National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Academy of Sciences host Arts and Aging Event

Workshop on Research Gaps and Opportunities
for Exploring the Relationship
between the Arts and Health and Well-Being in Older Adults

Friday, September 14, 2012, 8:30 am - 5:30 pm
Keck Center, National Academy of Sciences, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington,
DC 20001

The National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Academy of Sciences will co-host a public workshop that will explore the benefit of the arts to the health and well-being of older adults. The workshop is expected to help inform the NEA and the NIH of potential opportunities for research in this area. The gathering will feature leading neuroscientists, psychologists, and researchers and practitioners in health and the arts, who will present findings from research on the arts and aging, in an effort to pinpoint gaps for future studies. Among the day's topics: How do arts programs for older adults affect
brain function? How does the design of long-term care facilities affect quality of life? How does art therapy compare to other treatments for older adults with cognitive decline? What's the cost-benefit analysis of arts in health care programs for older adults?

This workshop is the latest project of the NEA's Interagency Task Force on the
Arts and Human Development, an alliance of 14 federal agencies and departments
to encourage more and better research on how the arts help people reach their
full potential at all stages of life.
Speakers include:




For the full schedule of presenters, see http://1.usa.gov/PuDgB5


Guests may RSVP to Agnes Gaskin, National Academy of Sciences,
agaskin@nas.edu.

Media may RSVP to Sally Gifford, NEA Public Affairs Specialist at
202-682-5606 or giffords@arts.gov.

Baycrest Bringing Creativity into Clinical Practice with Older Adults

Baycrest Social Workers are pleased to present
The Walter Lyons Memorial Social Work Clinic Day
Bringing Creativity into Clinical Practice with Older Adults
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Joseph E. & Minnie Wagman Centre
55 Ameer Avenue, Toronto, Ontario (on the Baycrest Campus)

Sponsorship generously provided by:
The Walter Lyons Memorial Fund
The Ben & Hilda Katz Centre for Gerontological Social Work

PROGRAM

8:00 Registration and Refreshments

8:45 Welcome & Introductory Remarks

Dr. William Reichman, President and CEO, Baycrest

Ms. Peggy Arden, Chairperson, Baycrest Social Work Clinic Day Planning Committee

9:00 Still Life!: Why Making Art Makes Sense

Robin Glazer, MS

The benefits of providing quality arts experiences to older adults have been proven and these
benefits include better health, stronger cognition, increased social interaction and,some suggest, longer lives. Developing best practices in providing arts to older adults can produce a rejuvenating effect on the entire community, from participants to their caregivers.

9:45 The Creative Spirit….
A View of the World

Joel Walker, MD, FRCPC

In this presentation Dr. Walker will discuss how a group of institutionalized elderly with varied
impairments became consciously involved in developing their own potential and growth through
the use of photography.

10:30 Refreshment Break

10:45 Using Drama to Humanize Dementia Care

Pia Kontos, PhD

This presentation will explore the effectiveness of drama in the context of the qualitative
evaluation of an arts-informed educational program on person-centred dementia care. Analysis of focus groups and interviews with nurses and allied health care practitioners who participated in the program suggests that drama is an effective pedagogical tool and is well positioned to
strengthen initiatives that seek to improve dementia care.

11:30 Q & A Panel with Keynote Speakers

12:00 Voices of the Terraces Theatre Troupe

The cast members of this theatre group are 80 years and over, and perform a range of mini-plays thematically based on the emotional, psychological and physical experiences of aging and living in a retirement setting.

12:30 Lunch

Followed by workshop sessions

For more information:Please contact Paula Ferreira at 416-785-2500 ext. 2363 or e-mail pferreira@baycrest.org

Music Therapy, Juno Award Winning Songwriter and Music Therapist Offer Music for Rest and Stress Relief

David Bradstreet

posted by: Cheryl McLean
Canadian Creative Arts in Health, Training and Education Journal

I was pleased to hear recently from Juno award winning songwriter, musician and producer David Bradstreet, a multi-talented artist with a special interest in the intersections of the arts and health.

David is widely known as a composer, songwriter and vocalist with nineteen albums bearing his name, a high profile Juno award early in his career and subsequent Juno nominations and music credits including film and television scoring, and record production for a variety of artists from Jane Siberry to Colleen Peterson.

When you hear the name David Bradstreet you might remember his well known song "Renaissance" (Let's Dance that Old Dance Once More). I had an opportunity to hear David sing "Renaissance" at London Ontario's "Home County Folk Festival". If you've heard the song, you may feel it is like a waltz you have always known, stepping in time through life's passages as it moves, a song that recalls the lives of two people in love and their many years together.

In addition to songwriting, performing and producing music for film and television, David has
an interest in the power of music to heal and bring comfort to seniors. After working with the successful company "Solitudes", he began playing and recording music designed for therapeutic purposes to help address sleep deprivation and for stress relief and, working with associate *Amy Clements-Cortes, a music therapist at Baycrest Centre, David launched a new recording company called "Theramusic".

Relaxing music can help slow down heart rate, breathing, thinking and can enable a person to reach a deeper level of rest and tranquility. A study published in February 2005 in The Journal of Advanced Nursing found that listening to soft music at bedtime assisted older adults to sleep better and longer.

I have been listening to the two CDs "Therasleep" and "Theracalm" for the last few days while working and when journaling at night before I go to sleep. There may be an additional creative benefit to "Theramusic" as well. I have found the music helps gently release stress and tension and it has a "sustaining or "flow" quality that opens the mind for reflection and creative thought.

Congratulations to innovators David Bradstreet and Amy Clements-Cortes, for using music to heal while developing drug-free techniques to help enhance care and induce relaxation and sleep.

Go to Theramusic Website for More Information

*Amy Clements-Cortes is a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Music Therapy Program at the University of Windsor with a voice major and a Masters in Music, University of Toronto. In addition to her research and therapeutic work Amy also runs her own vocal studio.
See http://www.notesbyamy.com/aboutamy.html for more information.

Americans for the Arts Webinars

Americans for the Arts would like to share with you information about their upcoming Webinars. Webinars are 90-minute online seminars on a current topic, issue, or trend. This new media platform enables a high level of interaction with the presenter, other attendees, and the content. To join a webinar, you will need access to high speed internet and a phone line for at least 90 minutes. Some webinars may have advance reading assignments or post event follow-up items.

In early October Americans for the Arts presented the Webinar "Creative Aging the Untapped Demographic" with presenters Gay Hanna and Susan Perlstein, National Centre for Creative Aging.

Here are just a few of Americans for the Arts upcoming Webinars:

• Leadership Succession in the Arts
• Public Art for Administrators
• New Technologies for Professionals Networking in the Arts
• Secrets of Success in Rural Arts Communities

and more see http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/afta/

Americans for the Arts is the leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in the U.S.

Caregiving and Alzheimer's Disease, Researchers at University of Toronto Put Caregiving on the Map

Putting Care on the Map
Portraits of Caregiving and Alzheimer's Disease Across Canada

A Research Exhibit

Ardra Cole

and Maura McIntyre

September 22 - 27, 2008
Toronto City Hall

This experiential exhibit features photographic portraits of family caregivers, audio recordings of stories of care and emblems and artifacts that speak of the caregiving experience.

We recently heard from CCAHTE subscriber Maura McIntyre, a researcher at The University of Toronto, about an upcoming exhibit to be held at Toronto City Hall. We are pleased to bring you news today about this arts informed research exhibit.

"We are researchers from the University of Toronto working on a study about caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In Putting Care on the Map we are interested in raising the profile of care and caregiving across Canada. The Alzheimer’s Project is a seven-piece art-research project about caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease that pays tribute to those with the illness and those in caregiving roles. One purpose of the exhibit is to make Alzheimer’s disease more familiar to a wide public audience. Another aim is to provide opportunities for those directly affected by the illness to feel affirmed and supported. We used two and three dimensional images and objects to represent, communicate and educate about aspects of caregiving and Alzheimer’s disease, while also inviting the audience to experience and make meaning of the work."

"We are seeking to understand more about the emotional complexities of Alzheimer’s disease and what it means to care. We want to show Canadians where care lives and what it looks like for family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. "Putting Care on the Map" is a tribute to family caregivers and to the worthiness of care and caregiving in general. We invite you to help us put care on the map. "
Maura McIntyre, Ardra Cole

View the PDF invitation to "Putting Care on the Map"

See Video clip
"Front row seats" for Ardra Cole & Maura McIntyre presentation

Visit Ardra Cole's website