Marshall University’s Appalachian Center for Healthy Aging conducts research that will help further understand aging and strengthen the role of social work in our aging society.
The Center’s area of research addresses the following major issues in the field of aging:
RESEARCH Project: Life Bouquet
Many individuals report health benefits from participating in art activities as they age. A new community-based research study at Marshall University builds upon those principles to evaluate the effectiveness of visual art as a way to improve multiple areas of health and well-being by using assessment tools for cognition, depression, stress, pain, social connection, and loneliness.
Researchers are looking for participants for a new study designed to examine the impact of visual art activities on the well-being of aging adults. You may be eligible if you are:
- 55 or older
- Willing to participate in six guided sessions (plus two additional introductory and concluding sessions), during which you’ll create small, colorful works of art on paper to be combined into a larger, expressive individual work, led by teaching artists (who are Marshall art alumni) with oversight provided by Sandra Reed, professor of art at Marshall University. You will also learn fundamental principles of visual art, including basic color theory, how to use various art media and a method for image transfer.
- Interested in finding personal meaning in your art and willing to share what you learn and create with others?
- Willing to complete approximately bimonthly assessments (for cognition, depression, stress, pain, social connection, and loneliness) four times.
The study team includes Masa Toyama, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, College of Liberal Arts; Sandra Reed, professor of art, College of Arts and Media; Barb Lavalley Benton, teaching artist; and physician faculty from the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Cynthia Pinson, MD, Martha Sommers, MD, and Asma Nayyar, MD, are collaborating on this study. This study has been developed as the result of the interdisciplinary collaboration at the Marshall University Center for Healthy Aging Initiatives in Appalachia. Although the study team is fully responsible for conducting this study, they will continue taking their interdisciplinary approach with the support of the center’s members from diverse disciplines.
If you would like a member of the study team to visit your senior center or organization for an information and sign-up session, or you would like to individually sign up, please write to artandaging@marshall.edu or call Sandra Reed or Masa Toyama at the phone numbers listed under “How to Enroll” below. Sign-up, including informed consent, should be completed by August 11.
If you know someone who might be interested in this creative workshop and its corresponding research study, please share this with them.
How to Enroll
To enroll by giving consent to participate in this study, you will be asked to meet a research staff member in person. To set up an informed consent appointment, please email artandaging@marshall.edu or call Sandra Reed (Professor of Art) at 304-696-5671 or Masa Toyama (Principal Investigator) at 304-696-2777.
For further information and detailed insights into this innovative research study, we encourage you to visit our website. Explore comprehensive details about the study objectives, eligibility criteria, session schedules, and the expertise of our esteemed teaching artists and faculty members at Marshall University. Your journey towards artistic exploration and enhanced well-being begins here. Visit our website to embark on this transformative experience.