Author: Kent, Mary and Li, Rose

Publication Year:

Media Type: Report

Summary:

In March 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) hosted a first-of-its-kind event to showcase and discuss recent research on the arts and human development, with the ultimate goal of finding ways to engage the arts  to improve people’s lives.

Abstract:

Recent and ongoing research suggests exciting possibilities for the therapeutic use of art to improve the health and well-being of older adults. As this population grows in number and as a proportion of all Americans, it will experience dramatic increases in the number of people with aging-related health conditions, including cognitive decline and dementia. Given the arts’ potential to treat, prevent, or ameliorate those conditions, additional research is needed to clarify the relationship between the arts and the health and well-being of older adults.

As part of a Federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development (www.nea. gov/news/news11/Task-Force-Announcement. html), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and three units within the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)—joined in requesting the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to convene a public workshop around this research need. The NAS workshop subsequently aimed to identify research gaps and opportunities to foster greater investment in promising arts-related research that can seed interventions to improve quality of life for older adults. [page 1]

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Aging