Art & Aging:

What's Art Got To Do With It?

Since the beginning of time individuals, both young and old, have created and made art. Indigenous people have employed a variety of arts in healing. Currently research is being conducted to explore the value of using art with older adults for preventive measures and for therapeutic interventions as they age. As our population ages in large numbers and as many older adults and their families face debilitating illness in the form of dementias, racing for causes and cures is imperative, but so is the need to discover effective and efficient ways of caring for older individuals. And, not just caring for, but in addition providing for their quality of life.

“Creativity demonstrated in the form of the arts provides opportunities for elders to open new doors to self-expression and life review.”

—Camilla Beck

Humanist gerontologist, poet, publisher, and artist