene Cohen, director of George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health & Humanities has studied creativity and aging for thirty years.  Cohen theorizes that arts participants have a heightened sense of control and social engagement, both of which may boost the immune system. Neuroscientists are exploring how stimulating mental activity such as artistic expression fuels the growth of new brain cells in the cerebral cortex.

All of this suggests that more engagement, pleasure and mental activity translates into healthy benefits for older people.  The arts can be used as a tool to increase the quality of life for seniors, resulting in reduced healthcare costs and older adults who can remain independent and “age in place”.

The National Endowment for the Arts has compiled a list, Creativity and Aging: Best Practices, which includes creative community senior programs all over the nation that can be modeled in your area.  Or check out KidzArt’s SeniorzArt program offered at participating KidzArt franchises.

.

Bookmark It

read comments (0)