The health benefits of arts and crafts

There are many ways to engage with the creative arts, and many reasons to do so.

Painting or sewing may sound like simple tasks to some, but these activities have many demands on your body (particularly your hands) and mind. Therefore, they can have many health benefits.

In fact, creative tasks stimulate a lot of brain activity. This increases neuroplasticity and thinking skills. 

Art can also support your mental health and wellbeing. Your favourite craft can connect you to others!

Benefits of a craft club

Watch the video to learn how sewing and quilting has kept these women connected, their minds active, and their hands healthy.

What are the benefits of art?

Your healthy ageing journey can benefit from both the making and appreciating of art.

Benefits include:

• Physical health benefits from increased movement and stress relief
• Mental health benefits from connecting to your community through art
• Brain health benefits from challenging yourself creatively

Physical health benefits of art

Creating art can be good for your body, even if you have arthritis in your hands. 

Arts and crafts can involve a variation of small movements, such as in painting and knitting, to larger movements, such as in sculpting. Frequent and routine movement can provide physical benefits, especially for older adults.

Even gentle physical activity is a powerful tool that can help support independent living.

Of course, be careful in your movements, and rest your hands if they feel strained.

If you do experience hand strain, consider doing hand exercises or using therapy dough. Check with a health professional if you’re unsure if these exercises are for you.

Stress relief boosts immunity

A 2016 study showed that spending 45 minutes creating art can lower your cortisol levels. This means painting could decrease the amount of stress in your body. And this happens regardless of your artistic skill level.

But reducing stress has more benefits than you might realise.

As stress is known to impede the immune system, research suggests that the inverse may be true as well. In other words, positive emotions may boost your immune system.

Experiencing positive emotions is associated with healthier levels of cytokines, according to a 2015 study. This indicates a happier immune system. The association especially applies to awe, which people tend to get from art and nature.

And here's another interesting thing. In a 2004 study, daily emotional writing was shown to boost the immune system in immunodeficient people. Emotional writing, in particular, more than neutral writing. 

It seems like doing things that make you feel good might just be good for you, after all.

Mental health benefits of art

Art activities can promote self-expression, which can improve your mental health and self-esteem. It provides the opportunity to express emotions that might be difficult to communicate.

Painting could help you release negative emotions by letting you explore, confront and express them. This can alleviate depression and anxiety.

Art can also help you stay connected with your community. You might feel better understood through your artistic self-expression. And you might make friends with similar interests by joining a painting or crafting club. Check nearby community centres or your local library for these.

Brain health benefits of art

When you create art, you challenge yourself. You solve problems as you go. You figure out ways to represent 3D objects on a flat canvas, for example. Or to express the feelings you can't find words for. Challenging yourself like this on a regular basis promotes a mindset of growth and lifelong learning.

Many studies support that if you keep using your brain, it works better for longer. Frequent mental exercise helps you build a reserve of thinking ability. This then makes you more resilient to age-related cognitive changes.

Making art stimulates both sides of your brain, in many areas at the same time. It's a wonderfully complex form of cognitive stimulation. This means you can build cognitive reserve by taking up a hobby like painting.

And it’s never too early or too late to start building your cognitive reserve.

Art and dementia

Artistic skill and creativity are supported by wide brain areas, according to a 2010 study. So, these abilities are greatly resistant to brain damage. So, the benefits of art are also available to people with dementia.

In fact, visual art enhances memory and attention in people with dementia. It also helps with intellectual engagement and learning. Doing art sharpens the capacity of the senses. And it may help people with dementia to act more like themselves. 

How to paint with arthritis

Do you have wrist, finger, or thumb pain from osteoarthritis? It's important to keep moving to strengthen your muscles and reduce joint pain.

Painting could be a way to keep your hands moving. An occupational therapist can help you find methods of doing this that suit your body best.

Here are some things to consider:

• How do you move your brush? Perhaps try a method that relies on movement in your shoulder and elbow rather than small movements of your wrist and fingers.
• How do you hold your brush? Pinch grip is when you hold something between your finger and thumb. If using pinch grip, make the shape of an O, not a D. This means make sure your thumb is curled rather than straight. It reduces the load on your thumb joints. (Brushes with thicker handles are also easier to hold and place less stress on your joints than brushes with very thin or small handles.)
• Could a wrist brace, compression glove, or kinesiology tape help you? This might make gripping a brush easier.
• Are you taking breaks? Remember to put the brush down for a moment every 5-10 minutes. Let your gripping muscles and thumb joints rest. This would also be a great time to try some gentle hand stretches.

How to adapt your art supplies

Choose the materials that work best for you. If brushes aren't working for you, what about sponge painting? Have you tried charcoal? Maybe you'd rather sculpt clay, or make a collage.

You might be able to attach your brush to a wrist brace and eliminate the need to grip at all. Or you can try adapting your brushes to make them easier to use. You can build up their width to alleviate the force on you thumb joint.

Slide on rubber grips or wrap elastic bands around the handle to make your brushes easier to grip. You could wrap gauze or modelling clay around your brush to mould it into your desired shape. Or make a large spherical grip by sticking your brush through a hole in a tennis ball or stress ball.

Finding adaptive tool ideas

You can find many assistive products for craft activities. But it can be hard to find the exact equipment you need from Australian retailers. Still, you can look online for some great ideas on how to make your own. Also ask an occupational therapist for advice.

Here are some examples of various grip types to try replicating. You can engage the spherical, cylindrical, or hook grips. These are all more powerful and easier on the thumb than pinch grip. 

Here's one example of a grip-free paintbrush. You could make something like it by attaching a handle perpendicular to your brush. You might create a cylindrical grip this way too. 

Use tools that make art comfortable

If you're painting at a desk, consider using small easels or inclined surfaces to relieve strain on your neck.

Maybe you enjoy sitting on the ground and painting outside. Sitting on a soft mat might be gentler on your knees and ankles.

Use cushions and supports wherever you need. It can help you keep making art for longer periods of time.

Art and vision impairment

If you have low or deteriorating vision, it might help to go big for your canvas and brush. Reduce eyestrain to look after your eyes. You could also create other forms of art, like music, sculpture, or crochet.

Consider visiting installation art exhibits, like Sculpture by the Sea. These can offer a rich experience of smells, sounds, and textures, as well as larger and easier-to-see sights.

Art is still available to people with no vision. Tactile art tours are available in many galleries and museums on request. For example, the WA Maritime Museum's Please Touch: Tactile Tour.

Adaptive tools for crafting with low vision

Learn about talented AT mentor Glenn Wilson, who doesn't let low vision limit his craftsmanship. Glann uses assistive products to keep crafting toys for his grandchildren. You can get advice about assistive product solutions from people like Glenn at AT Chat.

Adaptive painting techniques

This is Susan Oxenham, another inspirational artist with vision impairment, using an adaptive painting technique. In this image, she documents the movement of her white cane by taping a paintbrush and paint to the end of it.

Learn more about Susan.

Get in touch with LiveUP

If you need more information, take the LiveUp quiz or get in touch with one of our helpful team on 1800 951 971.

Do you have some art you want to share with the world? Why not enter in the AMCS Art Against Ageism Competition? Browse last year's highlights here. 

References

DiGiulio, D. (2017). The use of art therapy with the blind to impact a sense of capability. Undergraduate Honors College Theses 2016, 38. https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/post_honors_theses/38

Hannemann, B. T. (2006). Creativity with dementia patients: Can creativity and art stimulate dementia patients positively? Gerontology, 52(1), 59-65. https://doi.org/10.1159/000089827

Kaimal, G., Ray, K., & Muniz, J. (2016). Reduction of cortisol levels and participants’ responses following art making. Art Therapy, 33(2), 74–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2016.1166832

Petrie, K. J., Fontanilla, I., Thomas, M. G., Booth, R. J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). Effect of written emotional expression on immune function in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: A randomized trial. Psychosomatic Medicine, 66(2), 272-275. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000116782.49850.d3

Lee, R., Wong, J., Wong, L. S., Gandhi, M., Lei, F., Kua, E. H., Rawtaer, I., & Mahendran, R. (2019). Art therapy for the prevention of cognitive decline. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 64, 20-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.12.003

Savazzi, F., Isernia, S., Farina, E., Fioravanti, R., D'Amico, A., Saibene, F. L., Rabuffetti, M., Gilli, G., Alberoni, M., Nemni, R., & Baglio, F. (2020). "Art, Colors, and Emotions" Treatment (ACE-t): A pilot study on the efficacy of an art-based intervention for people with Alzheimer's disease. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 1467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01467

Somerville, C. (2021). How stress can stop immune cells in their tracks. University of Melbourne Newsroom. https://www.unimelb.edu.au/newsroom/news/2021/april/how-stress-can-stop-immune-cells-in-their-tracks

Stellar, J. E., John-Henderson, N., Anderson, C. L., Gordon, A. M., McNeil, G. D., & Keltner, D. (2015). Positive affect and markers of inflammation: Discrete positive emotions predict lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. Emotion, 15(2), 129-133. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000033

Stern, Y. (2022). What is cognitive reserve? Age UK. https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/health-wellbeing/mind-body/staying-sharp/thinking-skills-change-with-age/cognitive-reserve/

Zaidel, D. W. (2010). Art and brain: Insights from neuropsychology, biology and evolution. Journal of Anatomy, 216(2), 177-183. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01099.x

How to use this information

LiveUp provides free information to help you make informed decisions about your health. This information is for general and educational purposes only, is not intended to provide a comprehensive guide, and does not replace medical advice. Everyone is different, so some of these tips may work better for you than others. You should use your own judgment and seek medical advice when applying this information to yourself, to determine if it is suitable in your circumstances. Your use of, or reliance on, this information is solely at your own risk. Independent Living Assessment Incorporated is not responsible or liable for any injury, loss, or damage caused as a result of your use of, or reliance on, this information.

Read more Comfort articles

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like reading similar healthy ageing articles.

See all Comfort articles