What role can creativity play in healthy aging? Researchers are increasingly exploring how activities such as singing, painting, storytelling, theater, and other forms of artistic expression may support cognitive, emotional, and social well-being as we age.
A growing body of research suggests that engaging with the arts may benefit older adults, including those living with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or early-stage dementia. Whether through attending cultural events, participating in creative programs, or making art themselves, older adults may experience improvements in memory, mood, social connection, and overall quality of life. Some studies also suggest that arts-based activities may help reduce stress and support a greater sense of purpose and well-being.
In celebration of National Arts & Humanities Month, learn more about the ways researchers are examining the relationship between creativity, brain health, and healthy aging and why engaging with the arts may be beneficial throughout life.
Visual Art
Visual art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that utilizes creative processes, such as drawing, painting, sculpting, or other forms of visual expression, as a means of communication and personal exploration. Art therapy may help individuals enhance sensorimotor (how the brain processes sensory information and coordinates movement) functions, build self-esteem and self-awareness, foster emotional resilience, deepen personal insight, develop social skills, and contribute to social well-being.
Scientists are increasingly finding that art therapy is not only effective in improving the behavior and emotions of people living with dementia, but also plays a positive role in slowing the decline of cognitive abilities in older adults with mild to moderate dementia, including enhancing and recalling positive memories, improving working memory, enhancing sustained attention and cognitive engagement, as well as improving episodic memory, language fluency, and speech and executive functions.
These art interventions can promote new and emotionally rich conversations between the person with dementia and their care partners. For example, researchers have found that art-museum programs for people with dementia “opened up new possibilities for care partners by making it possible to see the creative side of the person with dementia.” Care partners reported feeling less stressed after these programs.
Crafts
Crafts (i.e. scrapbooking, knitting, or handmade items like ornaments) create an avenue for communication and expression that may be especially beneficial for those living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. On top of numerous health benefits like improving mood and refining fine motor skills, some experts also believe that crafting can have benefits for a person’s cognitive health. It can also be a great opportunity to socialize when joined by friends or family, like grandchildren.
There is an added flexibility to crafting, which can often be accomplished in the comfort of your own home. It’s an extra brain-challenge to get resourceful and make art with what is nearby and accessible to you. Learn more about crafting for people with dementia here.
Reading and Writing
Whether it’s reading the morning newspaper, getting lost in a good book, or enjoying an engaging article like this one, spending time reading may do more than entertain. Research suggests that people who read at least twice a week may be less likely to experience cognitive decline. Writing, especially by hand, has been found to cause a wide variety of beneficial effects on brain functioning, including working memory, attentional control, visual-spatial memory, word retrieval, and overall cognitive resilience. Reading and writing can also play a large role in learning or practicing skills in another language, which a body of research has reported as having positive effects on cognitive aging and dementia.
Music
Studies have shown music may reduce agitation and improve behavioral issues that are common in the middle-stages of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. Even in the late-stages, a person may be able to tap a beat or sing lyrics to a song from childhood. Music provides a way to connect, even after verbal communication has become difficult.
Researchers have even been examining the benefits of people with dementia who choose to participate in their community choir, who showed positive results within 6 months. In particular, it reduced feelings of loneliness and increased interest in life. Reduced feelings of social isolation and a sense of purpose both positively contribute to your cognitive resilience.
Movies
Dementia-friendly movie screenings have become a beloved occasion for communities seeking to provide connection for people living with dementia and their care partners. Usually these screenings have accommodations such as a smaller crowd, wheelchair accessibility, dim lighting, and more to suit the needs of the audience. Besides engaging the brain and stimulating emotions, being part of an audience enjoying a film can help people with dementia and their care partners to feel less isolated and challenges the stigma associated with the condition.
Theater
Seeing live theater can be an incredibly cathartic and stimulating experience. Researchers who studied theater interventions compared to standard reminiscence activities found that people with dementia laughed more during the theater intervention and were less confused than people in the reminiscence group. Participation in theater, specifically improvisation, has also been explored as an intervention for dementia.
Participants of the Northwestern Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Memory Ensemble (created by Illinois Cognitive Resources Network co-founder Darby Morhardt, Ph.D.) learned how to use their instincts, creativity, and spontaneity to explore and create improvisational theater. Participants reported improved mood, decreased anxiety, and an increased sense of belonging, normalcy, and destigmatization. They also reported feelings of achievement, empowerment, and self-discovery.
The beauty of art interventions, such as the ones listed above, is that many of us already have a personal connection to them. Focus on what your loved one enjoys talking about, what sparks their imagination or what brings them comfort. There are often the moments that foster connection as art invites us into a shared emotional experience.
Sources: National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Society (UK), Alzheimer Society of Canada, Illinois Cognitive Resources Network
Last Updated on October 28, 2026
