At the University of British Columbia (UBC), the BC Brain Wellness Program hosted an event dedicated to World Brain Day, where they showcased the importance of creativity in the lives of older adults.
The BC Wellness Program is a provincial network that offers more than 28 support and education programs for people with chronic brain conditions, their care partners, and healthy agers. More than 18 per cent of participants are aged 65 and older.
Alisa Hashimoto, the program manager, shared that the BC Wellness Program hosts annual events to bring together the community and celebrate brain health. This year, they decided to choose a theme that targets the creative aspect of the program. The participants were able to have hands-on experience in using art as a tool to support mental health during interactive workshops. Additionally, the guest speakers presented their research.
“Creativity is something that is for everyone. It’s important to everyday life and that everyone can gain from and enjoy,” said Dr. Julia Henderson, a guest speaker.
Along with her students, Dr. Henderson explained how the brain changes as people age. It naturally undergoes structural and functional changes, such as reduced blood flow, white matter damage, and slower processing speed, among others. During the presentation, Dr. Henderson mentioned that creative activities can help reduce loneliness and depression, support brain health, and serve as a counter to ageism.
Gail van Heeswijk, 65, attended the event. She said it is important to try to find things to stimulate her brain, and coming to lectures like this one helps her do that.
“I’m really interested in ageism, especially since I’m aging quite a bit. I just retired on November 1st.”, she said. Van Heeswijk shared that before the presentation, she didn’t realize that everyone is having trouble multitasking at her age, if not earlier. Creativity is something that gets her out of the house. Van Heeswijk is into photography, and this activity gets her moving and trying different positions of her body to get a perfect shot.
For Cynthia Friesen, music has been the language of care since early childhood. At the event, she was conducting a creative workshop where attendees were painting while she was singing.
“Some of these people in our community have chronic brain conditions, some are really exhausted care partners, and so to see them have the capacity to say yes, I’m going to have this output and I’m going to allow myself to kind of be fostered by these musical sounds, it was really encouraging.”
Friesen believes small steps, confidence, and curiosity can help older adults enter the world of creativity for the first time. Her advice is to choose an activity that speaks to the heart and take a brave step to creatively explore.
Dr. Henderson added that creativity exists in many forms. Engaging in creative acts is helpful to older adults, not only to support brain health, but it also cultivates a sense of community and social connection. She has done research with people living with dementia before, and in the future wants to develop more creative and theatrical projects with people with experience of dementia and their care partners.
– Lisa Kovtun, U Multicultural
