Ageing Creatively - a pilot study to explore the relation of creative arts interventions to wellbeing in later life

许多老年人认为创造性的艺术活动对他们的健康有积极的影响。最近，研究集中在艺术对特定老年人群体的价值和影响上；尤其是那些患有痴呆症的人。然而，这些研究的结果主要是道听途说，缺乏严谨的方法；因此，很难得出关于不同艺术活动对幸福感的影响的确切结论。？老化的创造性?将建立一系列强有力的方法，使我们能够收集有意义的数据，并评估创造性艺术干预对老年人福祉的相对好处。有必要问一些基本问题：创造性艺术真的能培养幸福感，减少许多老年人的孤独感吗？主动参与比被动体验（比如写歌比听音乐会）更有好处吗？是否有些艺术形式比其他形式更有效？这些好处与其他常规的社会接触有显著的不同吗？更深入地了解创造性活动的过程和潜在的治疗结果，特别是评估不同方法的适当性是至关重要的。这是当前提案的根本目的。一个初步的批判性文献综述将建立一个全面的画面，所有以前的和相关的研究已经在这个领域。？老化的创造性?将在适当情况下使用已建立的基础设施，并制定进一步研究的方法，从而实现物有所值。将研究不同的方法方法，不仅建立在纽卡斯尔大学？我自己最近的经验，但在最新的国际研究。其次，每周举办两小时的工作坊，参加者为55岁以上、非在职人士，每组约10人，内容涵盖三个创意范畴：创意写作及阅读、音乐（创作歌曲及参加音乐会）及美术（绘画/雕塑及参观展览）。小组体验非创造性活动（如棋盘游戏）。？老化的创造性?将围绕一系列旨在促进晚年心理健康和福祉的创造性活动制定和评估流程和方法，为相关的未来政策和实践提供信息。

Many older people feel that creative arts activities have had a positive impact on their health. Recently, research has focussed on the value and impact of the arts on particular groups of older people; especially those suffering from dementia. The results of these studies, however are primarily anecdotal and lack rigorous methodology; therefore, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions about the impact of different arts activities on wellbeing. ?Ageing Creatively? will establish a robust range of methodologies, enabling us to collect meaningful data and evaluate the relative benefits of creative arts interventions on the wellbeing of older people.There is a need to ask some fundamental questions: can the creative arts really foster a sense of wellbeing, reducing the sense of isolation for many older people? Are there greater benefits from active participation rather than more passive experiences (eg song-writing versus attending a concert)? Are some artforms more effective than others? Are the benefits significantly different from those of other regular social contact? It is vital to achieve greater understanding of the processes and potential therapeutic outcomes of creative activity and especially to evaluate the appropriateness of different methodologies. This is the fundamental aim of the current proposal.An initial critical literature review will build a comprehensive picture of all previous and relevant research already available in this field. ?Ageing Creatively? will offer value for money by using established infrastructures where appropriate and developing approaches for further research. Different methodological approaches will be examined, building not only on Newcastle University?s own recent experience, but on the latest international research. Secondly, a series of weekly 2-hour sessions involving groups of around 10 participants aged over 55 and not currently in the workforce will cover three creative areas: creative writing and reading, music (song-writing and concert-going), and fine art (painting/ sculpting and exhibition visits), with a further ?control? group experiencing non-creative activities (eg board games). ?Ageing Creatively? will develop and evaluate the processes and methodologies around a range of creative activities designed to promote mental health and wellbeing in later life which can inform relevant future policy and practice.