art for life
TRANSCRIPT
Art for Life:
Folk Arts, Aging, Health, and Wellness
Connections: Folk Arts & Culture
Culture is a tool
Instrumental in communities with regard to health
Song, storytelling, food, ceremony, or decorative arts – utilized
to understand and treat
Connection between the individual and larger group is
essential
Dr. William Withering, 1785, purple foxglove/digitalis - fairies
Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, 1847, germ theory – midwives
Folk Beliefs & Medicine in Art
Impact of Creativity on Aging
Higher overall ratings for physical health
Fewer doctor visits
Less medication use
Fewer instances of falls
Fewer miscellaneous health problems
Better morale
Less loneliness
Increased activity for participants
Creative Expression Taps into Four Factors to
Promote Health
Sense of Control
Mechanism
Psychoneuroimmunology
(PNI)
Social Engagement
Brain Plasticity
Folk Arts as Vehicles for Creative Engagement
Yes, I am Free: The Inspiration of Dance and Paint
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnskUCk5fyk
Loneliness and Isolation
Risk factors for coronary
heart disease, stroke, and
early mortality
Having more and better
quality social relationships
linked to decreased health
risks; fewer and poorer
quality of relationships,
increased risk
Loneliness and Mortality
Loneliness: 26% Social isolation: 29% Living alone: 32%
A Life Pieced Together With Love: Quilted Greeting Cards
Culturally-bound Impact and Proust
Phenomenon
Stimulates brain’s emotion
and memory centers
Positive autobiographical
memory results in slow and
deep breathing
Folk Activities Improve Cognition and
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
A Whale of a Tale: Spearfishing Decoys
Dance Improves Physical and Emotional
Function
Reduces arthritis, anxiety, depression
Improves strength, balance, and gait speed
Decreases fall risk
The Mobile Painting Device and Traditional Dance
Food as Art and Therapeutic Intervention
Multi-sensory art experience
as non-drug intervention on
geriatric pain
Cooking programs can
promote calm, increase
appetite, entice people to
social gatherings, relieve
stress, awake memories
Healthy Kuchen and the Artful
Plate
Sundogs and Sunflower:An Art for Life Program Guide for Creative Aging, Health, and Wellness
Online toolkit: http://www.nd.gov/arts/programs/art-for-life
Troy Geist, Folklorist, NDCA: [email protected], #701-328-7590