Art can help to make sure that the older loved ones in your life stay mentally and even physically active in a variety of ways. It can be a very valuable activity for keeping the mind working, for working parts of the mind that seniors don’t often use in their later years, and for making sure that the fine motor skills are kept intact to some degree.
While the physical motion of sketching or painting a picture will be great for working those fine motor skills, there is also evidence that the mental gymnastics required to make art can help keep your elderly loved ones (and their minds) healthy. Let’s take a look at just a few of the benefits your older relatives can gain from participating in art projects, broken down into social, emotional, and physical categories.
Social
- Enriches relationships and encourages socialization. Much art, especially when done in a group setting, is a great chance to not only express what your aging family member feels or perceives, but to show it to others around them, and to get their input as necessary.
- It promotes relaxation and cuts down in disruptive behaviors. Giving anyone, even the elderly, an outlet for their feelings is a great idea that will have obvious payoffs. Expression through art is a wonderful way to be able to express oneself, even in instances where the elderly loved one isn’t able to express themselves well through other means.
- Art creates new chances to connect with others, from family members to friends. If a group class is available, it may be worthwhile to engage in with your older relatives.
Emotional
- Art can lead to self-expression and self-discovery, even at an advanced age.
- Art activates the sense and inspires your elderly loved one (who has likely spent the last couple of years in a scheduled existence) to be spontaneous.
- Art can reduce boredom. Artistic expression is a great way to fill time with a meaningful and enjoyable activities that anyone, of any age, can take part in.
- Art helps to reduce stress, fear, and anxiety. It is an outlet for processing those feelings, and when your elderly loved one can process those feelings, they are going to be better able to understand and handle those feelings.
Physical
- Art is extremely useful for those who have suffered from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Dementia tends to damage parts of the brain that have to do with planning complex tasks and long-term memory first. The parts of the brain that have to do with emotion and aesthetic appreciation will stay intact much longer, which will mean that the elderly who suffer from these afflictions will be able to utilize art as an outlet for much longer.
- Art is great for working fine motor skills that have likely degraded over time. Your elderly loved one will find benefit in working those skills, as it will make other tasks much simpler.
These are just some of the benefits that your older loved ones can find from enjoying art and producing their very own. The best part of it is that, as you will see in part 2, these benefits can be had for very reasonable prices and without the need for an immense amount of oversight, which allows your beloved senior enjoy their independence as well.