Artistic seniors: healthy aging through creative programs

There is a general consensus among those who study aging that integrating sustained creative arts programs into the lives of elderly adults generally improves their quality of life. In 2006, geriatric psychiatrist Dr. Gene Cohen published a study that found that elders’ sustained involvement in professionally conducted arts programs produced positive results. Three sample groups of elders ages 65 and over in centers across the United States (Washington, D.C., Brooklyn and San Francisco) reported in a time period of two years better general health, fewer doctor visits and less need for medication usage. These sample groups were tested against a control group. ❧ Research on the effects that artistic programs have on people with dementia produces similar qualitative results. In a 2006 article by Anne Basting, director of the Center on Age & Community at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Basting talks about her research along with her experiences leading artistic projects for elderly adults and the kinds of results she witnessed. Basting states that because the arts allow for connections on an emotional level, people with dementia are still able to express themselves: “Where rational language and factual memory have failed people with dementia, the arts offer an avenue for communication and connection with caregivers, loved ones, and the greater world” (p. 17). Basting says that even though most researchers who study aging would agree that there is much anecdotal evidence that arts programs benefit people with dementia, she says the quantitative data that is available is small in scale, often done in single facilities that lack a control group. ❧ Other research broadens its scope to include elderly people who do not necessarily have a form of degenerative illness, such as Dr. Gene Cohen’s research (2006). Researchers and gerontologists Michael Patterson and Susan Perlstein (2011) explain that evidence exists that the combination of physical and mental activities for seniors produces positive health benefits: “physical exercise and mental exercise promote neurogenesis. It is now known that the human brain can continue to grow new neurons in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory maker, and that the physical exercise stimulates growth of new brain cells” (p. 31). Senior citizen centers that have the space capabilities to host artistic programs and physical activities for residents have the potential to in some way improve the lives of the elderly adults who live there, but it is often the case that a lack of financial resources limits this potential. ❧ This documentary profiles three senior citizens who live at the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, a non-assisted living apartment complex where people age 55 and older can participate in professionally conducted artistic programs (free of charge with their rent). The Burbank Senior Artists Colony offers its residents classes in painting, watercolor, sculpting, singing, theater, video making, and exercise, among other classes; residents do not have to have prior artistic experience. This documentary introduces Teddi Shattuck, 74, Gene Schklair, 81, and Dolly Brittan, 74, who were all artists in some capacity before moving into the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, which is why they were attracted to this center, but who also have learned and developed other artistic skills since moving in to the Artists Colony. ❧ The purpose of this documentary is to show examples of older adults who continue to engage their minds in creative activities, and by doing so, stimulate their minds and learn new skills, despite old age. To provide expertise on the subject of housing for older adults and the kinds of stereotypes society has about the elderly, this documentary includes an interview with Jon Pynoos, a gerontology professor at the University of Southern California, and an expert in senior housing and elderly policy and planning. Pynoos is familiar with the Artists Colony and some of the residents as he often takes the students in his classes for visits. He also reviewed this documentary. Tim Carpenter, who is the founder of the non-profit EngAge: The Art of Active Aging, which manages the artistic programs at the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, also lent his expertise to this documentary.