[Startup Guide] Community-Engaged Arts Practice with Seniors

As a society we are growing older and more people are looking for creative ways to age.

The Arts & Health Project: Healthy Aging Through The Arts has been very popular, with many inquiries from the public, artists and other stakeholders in the health and recreation communities who want to get involved.

"The wonderful thing about being creative is that you don't have to retire. It isn't something you retire from”. - A participating elder

It is widely recognized that the aging Canadian population wants programming that addresses their special needs and enhances their quality of life.

Research conducted within our project proves that community-engaged arts programs promote the health, well-being and social inclusion of older adults. The programs provide a forum for exploration, imagination, and communication that can transform individual lives and profoundly impact community life. At a time when the number of seniors is growing rapidly, and when isolation and marginalization amongst the elderly is increasing, this model of seniors’ arts programming is of particular social, cultural and economic value.

We hope the guide will be a useful resource for community leaders, artists, seniors’ workers and recreational and arts programmers who are interested in creating an arts program for older adults that has proven positive health outcomes for seniors, and that can have tremendous and lasting impacts on their lives.

The project’s model of community-engaged arts programming has been successfully developed with many different groups of participants, each in their own unique and challenging social and cultural context. This Guide outlines the methods of program delivery that we have found successful with these different groups and highlights the important lessons we have learned along the way.

You will also find a Guide to Creating Peer Support and Collaboration Strategies for Seniors by Dr. Claire Robson to complement this Startup Guide.