Centre for Policy on Ageing



Social interaction associated with visual art discussions — a controlled intervention study
Author(s)	B-M Wikström
Journal title	Aging & Mental Health, vol 6, no 1, February 2002
Pages	pp 82-87
Source	http://www.tandfonline.com
Keywords	Social interaction ; Discussions ; Older women ; Flats ; Group homes ; Sweden.
Annotation	The investigation aimed to assess the link between visual art discussions and social interaction, using a controlled intervention study design. Participants were older women living in a block of specially designed flats for older people in Sweden. They were shown reproductions of well-known artists' works of art, and their self-reported social interaction were measured. The 20 women in the visual art group showed significant improvement, compared to 20 in a matched control group. Differences in ratings between the groups indicated increased social interaction in the visual art group, which continued to exist four months after the intervention. Visual art discussions encouraged reminiscence and stimulated the older women to be more socially active. The study is an example of how visual art could be used as a means of stimulating older women to interact in a social network, in order to remain in contact with the world instead of retreating from it. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020305210 A
Classmark	TMA: VBB: BD: KG: KLN: 76P
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.