Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults
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Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy
2
School of Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
3
Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Gianluca Serafini
Behav. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12010001
Received: 4 October 2021
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Revised: 3 December 2021
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Accepted: 13 December 2021
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Published: 21 December 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Psychological Perspectives on Death and Dying—between Normality and the COVID-19 Emergency)
Creative arts therapies (CAT) provide a safe and creative environment for older adults to process life experiences and maintain personal growth while aging. There is a growing need to make creative arts therapies more accessible to the aging population, as many have limited access to these services. This need has been catalyzed by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tele-CAT offers a possible solution. This study explored the experiences of older adults who participated in an online creative process of digital photocollage based on CAT. Twenty-four Italian and Israeli community-dwelling older adults aged 78 to 92 participated in this research through Zoom teleconferencing software. Transcriptions of the sessions and the art produced through the photocollage were qualitatively analyzed through Thematic Analysis. The findings show that the projective stimuli of digital photographs supported older adults’ narratives and engaged them in a more embodied emotional experience. Participant experiences involved artistic enjoyment within a positive and safe interaction with therapists. The creation of digital photocollages allowed the participants to process their life experiences and create an integrative view of their life, a vital developmental task in late life. These results point to the advantages and challenges of tele-CAT for older adults.
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Keywords:
tele-psychotherapy; tele-arts therapy; creative arts therapies; older adults; photocollage; narrative gerontology
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MDPI and ACS Style
Keisari, S.; Piol, S.; Elkarif, T.; Mola, G.; Testoni, I. Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults. Behav. Sci. 2022, 12, 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12010001
AMA Style
Keisari S, Piol S, Elkarif T, Mola G, Testoni I. Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults. Behavioral Sciences. 2022; 12(1):1. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12010001
Chicago/Turabian StyleKeisari, Shoshi, Silvia Piol, Talia Elkarif, Giada Mola, and Ines Testoni. 2022. "Crafting Life Stories in Photocollage: An Online Creative Art-Based Intervention for Older Adults" Behavioral Sciences 12, no. 1: 1. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs12010001
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