Newswise — “With 78 million baby boomers on the retirement horizon, quality of life for aging boomers is a public imperative,” said director of Ithaca College’s Gerontology Institute, Professor John Krout (http://faculty.ithaca.edu/krout/).
Krout, who organized a daylong conference entitled “Creativity and Aging: Exploring Community Initiatives,” notes that research shows, among other things, that staying engaged in creative activities significantly improves overall health and improves scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale.
Given the demographic we face, “We need to develop a new paradigm where, instead of seeing aging as loss, we see aging as something that involves gain,” said Krout. A growing body of research shows the aging brain is not all a story of decline: “It’s not ‘use it or lose it’ — it’s use it and improve it,” he added.
Krout points to Martha Graham dancing until 75 and choreographing until age 96, as well as “Dr. Seuss” (Theodor Geisel) publishing in his 80s. “While these represent examples of extraordinary artists, studies show that many people of lesser talents continue to practice and take much gratification from their creative endeavors into old age,” he said.
“We need to think of our aging population as a rich resource, and I think boomers are the leading edge of a potential revolution in old age. They will change how our institutions relate to older adults and how we define old age for our family and ourselves. They [boomers] are astute politically and will demand solutions to their problems and the issues they care about, particularly about their quality of life; they will not retire to the front porch,” said Krout. “Boomers present new and exciting opportunities for greater creativity in all walks of life.”
On Thursday, Oct. 1, a group of nine national experts will assemble at Ithaca College to discuss “Creativity and Aging: Exploring Community Initiatives.” Experts will be available for interviews on that day that are scheduled in advance. Contact [email protected].
The gathering is hosted by the Linden Center for Creativity and Aging, which was established in 2007 within the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute to encourage research on the relationship between the creative arts and an enhanced quality of life among older adults.
Gene Cohen — founder and director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University — will kick off the conference with his keynote address, “Why Creativity Matters.”
“Getting creative in your later years is a self-fueling engine,” said Cohen, who holds an M.D. from Georgetown University and a doctorate in gerontology from the Union Institute. “The more you do, the more you can do. . . . Sustained participation in an arts program has a very positive effect on the immune system. It’s that mind-body connection.”
The conference will feature panel discussions exploring the ways arts organizations and aging services can involve older adults in arts programs as well as presentations of the latest research on how arts involvement promotes physical health and well-being among older adults. Participants will include:
• Gay Hanna and Susan Perlstein from the National Center for Creative Aging. Located in Washington, D.C., the Center is a nonprofit agency dedicated to fostering an understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and quality of life for older people regardless of their ethnicity, economic status or level of physical and cognitive function.• Roy Ernst, professor emeritus at the Eastman School of Music and founder of the New Horizons Band Program, which provides entry points to music-making for older adults.• Sue Perlgut, performer, playwright, director, story teller, and founder of the Senior Citizen Theatre Troupe of Lifelong.• Marsha Gildin, teaching artist and administrator with Elders Share the Arts, an organization that connects generations through the art of storytelling.• Jennifer Haywood, Ithaca College School of Music faculty and conductor of the Ithaca College/Longview Intergenerational Choir.• Harry R. Moody, director of academic affairs for AARP and author of many articles and books on the humanities and aging, including “Aging: Concepts and Controversies.”• Martha Strodel, director of the NYS ARTS Rural Arts Program, which serves cultural organizations in rural New York counties.
The conference sponsors are the Linden Center for Creativity and Aging, National Center for Creative Aging, Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center (FLGEC-UNY) and National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts.
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