Enhancing social connections through an acting and improvisation course for older Americans in low-income housing.

BACKGROUND: Older adults living in subsidized housing may be at increased risk of social isolation. Applied theater, a participatory art program, can facilitate social connections among older adults. METHODS: A professionally-facilitated 12-week acting and improvisation course was held in two federally subsidized buildings in an urban setting. The mixed-method design included thematic analysis of interviews, participant observation, field notes, and statistical analysis of change over time in social isolation, community belonging, and social exclusion. RESULTS: Participants were motivated to meet other building residents, and the course included aspects that encouraged social bonding. CONCLUSIONS: Although recruitment of socially-isolated older adults presented challenges, this study presents lessons on what motivates residents of low-income senior housing to enroll in an acting program and how to design a theater course in this setting that promotes group bonding.

Slow art plus: developing and piloting a single session art gallery-based intervention for mental health promotion via a mixed method waitlist randomized control trial.

Introduction: The current study builds on the expertise of National Gallery Singapore and Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU) in developing and piloting an enhanced version of the Slow Art program, namely "Slow Art Plus" for mental health promotion. Methods: A single-site, open-label, waitlist Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design comprising of a treatment group and waitlist control group was adopted (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05803226). Participants (N = 196) completed three online questionnaires at three timepoints: baseline [T1], immediately post-intervention/s baseline [T2], post-intervention follow-up/immediately post-intervention [T3]. Qualitative focus groups were conducted to evaluate program acceptability. Results: A mixed model ANOVA was performed to understand intervention effectiveness between the immediate intervention group and waitlist control group. The analyses revealed a significant interaction effect where intervention group participants reported an improvement in spiritual well-being (p = 0.001), describing their thoughts and experiences (p = 0.02), and nonreacting to inner experiences (p = 0.01) immediately after Slow Art Plus as compared to the control group. Additionally, one-way repeated measure ANOVAs were conducted for the intervention group to evaluate maintenance effects of the intervention. The analyses indicated significant improvements in perceived stress (p < 0.001), mindfulness (p < 0.001) as well as multiple mindfulness subscales, active engagement with the world (p = 0.003), and self-compassion (p = 0.02) 1 day after the completion of Slow Art Plus. Results from framework analysis of focus group data revealed a total of two themes (1: Experiences of Slow Art Plus, 2: Insights to Effective Implementation) and six subthemes (1a: Peaceful relaxation, 1b: Self-Compassion, 1c: Widened Perspective, 2a: Valuable Components, 2b: Execution Requisites, 2c: Suggested Enhancements), providing valuable insights to the overall experience and implementation of the intervention. Discussion: Slow Art Plus represents a unique approach, offering a standardized, multimodal, single-session program that integrates mindfulness and self-compassion practices, as well as reflective and creative expressions with Southeast Asian art. It demonstrates potential in meeting the mental health needs of a wide range of individuals and could be readily incorporated into social prescribing initiatives for diverse populations.

A participatory arts programme - Shared experience for family caregivers and care recipients.

AIM: This study aimed to describe family caregivers of older people's experiences of participatory art interventions, including music, dance and visual arts. DESIGN: A descriptive qualitative study. METHODS: Thematic interviews were conducted with 12 family caregivers. Qualitative data were analysed with thematic analysis. RESULTS: The results illustrated the meaning of art groups, which included a shared feeling of togetherness, empowering and activating peer support and a sense of communality. Art groups also represented a hobby, enhancing caregivers' social and mental well-being. The art groups could be described as an art-driven, participatory shared experience. Participatory arts are noteworthy contributors to the well-being of family caregivers and care recipients, especially from peer support and communality. Further research is needed to find out about participants' preferred art-based activities and their impact on their well-being. No patient or public contribution because of inflexibility in the timing of engagement.

Making invisible care visible. Ethics and aesthetics of care in participatory arts practices in times of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic emphasises the importance of care for our societies, yet underscores the inferiority of relational caring practices. During this time, we studied the participatory work of artists working with older adults using participant observations, in-depth interviews and visual ethnography. In this article, we present a case study of one arts initiative, a theatre company engaging seniors in the Netherlands, using ethics and aesthetics of care as sensitising concepts. The findings reveal that this work can promote relational forms of care. This study makes visible how different forms of care can be identified in a participatory art project.

Participatory visual arts activities for people with dementia: a review.

AIMS: To report and summarise the effects of interventions using participatory visual arts activities in dementia research through a narrative synthesis systematic review. METHODS: We searched four databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA). Of the 3263 records retrieved, 20 were included in this review. Quality was assessed with the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and the Downs and Black checklist. RESULTS: The use of participatory visual arts has positive effects on cognition, social and psychological functioning of people with dementia, although the diversity of the studies provided inconsistent evidence of an overall positive effect. Participants evaluated the interventions as enjoyable and engaging. CONCLUSIONS: This review adds to previous work done by Deshmukh et al. and Windle et al. with a focus on studies that had participatory visual art-making activities made by people with dementia. The use of participatory arts may bring benefits for people with dementia. The heterogeneity of the interventions prevented generalisation of the results. Criteria associated with positive outcomes of the intervention are reported to aid on the design of participatory visual arts interventions for people with dementia. Future research in participatory arts should have a more detailed description of the methods and art interventions.

A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial of an Intergenerational Arts and Heritage-Based Intervention in Singapore: Project ARTISAN.

Loneliness has become a global major public health concern, with detrimental effects to the young and old. ARTISAN (Aspiration and Resilience Through Intergenerational Storytelling and Art-based Narratives) is a 5-week, 15-h participatory art and group-based intervention that focuses on resilience building and loneliness alleviation among the young and old through a structured multimodal framework held at a museum space. Developed with a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, this intervention is evaluated using an open-label waitlist randomized controlled trial design (RCT) comprised of community-dwelling youth and older adults randomized into an intervention group (n = 35) or a waitlist-control group (n = 33). Participants were assessed on standardized self-reported psychometric measures including loneliness, resilience, quality of life, social support, life satisfaction and national identity at three time points. Qualitative data generated during each intervention session as well as acceptability focus groups were recorded and transcribed. Linear mixed modeling analyses revealed that participants in the intervention group experienced improvements in life satisfaction compared to participants in the waitlist-control group (95% CI: 0.22 to 0.77, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.53) immediately after the completion of ARTISAN. Subgroup analyses for youth participants indicated improvements in quality of life (95% CI: 0.16 to 0.52, p < 0.001, d = 1.31) and national identity (95% CI: 0.18 to 0.80, p = 0.002, d = 0.43) in comparison to the waitlist-control group. At 5-weeks follow-up, the intervention group participants continued to experience high levels of life satisfaction (95% CI: 0.04 to 0.42, p = 0.017, d = 0.47), enhancements in resilience (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.55, p = 0.011, d = 0.46), as well as a significant reduction in loneliness (95% CI: -0.34 to -0.08, p = 0.001, d = 0.61) compared to baseline, reflecting the effectiveness and positive residual effects of the ARTISAN intervention. Similarly, the qualitative findings provided support for the intervention and additional insights to the quantitative findings. This holistic intervention framework that integrates stories, arts and heritage for bridging and empowering lives fills a critical gap in knowledge and practice between the arts, health and citizenship, paving the way for further research in creating a more caring and inclusive society with the arts. Clinical Trials Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT03048708.

Curating and Exhibiting for the Pandemic: Participatory Virtual Art Practices During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China.

Since China's lockdown of major cities in response to COVID-19, different forms of online participatory initiatives led by self-organizing groups of volunteers have greatly contributed to information circulation, patient admission support, and other aspects of coping with the pandemic. Although often overlooked by those studying online cultural production during the pandemic, a massive spontaneous and participatory creative outpouring of individual and collaborative artworks related to "fight the pandemic" are being published through platforms including Kuaishou, TikTok, and WeChat public accounts. This article argues that while these participatory online exhibitions published through WeChat opened up a temporary space of expression that both offset the lack of information and enabled alternative ways of understanding of and expression about the crisis, they were not only subject to pervasive state surveillance, but also co-optation by state media.

Arts for ageing well: a propensity score matching analysis of the effects of arts engagements on holistic well-being among older Asian adults above 50 years of age.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency and intensity of arts engagement inclusive of active and passive engagements in arts, culture and heritage activities among Singaporean adults aged 50 and above, and examine the relationships between participatory art and holistic well-being. DESIGN: Cross-sectional stratified household survey. SETTING: All residential areas across Singapore's Central, East, North, North-East and West Regions. PARTICIPANTS: 1067 community-dwelling, Singaporean older adults between the ages of 50 and 95 years were recruited. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Respondents completed a self-reported questionnaire, consisting of standardised ad hoc items assessing the frequencies and durations of active and passive participatory arts engagement, as well as validated psychometric assessments on psychosociospiritual health including the primary outcome measure on quality of life, and the secondary outcome measures on physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. sociodemographic information, as well as frequency and intensity of physical activity were also collected. RESULTS: Passive engagement (60%) and active engagement (17%) in the arts were associated with better holistic wellness and social support. Specifically, findings from the propensity score matching and independent t-test analyses revealed that adults aged 50 and above who passively engaged in arts and culture-related events experienced higher quality of life (t(728)=3.35, p=0.0008, d=0.25), perceived health (t(728)=2.21, p=0.0277, d=0.16) and sense of belonging (t(728)=2.17, p=0.03, d=0.16), as compared with those who did not. Moreover, those who actively engaged in participatory arts experienced greater quality of life (t(442)=3.68, p=0.0003, d=0.36), self-rated health (t(442)=2.59, p=0.0099, d=0.25), spiritual well-being (t(442)=3.75, p=0.0002, d=0.37), meaning in life (t(442)=5.03, p<0.0001, d=0.50) and sense of peace (t(442)=3.72, p=0.0002, d=0.36), as compared with those who did not actively engaged in the arts. CONCLUSION: This study provided robust evidence to support a significant causal relationship between arts engagements and holistic well-being. Recommendations for art-based public health and elderly care research, practice and policy are discussed.

Using the experience-sampling method to examine the psychological mechanisms by which participatory art improves wellbeing.

AIMS: To measure the immediate impact of art-making in everyday life on diverse indices of wellbeing ('in the moment' and longer term) in order to improve understanding of the psychological mechanisms by which art may improve mental health. METHODS: Using the experience-sampling method, 41 artists were prompted (with a 'beep' on a handheld computer) at random intervals (10 times a day, for one week) to answer a short questionnaire. The questionnaire tracked art-making and enquired about mood, cognition and state of consciousness. This resulted in 2,495 sampled experiences, with a high response rate in which 89% of questionnaires were completed. RESULTS: Multi-level modelling was used to evaluate the impact of art-making on experience, with 2,495 'experiences' (experiential-level) nested within 41 participants (person-level). Recent art-making was significantly associated with experiential shifts: improvement in hedonic tone, vivid internal imagery and the flow state. Furthermore, the frequency of art-making across the week was associated with person-level measures of wellbeing: eudemonic happiness and self-regulation. Cross-level interactions, between experiential and person-level variables, suggested that hedonic tone improved more for those scoring low on eudemonic happiness, and further that, those high in eudemonic happiness were more likely to experience phenomenological features of the flow state and to experience inner dialogue while art-making. CONCLUSION: Art-making has both immediate and long-term associations with wellbeing. At the experiential level, art-making affects multiple dimensions of conscious experience: affective, cognitive and state factors. This suggests that there are multiple routes to wellbeing (improving hedonic tone, making meaning through inner dialogue and experiencing the flow state). Recommendations are made to consider these factors when both developing and evaluating public health interventions that involve participatory art.

Visible Voices: Expressive arts with isolated seniors using trained volunteers.

This practice-based paper describes an innovative program from Ontario, Canada that explored the potential for volunteer-facilitated expressive arts to contribute to the well-being of socially isolated rural seniors. Inspired by Arts on Prescription initiatives in the UK and coordinated by a Registered Expressive Arts Consultant/Educator, the program involved eight older volunteers and eight older participants engaged in a 10-week series of one-on-one intermodal art-making activities in the participants' homes and institutional settings in 2009-2010. An evaluation of the program design and implementation is presented and the challenges and opportunities of expressive arts with isolated seniors using trained volunteers are discussed.