Art for Life:

Folk Arts, Aging, Health, and Wellness

Connections: Folk Arts & Culture

Culture is a tool

Instrumental in communities with regard to health

Song, storytelling, food, ceremony, or decorative arts – utilized

to understand and treat

Connection between the individual and larger group is

essential

Dr. William Withering, 1785, purple foxglove/digitalis - fairies

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, 1847, germ theory – midwives

Folk Beliefs & Medicine in Art

Impact of Creativity on Aging

Higher overall ratings for physical health

Fewer doctor visits

Less medication use

Fewer instances of falls

Fewer miscellaneous health problems

Better morale

Less loneliness

Increased activity for participants

Creative Expression Taps into Four Factors to

Promote Health

Sense of Control

Mechanism

Psychoneuroimmunology

(PNI)

Social Engagement

Brain Plasticity

Folk Arts as Vehicles for Creative Engagement

Yes, I am Free: The Inspiration of Dance and Paint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnskUCk5fyk

Loneliness and Isolation

Risk factors for coronary

heart disease, stroke, and

early mortality

Having more and better

quality social relationships

linked to decreased health

risks; fewer and poorer

quality of relationships,

increased risk

Loneliness and Mortality

Loneliness: 26% Social isolation: 29% Living alone: 32%

A Life Pieced Together With Love: Quilted Greeting Cards

Culturally-bound Impact and Proust

Phenomenon

Stimulates brain’s emotion

and memory centers

Positive autobiographical

memory results in slow and

deep breathing

Folk Activities Improve Cognition and

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living

A Whale of a Tale: Spearfishing Decoys

Dance Improves Physical and Emotional

Function

Reduces arthritis, anxiety, depression

Improves strength, balance, and gait speed

Decreases fall risk

The Mobile Painting Device and Traditional Dance

Food as Art and Therapeutic Intervention

Multi-sensory art experience

as non-drug intervention on

geriatric pain

Cooking programs can

promote calm, increase

appetite, entice people to

social gatherings, relieve

stress, awake memories

Healthy Kuchen and the Artful

Plate

Sundogs and Sunflower:An Art for Life Program Guide for Creative Aging, Health, and Wellness

Online toolkit: http://www.nd.gov/arts/programs/art-for-life

Troy Geist, Folklorist, NDCA: tgeist@nd.gov, #701-328-7590