How the Arts Help Children to Create Healthy Social Scripts

Nosotros all know to swallow right, exercise, and get a good nighttime'southward slumber to stay healthy. But can flexing our creative muscles assistance us thrive every bit nosotros historic period? Ongoing inquiry looking at singing group programs, theater training, and visual arts for older adults suggest that participating in the arts may improve the health, well-being, and independence of older adults.

"Researchers are highly interested in examining if and how participating in arts activities may be linked to improving cognitive function and retention and improving self-esteem and well-being. Scientists are too interested in studying how music can be used to reduce behavioral symptoms of dementia, such equally stress, aggression, agitation, and apathy, as well equally promoting social interaction, which has multiple psychosocial benefits," said Lisa Onken, Ph.D., of NIA'due south Division of Behavioral and Social Research.

Lifting their voices for healthy aging

"At that place'due south a pressing need to develop novel, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to ameliorate the lives of older adults," said Julene Thou. Johnson, Ph.D., of the Academy of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. "Singing in a community choir may be a unique approach to promote the wellness of various older adults by helping them remain active and engaged. It may even reduce health disparities."

Dr. Johnson tested this approach, leading Community of Voices, the largest randomized clinical trial to test the touch of participating in a customs choir on the health and well-existence of most 400 culturally diverse adults, age 60 and older, from 12 senior centers in San Francisco. The centers were randomly chosen to bear the choir program immediately (six intervention groups) or 6 months later on (six control groups). Upshot measures were collected at baseline (prior to starting the intervention), vi months (cease of randomization phase), and 12 months (one year subsequently enrollment). Each choir met once a week in xc-minute sessions for 44 weeks and performed in several informal concerts.

At weekly rehearsals, professional choral directors from the San Francisco Community Music Center trained in the intervention led activities to promote health and well-being. Researchers assessed participants' cognition, physical role, and psychosocial function, as well every bit their apply and cost of healthcare services, before they started the choir program and again later half dozen and 12 months.

Check out Community of Voices choirs in action:

A unique aspect of the study was its use of community partners to engage, enroll, and retain a large grouping of racially and ethnically diverse and low-income older adults. Participants were recruited and completed all choir activities and assessments at the senior centers, which fabricated it more than convenient for them to bring together and go along in the study.

Participating in the community choir showed positive results within vi months. In particular, information technology reduced feelings of loneliness and increased involvement in life. However, cerebral and concrete outcomes and healthcare costs did not change significantly. Dr. Johnson attributed the improvements to the choir providing a meaningful, regular opportunity to meet new people, build social back up, and increase a sense of belonging.

"The study showed increased interest in life because singing in the choir provided a regular, structured action for participants," she said. "Admission to regular activities in diverse, low-income communities is vital for older adults to remain agile and engaged in their customs."

Dr. Onken noted, "Past examining the mechanisms through which arts participation may provide benefits to health and well-being, and by studying arts participation with scientific rigor, nosotros hope to establish a firm basis on which to develop programs to improve the health and well-being of older people. As these studies continue, we expect the results to show united states how we tin implement cost-effective, community-based programs that benefit older people."

Theater improvising to cope with dementia

Northwestern University is looking to another art grade, theater improvisation, to help older adults with early on-stage dementia exist social and improve their quality of life. "The Memory Ensemble" is for people newly diagnosed with Alzheimer'southward disease and other types of dementia who are looking for opportunities to engage in programs that fit their needs," said Darby Morhardt, Ph.D., Outreach, Recruitment and Education Cadre Leader at Northwestern'due south Mesulam Centre for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Affliction.

The Retentivity Ensemble's 69 participants acquire how to utilize their instincts, inventiveness, and spontaneity to explore and create improvisational theater. The programme, developed in 2010 past Northwestern and the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, seeks to better the quality of life for people living with Alzheimer's and related disorders and to transfer these benefits to other communities.

As office of the 8-week plan, groups of x to xv participants, age 50 to 90, nourish 90-minute sessions that are purposely repetitive and follow a specific pattern. Two facilitators—a clinical social worker and a chief educational activity artist in theater and improvisational techniques—guide participants through various activities.

The plan does not aim to slow decline or improve cognition, but to aid people with dementia enjoy their lives, according to Dr. Morhardt. "There are limits to medical treatments for people with dementia," she said. "Patients and families are looking for ways to continue to engage. For participants in the programme, it'south about being in the moment and using their imagination. We enhance their remaining skills and mood. Every bit the condition progresses, it can get challenging to communicate with words, and so we really focus on nonverbal means of expression."

Preliminary results prove participation in the Retentivity Ensemble improves mood, decreases anxiety, and increases a sense of belonging, normalcy, and destigmatization, said Dr. Dunford. Participants also report feelings of achievement, empowerment, and self-discovery.

Future plans include developing an bear witness-based curriculum for researchers, arts therapists, and theater professionals to replicate the plan in other communities and a theater intervention program for caregivers.

Research on music, theater, trip the light fantastic, creative writing, and other participatory arts shows promise for improving older adults' quality of life and well-being, from better cognitive part, retention, and self-esteem to reduced stress and increased social interaction. NIA is addressing the demand for more rigorous inquiry, including new or culling research designs and measurements that can demonstrate the efficacy and cost advantage of arts interventions.

References

Cheever T, Taylor A, Finkelstein R, et al. NIH/Kennedy Centre workshop on music and the brain: Finding harmony. Neuron 2018;97(half dozen):1214–1218.

Dunford CM, Yoshizaki-Gibbons HM, Morhardt D. The Retentiveness Ensemble: Improvising connections among performance, inability, and ageing. Research in Drama Education 2017;22(3):420-426.

Johnson JK, Stewart AL, Acree M, et al. A community choir intervention to promote well-being amid diverse older adults: Results from the Community of Voices trial. Journals of Gerontology: Series B. Published November. nine, 2018.

National Endowment for the Arts. The arts and aging: Building the science. (PDF, ii.3M) Summary of a National Academies workshop, "Research gaps and opportunities for exploring the relationship of the arts to health and well-being in older adults." February 2013.

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Source: https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/participating-arts-creates-paths-healthy-aging

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