IMPROVE HEALTH THROUGH CREATIVE ARTS
- The arts can positively impact individual and community health by providing therapeutic, educational, and expressive opportunities.
- Creative therapies can reduce patient use of pain medication, length of hospital stay, and levels of depression and stress.
- You can offer community arts programs and resources to build local connections, deepen relationships, and improve health for citizens of all ages.
FOLLOW THEIR LEAD!
Collingswood created the #Before I Die Festival. This festival involves music, arts, yoga, poetry and end-of-life conversations. This creative annual festival shows the arts are a powerful tool for promoting conversations around advance care planning.
ACTION STEPS
Offer Creative Programs for Older Adults
- Develop community painting, crafts, or music workshops with local nursing homes, hospitals, and other senior service organizations in your community.
- See resources offered by the National Center for Creative Aging, which is dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging.
Provide Paint and Craft Opportunities
- Set up painting and crafts workshops at local community centers and libraries to involve individuals of all ages.
- Partner with local artists to lead the workshops with help from the Alliance for Arts and Health NJ. The Alliance connects artists with health and wellness providers to advance best practices in arts and health.
Sing and Dance to Good Health
- Partner with local musicians to provide community music workshops where community members can take part in music lessons.
- Partner with a local dance studio to provide instructional services for the event.
- For program ideas, consider partnering with Music for All Seasons, which fosters human interaction and healing through live musical programs for at-risk youth, veterans, seniors, hospitals, and hospices.
- Create dance workshops at your local community center or cultural centers with classes centered around different populations, such as youth, seniors, and municipal employees.
- For additional resources, see information provided by the American Dance Therapy Association.
Spread the Word
- Advertise events using flyers, emails, and social media.
- Encourage local businesses to advertise events to employees, and do the same with municipal employees.
- Partner with local arts organizations and artists to provide these programs to your community.
MORE RESOURCES
Arts and Aging: Building the Science
Creation Nation: How Public Art Helps the Public