joan healey
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Creative activity and ageing
Joan Healey
May 2015
The new world of medical humanities
• “Arts Council England, the Department of Health and many leading healthcare experts firmly believe that the arts have an important part to play in improving the health and wellbeing of people in many ways,”
• 2007 A prospectus for health
the myth of older people and the assumptions of active or successful ageing
• older people do not exist• how we live our lives• how society views us • where we live • economics and social exclusion
• 'The embracing notion of successful ageing, like notions of 'healthy' or 'active' ageing , with their implicit normative standards, ultimately devalues those who do not live up to their ideals.....'
• Holstein MB, Minkler M (2007)
Existing work
• Age of Creativity• Equal arts• Finnish Comprehensive service centres• Long live arts
• Baring Foundation
Impact of engagement in the arts and ageing
• Cohen(2009) RCT 300 people average age 80 found that arts participants had
• better health• fewer doctors visits• less medication usage• increased activities and social
engagement
Effects of participating in arts based activities
• enhanced perceived control• building a sense of self• expression• transforming illness experience• sense of purpose• building social support(Perruza & Kinsella 2010)
cont:
• Mental health foundation (2011) systematic review
• increased confidence and self-esteem• counterbalance to low mood and anxiety
after loss• some art forms lead to significant physical
health improvements - dance, singing and playing musical instruments
• increase in general daily activity
wider impact of participation
• facilitates social interaction• reduction in loneliness• facilitates communication• improved self esteem• emotional, intellectual and social
stimulation
add on effects....
• benefits of freedom of expression and identity
• learning a new skill - sense of achievement
• inclusive and non competitive was important
• culturally appropriate
Creative accounts of care
• The 'Creative accounts of care' project was a joint venture with nursing staff, a local poet and occupational therapy students. It involved running a creative writing group over 10 weeks in a local care home for older people. The aims were to capture their experiences of being cared for and hear the voices of people who rarely have a chance to tell their stories to a wider public. The creative writing enabled individual expression in a supportive environment and resulted in a digital book of people's writing and poems. This digital book is used in multi-disciplinary teaching in the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing at Sheffield Hallam.
Poetry group
• 8 week poetry reading group in nursing home
• qualitative interviews• social engagement• reminiscence• identity
Creative writing
• over to you ...............
References• Arts Council 2007 A prospectus for arts and health
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication_archive/a-prospectus-for-arts-and-health/• Cohen G (2009) New theories and research findings on the positive influence of
music and art on health and ageing. Arts and health. 1 (1) 48 - 63• Holstein MB, Minkler M (2007) Critical gerontology: reflections on the 21st century, in
Bernard M, Scharf T (eds) Critical perspectives on ageing societies. Bristol: Policy Press
• Perruzza N, Kinsella EA (2010) Creative arts occupations in therapeutic practice: a review of the literature. British journal of occupational therapy. 73 (6) 261 - 268
• Reynolds J (2015) Stories of creative ageing. Working with older people. 19 (1) 33- 40
• Welcome Trust (2014) Where does it hurt? The new world of medical humanities http://wellcomecollection.org/sites/default/files/where-does-it-hurt.pdf