Senior Living: The Value of Creative Outlets for Seniors
by Garden of PalmsAt Garden of Palms, we believe that everyone can be creative. Creative outlets like drawing, painting, writing, or music can have a multitude of benefits for people from all walks of life, and seniors can especially benefit from channeling their creative side. Below, we discuss a few of the reasons why we encourage our assisted living and independent living residents to find a creative outlet that they love.
Provides Purpose
As seniors experience lifestyle changes due to retirement and mobility concerns, they may find that they can no longer engage in some of the activities that they once loved. Many creative activities, such as painting, can be practiced by people of nearly all mobility levels, giving seniors something new to look forward to each day as they continue to watch their creative abilities grow. This helps seniors channel the energy and passion that they felt for their career or more youthful hobbies into something equally productive and rewarding, providing a renewed sense of purpose.
Encourages Brain Health
Creative expression is a powerful tool for enhancing one’s health and well-being, particularly by increasing and renewing brain function in older adults. According to the American Art Therapy Association, creative pursuits like art, music, and dance can improve memory, motor skills, and relaxation. They can also strengthen neural pathways that may help prevent dementia, which becomes increasingly important with age. Additionally, people who are regularly creative are more likely to describe themselves as happy, and this positive outlook can be incredibly beneficial to overall health.
Lowers Stress
Expressing one’s creativity through artistic and creative endeavors can have a remarkable impact on reducing stress levels and improving overall feelings of wellness. Creative activities provide an excellent outlet for productively managing and releasing negative emotions, and this becomes increasingly valuable as adults age and begin spending more time in solitude or have greater trouble putting their thoughts into words.
Promotes Confidence
Aging can be a challenging process, and declining health and mobility can inhibit a senior’s sense of confidence. Creative outlets can improve self-esteem by showing seniors that they are capable of accomplishment at any age by creating something beautiful. Only 5 out of 10 people describe themselves as creative, yet those who take the leap and engage in creative activities feel a greater sense of self-worth. Creators are more likely than non-creators to identify themselves as innovative, confident, and problem solvers, so the connection between creativity and confidence is clear.
Garden of Palms
At Garden of Palms, we provide ample opportunity for our residents to explore creative outlets in a community setting. Music and dancing are part of our regular programming schedule, and on holidays, everyone gets a chance to show off their creative abilities as we create our very own talent show. Our journal writing activities allow residents to share and preserve their life story through creative writing, and we encourage residents to join us for visual arts activities like jewelry making, painting, watercolor, origami, ceramics, block printing and much more.
If you are exploring Jewish retirement communities, we’d love to show you around our assisted living and independent living community in Los Angeles. Our commitment to providing meaningful opportunities for creative expression makes us an excellent choice for seniors seeking purpose and wellness past retirement. Please consider touring our senior living community, or contact us for more information.
Please Contact Us
1025 North Fairfax Avenue.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 656-7900
Email: director@gardenofpalms.com