Art can help reduce isolation among older adults and improve their mental and physical health, according to a recent study by AgeTeQ laboratory conducted in collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA).
The team led by Olivier Beauchet, a researcher in the Department of Medicine and Geriatrics at the Université de Montréal and director of the AgeTeQ laboratory, studied the effects of virtual museum visits on older adults. The research involved 106 participants; the first half participated in the visits, while the other half served as a control group for comparison.
Groups of six to eight participants were given a 45-minute virtual guided tour of the MMFA once a week for three months. The activity ended with an informal fifteen-minute discussion. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire before and after the visit, in order to assess their feelings of isolation as well as their physical and mental health.
The study showed a significant reduction in the feeling of social isolation among the older adults taking part in the tours. The participants confirmed the benefits of these visits on both their mental health and their social health, i.e. their sense of community connection. Previous studies, notably in the UK, had already shown that in-person museum visits improve the physical health of older adults. The AgeTeQ laboratory study shows for the first time that these benefits can also be enjoyed when the activity is carried out virtually.
The scientific article based on the study, published in Frontiers of Medicine, has had a strong impact and has been downloaded more than 10,000 times in less than three months. The AgeTeQ laboratory directed by Olivier Beauchet has also caught the attention of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is interested in working with the researcher’s team and his laboratory to make it a WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts and Health.
Read the research report or watch the webinar with Olivier Beauchet. |