The Benefits of Art Therapy in Senior Living

Art therapy involves seniors engaging in activities using precise hand and finger movements. Besides enhancing fine motor skills, using materials like pencils and paintbrushes can improve hand-eye coordination. Likewise, the focus and concentration needed for actions like cutting paper or molding helps build muscle back in the hands and fingers. Art therapy can also:

• Regulate heart rate
• Reduce physical symptoms of disease and illness
• Alleviate breathing difficulties
• Lower self-reported pain

Art therapy serves as a creative outlet that supports mental and emotional well-being. Activities such as drawing or painting with watercolors have been shown to reduce anger and agitation while promoting positive thinking. Other benefits include:

• Reducing the symptoms and effects of depression
• Decreasing anxiety, especially for those who have experienced trauma
• Improving body image
• Developing new forms of self-awareness

Painting, drawing, and sculpting supports healthy socialization in a safe space with others and facilitates nonverbal communication. Art therapy also opens the door for those with certain impairments to express themselves through either two or three-dimensional art. For instance, a person with trouble seeing may be able to portray their feelings by crafting clay, while someone who struggles with words can express themselves by painting. Participants also frequently report:

• Improved relationships and communication with loved ones
• Increasing feelings of purpose in life
• Healthier social interactions

Let our care assessment guide you

Though art’s positive emotional and social aspects are clear, its neurological benefits continue to surprise scientists.^[01]

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Health Encyclopedia’s research asserts that creating art influences brain wave patterns, which can improve mood and lessen depression symptoms.^[02] This strengthened mind-body connection also increases neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to learn, adapt, and evolve to meet new challenges. Julia Andersen, a licensed art therapist and graduate program director of the Art Therapy Department at Notre Dame of Maryland University, details how art benefits neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity research is even more important for seniors with memory-related illness. Art therapy can give someone with dementia a way to communicate again by reigniting pathways to memories through a new medium: art.^[03]

Art therapists can help caregivers better understand residents’ needs so they can improve their quality of life in a senior living environment.

Registered art therapist of 17 years and owner of Artfully Yours LLC Traveling Art Therapy Julie Roush states that art helps illustrate a senior’s mental and physical condition. “Art therapy can allow the physical or mental changes in seniors to be seen through their art, their ability to use materials, or changes in material usage. These… can be an indicator of things like [medication] changes, life or living arrangement changes, or physical illnesses occurring in the seniors’ lives. If changes are seen, they are shared with the medical care teams for further assessment.”^[04]

Through art, caregivers can more easily understand a senior, their mood, their personality, and what ultimately affects their well-being. This silent communication through art can especially help nonverbal seniors, like seniors suffering from the effects of a stroke or dementia.

“The process of art-making is nonverbal and powerful. Many individuals are not able to verbally express themselves, or may not be aware of inner thoughts and feelings,” says Andersen. “Art-making done in the presence of the art therapist, and within the therapeutic relationship, can assist individuals in identifying feelings and conflicts in a more direct or efficient way than verbal communication.”^[05]

Art therapists, experts who received specialized education and supervised training, lead art projects and create personalized activities for senior residents. The URMC Health Encyclopedia notes an art therapist will often do the following as part of an art therapy program:

• Work with people individually or in groups
• Provide supplies needed to make visual artwork
• Talk through the meanings and symbols behind the art

This allows art therapists to tailor projects to individual residents’ specific medical or personal needs, while fine-tuning projects to those of all skill levels. Whether it’s independent seniors with full mobility, those with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia, or people with limited range of motion, almost anyone can participate in art therapy.^[06]

Talk with a Senior Living Advisor

It’s important to remember art therapy for seniors is separate from art activities, as a specially qualified therapist must lead a true therapy session. While all care types — including independent living, assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes — may offer on-site art classes and studios, these don’t technically qualify as art therapy. Senior living communities do frequently offer art therapy sessions to their residents, however.

When on-site options aren’t available, art therapy activities for elderly adults may be found through local off-site providers. For example, crafting projects for seniors in a nursing home may be only a short drive away, thanks to transportation options the facility offers.

Though seniors in senior care communities typically need more support — like mobility assistance — than those in independent living, they can still participate in art therapy.

If you’d like help in your search for a senior living community with an art therapy program, reach out to a Senior Living Advisor at A Place for Mom. This free service offers tailored advice to help you find a community with an art therapy program in your area.