Impact of community engaged arts on the health status of older adults

With the number of seniors in Canada’s population increasing, more older adults are potentially dealing with chronic or recurring health issues. Given this trend, there’s an essential need to identify health resources available to these individuals and to evaluate the effectiveness of these resources in impacting health status. Recent research has show that that creative involvement in the arts positively impacts the health of older adults. Elaine Moody is investigating how a community-based art project impacts health among its older adult participants. She is studying groups of seniors in the Vancouver area who are currently participating in community-engaged arts projects focused on developing creative and artistic abilities, and providing opportunities to meaningfully contribute to their communities. Through a questionnaire and a series of interviews, Elaine is collecting information about the health status of the participants, including physical, mental and social health, and overall well-being. Using statistical methods, she is examining the information obtained to determine if health status has improved over the course of the study. Her overall aim is to provide a clearer understanding of the health benefits of participating in community engaged arts for older adults.