TY - JOUR
T1 - The value of active arts engagement on health and well‐being of older adults
T2 - A nation‐wide participatory study
AU - Groot, Barbara
AU - de Kock, Lieke
AU - Liu, Yosheng
AU - Dedding, Christine
AU - Schrijver, Janine
AU - Teunissen, Truus
AU - van Hartingsveldt, Margo
AU - Menderink, Jan
AU - Lengams, Yvonne
AU - Lindenberg, Jolanda
AU - Abma, Tineke
N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by ZonMw, grant number 1035001.191.0001. Funding Information: This study includes 18 art‐engagement projects for older people (Table 1). In this case, the art projects, refer to activities organized by professional artists who operate outside of long‐term care facilities or provide their services to such establishments. All projects in this study focus on active arts engagement (performing art activities, not just watching, or discussing artwork) with older adults in the Netherlands. All 18 projects were selected by arts and health funding bodies (RCOAK Foundation and Sluyterman van Loo Foundation) and a national health research and innovation organization (ZonMw) and received financial support for 18 months (January 2020 to July 2021) to continue their projects and contribute to the study. The selection criteria were the maximum variation in terms of the art form (e.g., dance, music, singing, theater, visual arts, video, and spoken word), geographical region (urban vs. rural, north, east, west, and south), variety of older adults (living independently, receiving (day)care, or living in long‐term care facilities), and project scale (a small project has one facilitator with one group of participants in one location, a medium project has one or a maximum of five facilitators and groups of participants, usually all in a similar location and a large project has more facilitators, and activities and groups of participants all over the country). In special issue: New Advances in Aging. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, Volume 18, Issue 15 (August-1 2021). Link to Zip supplementary material available in PDF/DOI.
PY - 2021/8/1
Y1 - 2021/8/1
N2 - An emerging body of research indicates that active arts engagement can enhance older adults’ health and experienced well‐being, but scientific evidence is still fragmented. There is a research gap in understanding arts engagement grounded in a multidimensional conceptualization of the value of health and well‐being from older participants’ perspectives. This Dutch nation‐wide study aimed to explore the broader value of arts engagement on older people’s perceived health and well‐being in 18 participatory arts‐based projects (dance, music, singing, theater, visual arts, video, and spoken word) for community‐dwelling older adults and those living in long term care facilities. In this study, we followed a participatory design with narrative‐ and arts‐based inquiry. We gathered micro‐narratives from older people and their (in)formal caregivers (n = 470). The findings demonstrate that arts engagement, according to participants, resulted in (1) positive feelings, (2) personal and artistic growth, and (3) increased meaningful social interactions. This study concludes that art‐based practices promote older people’s experienced well‐being and increase the quality of life of older people. This study emphasizes the intrinsic value of arts engagement and has implications for research and evaluation of arts engagement.
AB - An emerging body of research indicates that active arts engagement can enhance older adults’ health and experienced well‐being, but scientific evidence is still fragmented. There is a research gap in understanding arts engagement grounded in a multidimensional conceptualization of the value of health and well‐being from older participants’ perspectives. This Dutch nation‐wide study aimed to explore the broader value of arts engagement on older people’s perceived health and well‐being in 18 participatory arts‐based projects (dance, music, singing, theater, visual arts, video, and spoken word) for community‐dwelling older adults and those living in long term care facilities. In this study, we followed a participatory design with narrative‐ and arts‐based inquiry. We gathered micro‐narratives from older people and their (in)formal caregivers (n = 470). The findings demonstrate that arts engagement, according to participants, resulted in (1) positive feelings, (2) personal and artistic growth, and (3) increased meaningful social interactions. This study concludes that art‐based practices promote older people’s experienced well‐being and increase the quality of life of older people. This study emphasizes the intrinsic value of arts engagement and has implications for research and evaluation of arts engagement.
KW - arts activities
KW - elderly
KW - healthy and active aging
KW - impact
KW - long‐term care
KW - seniors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111687041&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158222
DO - https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158222
M3 - Article
C2 - 34360519
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International journal of environmental research and public health
JF - International journal of environmental research and public health
IS - 15
M1 - 8222
ER -