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September 21, 2023

Creative Aging: Why Arts Educators Need to Engage Older Learners Now

This article was published on CourseStorm, a platform which provides accessible, online education registration and management support for organizations that offer classes and programs to the public — many of which focus on arts education. Featured in the article is Heather Ikemire, Lifetime Arts’ Executive Director, who shares why now is the time for organizations and educators in the arts field to engage older adult learners and the myriad benefits of offering creative aging programming in their communities. Heather also shares examples of successful programming across the country and free resources which we have developed for organizations to utilize when getting started in this work.

July 10, 2023

Social Prescribing for the Arts: A Promising Framework for Arts & Health Collaboration in the U.S. & Beyond

In this issue, we explore the emerging research and practices of social prescribing for the arts (SPA) and discuss the future of SPA efforts as a vital component of arts and health services in the U.S., especially for older adults. This issue starts framing answers to key questions related to the challenges and opportunities this practice surfaces in healthcare and creative aging. Featured in this issue is a recorded conversation between three leading experts on SPA in the U.S.: Tasha Golden, S. Sudha, and Käthe Swaback.

*This email is an abridged version of our our full issue, which contains in-depth analysis and numerous resources on social prescribing. You can read the full issue here.

June 21, 2023

Social Prescribing and Creative Aging Resources

The following resources include research and studies, reports, programs, and initiatives on social prescribing developed, researched, and/or supported by Tasha Golden, PhD, Director of Research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine; Sudha Shreeniwas, PhD, Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at University of North Carolina Greensboro; and Käthe Swaback, Program Officer, Mass Cultural Council (Creative Youth Development and CultureRx: Social Prescription Pilot Program).

June 21, 2023

Social Prescribing for the Arts: A Promising Framework for Arts & Health Collaboration in the U.S. & Beyond

In this roundtable discussion, we explore the emerging research and practices of social prescribing for the arts (SPA) in the U.S. and other countries with arts and health professionals; Tasha Golden, PhD, Director of Research at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine; S. Sudha, PhD, Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at University of North Carolina Greensboro; and Käthe Swaback, Program Officer, Mass Cultural Council (Creative Youth Development and CultureRx: Social Prescription Pilot Program). This interview is part of The Creative Aging Resource Journal from Lifetime Arts. Download an enhanced transcript (with links).

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The music track in this interview is credited to BenSound.

June 20, 2023

New Report by UCL Researchers Links Participating in Arts and Culture to Longer, Healthier Lives

From the Website:

Since 2017, we have published over 70 academic papers linking arts and culture engagement to people’s health and wellbeing at a population level. Today, we are pleased to be releasing a new summary report from this work, revealing new insights into how peoples’ arts activity is linked to longevity and health outcomes across different life stages, including:

more positive health and social behaviours in children and young people
better mental health in adulthood
lower risks of depression and dementia in later life
lower levels of chronic pain and frailty, and even a longer life.

Our findings have come from the team’s analysis of data from cohort studies, which track the activities and health of large numbers of people throughout their lives. The techniques we have used have also enabled us to show that this positive relationship holds even when factors such as demographics, socio-economic position, and other health conditions are taken into account.

June 20, 2023

Sound Health: A NIH-Kennedy Center Partnership

From the Website:

Music can get you moving, lift your mood, and even help you recall a memory, but can it improve your health? The National Institutes of Health and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts have partnered to expand the scope of an initiative that NIH has had with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) for several years called Sound Health. The partnership, in association with the National Endowment for the Arts, aims to:

Expand current knowledge and understanding of how listening, performing, or creating music involves intricate circuitry in the brain that could be harnessed for health and wellness applications in daily life,
Explore ways to enhance the potential for music as therapy for neurological disorders,
Identify future opportunities for research, and
Create public awareness about how the brain functions and interacts with music.

June 15, 2023

Global Developments in Social Prescribing

From the Abstract:

Social prescribing is an approach that aims to improve health and well-being. It connects individuals to non-clinical services and supports that address social needs, such as those related to loneliness, housing instability and mental health. At the person level, social prescribing can give individuals the knowledge, skills, motivation and confidence to manage their own health and well-being. At the society level, it can facilitate greater collaboration across health, social, and community sectors to promote integrated care and move beyond the traditional biomedical model of health. While the term social prescribing was first popularised in the UK, this practice has become more prevalent and widely publicised internationally over the last decade. This paper aims to illuminate the ways social prescribing has been conceptualised and implemented across 17 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. We draw from the ‘Beyond the Building Blocks’ framework to describe the essential inputs for adopting social prescribing into policy and practice, related to service delivery; social determinants and household production of health; workforce; leadership and governance; financing, community organisations and societal partnerships; health technology; and information, learning and accountability. Cross-cutting lessons can inform country and regional efforts to tailor social prescribing models to best support local needs.

June 15, 2023

Arts on Prescription: The Logical Step for Health and Wellbeing

From the Article:

With the groundswell of empirical evidence regarding the arts’ positive impact on both physical and mental wellbeing, particularly in older age, why shouldn’t it be as readily available to the public as any medication?

Sydney’s Chris and Roslyn Poulos are championing the concept of Arts on Prescription in Australia. Chris is head of Research and Aged Care Clinical Services for HammondCare, one of Australia’s leading providers of aged care, dementia, palliative care and rehabilitation services.

He is also conjoint professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a consultant physician in rehabilitation medicine. Ros is a public health physician and associate professor at UNSW, teaching and researching in the field of ageing and health.

Their participatory Arts on Prescription program is based on a model developed in the UK whereby health professionals, including GPs, write prescriptions for their patients to participate in the arts.

June 15, 2023

NJPAC to Launch New Initiative Using Arts for Wellness Thanks to $3 Million Donation From Horizon

From the Article:

John Schreiber has long said that NJPAC defines itself as more than just an anchor cultural institution in Newark.

“That means we’re so much more than simply being a presenter of performances,” the CEO told ROI-NJ.

It also means the Arts Center sees itself as a partner in the city’s efforts to recover and rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. And it’s why Schreiber is so happy to announce Tuesday that Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has earmarked a $3 million donation to support a new arts and programming initiative around community health.

The contribution — made to the Arts Center’s current capital campaign through the company’s charitable arm, The Horizon Foundation — will fund the expansion of NJPAC-developed community-based programs that leverage the power of the arts to encourage mental and physical wellbeing.

June 15, 2023

Mass Cultural Council’s “CultureRx” Evaluation of a Social Prescription Pilot

From the Overview:

Introduction: As the field of public health strives to address the impacts of social determinants of health, it has seen increasing interest in community-referral practices that expand health care beyond clinical spaces. However, community arts and culture organizations are rarely included in these practices, despite accumulating evidence of associated health benefits. In addition, such inclusion has not been formally studied. In response, this article offers an evaluation of “CultureRx” in Massachusetts (MA): the first US model of arts on prescription. The program is a partnership between 20 healthcare providers and 12 cultural organizations, in which providers can offer “prescriptions” to cultural experiences to support patients’ health.

Methods: Evaluation was undertaken to illuminate participant experiences, program successes and barriers, and recommendations for further development. The cultural organizations collected participant data (n = 84) and completed surveys about their own experiences (n = 12). Authors conducted semi-structured focus groups and interviews with healthcare providers (n = 33). Data analysis was customized for each dataset.

Results: Findings indicate that participants enjoyed and hoped to repeat their prescribed experiences, which they saw as beneficial to wellbeing. Providers identified the program as a new and critical addition to their toolkits; they also indicated it had a positive effect on their own wellbeing. Cultural organizations reported varied challenges, learnings, and recommendations.

Conclusion: The CultureRx pilot suggests that integrating arts/culture assets into health and social care approaches can enrich and improve traditional US models of community referral. By including arts/culture resources when addressing social determinants of health, communities will be better positioned to equitably and holistically advance health.