Assata Haki: Art and Aging

Ted Talk First Draft

Elizabeth Hurd was born in 1930 and is now 87 years old. Elizabeth was a healthy woman, even
with high blood pressure. Her heart and physical wellness is in great shape. In 2012-2013,
Elizabeth started showing signs of Dementia, and it was confirmed in 2015. Her children were
not educated on how to care for an older adult suffering from Dementia and had also refused to
become educated on caring for their mother. Due to a lack of knowledge on this disease,
Elizabeth didnt get the opportunity to engage in programs that could have slowed the Alzheimer
progression down. Her family refused day programs for older adults with Dementia and missed
out on the opportunity to involve Elizabeth in arts activities that studies have proven has impact
on mental, emotional, physical, and cognitive wellness. The temporal lobe is a critical structure
of the brain because the temporal lobe includes the hippocampus (Slide with definition), which is
involved with creating memories. (Loring, 1999) Studies also show that drama and theatre helps
prevent Alzheimer, slow the progress, and or improve cognitive impairments due to dementia.
Theatre and drama can strengthen the temporal lobe functioning, and potentially reverse or
stabilize the effects of cognitive decline and brain disease. (Munger, D 2007 and Liverpool
University 2006).

Dementia and Alzheimer are just some of health declines in our older adults as they age. Older
adults can become depressed as they age and perceive it as a negative phase taken place in their
lives. Some have physical ailments that can cause older adults complications in being
dependently mobile. The arts impact the whole being in our older adults and improving their
wellness as they age.

Slide on art impact facts:

Singing improves mental health and subjective wellbeing (quality of life)

Dance classes bolsters cognition and motor skills
Playing musical instruments has myriad positive effects
Visual arts practice generates increases in social engagement, psychological health and
self-esteem

Theatre:

Noice and colleagues (2004): Theatre group showed increase in word recall, problem
solving, and psychological well-being.
Noice and Noice (2009): Improvements I recall (immediate and delayed), verbal fluency,
problem solving, personal growth.
I invited two older adults from the Hannan Center, in Detroit, established to provide services for
older adults over 60 years old and offers life-long learning courses, including the arts. I want
them to share with the audience their personal experience in engaging in art programs. These are
two of my theatre students, Patricia Beard and this is Katherine Williams.

Assata: Welcome and thank you ladies for being a part of this message on the arts and aging.
Can both of you share in short, your age, the art forms that you participate in and if these art
forms had and or continue to impact your overall well-being, particular cognitively, in your
growing older process?

Patricia Beard.

Katherine Williams

(Slide of Hannan Theatre Students Photos)

The arts are not just for entertaining, and or are just for the younger generation. The arts are for
everyone. In our older adults, the arts can be additions to overall health improvements including
Dementia/Alzheimers, cognitive vitality, and physical mobility. If you have a loved one, a friend
and or a neighbor that are older adults, share the good news that life begins after 60 years old,
retirement, and that the arts can improve their health, add activities and fun to their lives, while
preventing dementia later in the aging process. Joining a community center for the aging and
engaging in the arts can also eliminate older adults from isolating themselves from the outside
world. I am Assata Haki and I thank you for joining me!