CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Connecting older adults with artists to help them maintain and improve their cognitive fitness is the focus of a new project recently launched in the western region.
SmArt Aging Project is a collaboration of Western Health, Gros Morne Summer Music and the Western Regional School of Nursing.
It’s an initiative that started with an idea by Dr. Erin Smallwood, and targets older people who may be socially and geographically isolated.
“It presented an opportunity for us to really look at not only healthy aging, but healthy aging through the arts.” - Dr. Erin Smallwood
Smallwood is a family doctor in Corner Brook who has a special interest in the care of older adults. She’s also a board member with Gros Morne Summer Music.
Following the project launch Nov. 27 at The Convent, where the project will be run, Smallwood became aware of a funding opportunity through the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation’s Spark program.
“It presented an opportunity for us to really look at not only healthy aging, but healthy aging through the arts,” she said.
It was a perfect way for Gros Morne Summer Music, and Western Health to collaborate with community programming.
The plan is to recruit artists in the community to offer sessions with older adults who fall into a targeted group — those who are socially and geographically isolated with mild to moderate frailty and mild to moderate cognitive decline.
Reaching that identified group will be accomplished through a connection with community health nurses in the region.
The sessions will take place physically at The Convent, home of Gros Morne Summer Music, and also virtually where people can join in from their own homes.
Smallwood said the virtual component could be a bit of a barrier for some, but it is something they are preparing for.
The shape of the sessions will be variable. Artists have been asked to keep their audience in mind and to pay attention how a session will translate virtually.
“Doing a lot of work virtually myself, and at a distance, it’s very easy to kind of be forgotten in a room and we don’t want people to feel that isolation," she said.
An onsite facilitator will ensure virtual participants are getting opportunities to connect and engage. That can be through active participation and passive participation.
Smallwood said the program will give older adults a place to go and something to do and to experience the rich local arts community.
“It will add something to their calendars that they have to prepare for. It gives them purpose. It allows them to change the day-to-day routine.
"Hopefully they’ll connect socially, both directly here and as well as virtually."
The project will run for 12 months and will include eight standalone sessions. The first session is expected to take place in January.
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Twitter: WS_DianeCrocker