ACE investment in arts for older people

Great to hear that several of our bolder and wiser contributors were successful recipients of the recent one off grant from arts council england.   Both Entelechy Arts and the Building Exploratory will be working in new partnerships in 2010 to develop arts opportunities for older people ; Entelechy with Battersea Arts Centre and the Building Exploratory with Cubitt Gallery.  We’ll look forward to hearing more about what happens next year…

Congratulations also to Greenwich Dance Agency, Akademi, Arts Depot, Space in partnership with Age Concern, and Westminster Arts who also successfully bid for funds.  You can read more about the work each has planned here.

Six Million More Seniors Using the Web than Five Years Ago

A study published this week by Nielsen showed that more people aged 65 and over are going online, as well as spending more time browsing (time spent on the Internet by seniors increased 11 percent in the last five years, from approximately 52 hours per month in November 2004 to just over 58 hours in 2009).

More interestingly, the 8th most popular online activity is planning for a leisure trip (ranking just under news-reading and checking personal health care). In terms of websites visited, Google, Facebook and Youtube all make the top 5.

First study into the impact of Googling on older people

A study by UCLA scientists has discovered that Internet searching helps stimulate brain functions in middle-aged and older people by setting off key centers in the brain responsible for controlling decision-making and complex reasoning.

It is the first academic study to look into the impact of Googling on brain performance. The full report will be published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

The study concludes:

A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older

Read more here

Do you know if older people are accessing your online content?  This is an area we will be looking at here at Audiences London in 2010, if you have experiences or comments I’d love to hear them.

Bolder and Wiser is upon us!

Our Bolder & Wiser event takes place at NCVO tommorrow. While the event is now fully booked, we’ll be posting highlights from the day on our upcoming Youtube channel. We’ll post more news on this blog as it happens. If you are attending, go to our Bolder & Wiser page for details on the breakout sessions and the delegate list.

Also, check out our Older People tag here on the blog for more info, and please do join in and comment on what we’re writing. You can also follow us on Twitter @audienceslondon for the latest news, and we’ll be using the hash tag #bolderandwiser to collect together what people are saying about the event.

Older People and Voluntary Arts: Steps to Meaningful Participation

The Voluntary Arts Network is the national development agency for arts participation. They regularly publish the VAN Briefing, a handy set of factsheets that offer loads of tips on how to encourage participation in the arts. One particular Briefing, called ‘Older People and Voluntary Arts: Steps to Meaningful Participation‘ adapts information from the Age & Opportunity report, Guidlines for Working with Older People and the Arts and breaks down the information into three steps: Planning, Implementation and Monitoring & Evaluation.

Age and opportunity

In just over 15 years, older people will represent the majority of the population.

In what way is this a challenge and in what way is it an opportunity?

The Learning Lab at NESTA are researching these questions right now. We’ll be thinking about them from the perspective of the cultural sector this Thursday and will be feeding back soon….

What do you think?

How growing old became fun

An ineteresting article posted on yesterday’s Guardian website examined the link between older people’s improved state of healthcare and their resulting need for more varied lifestyles. One quote by Emma Soames from Saga magazine really stood out for me, “Old age is often painted as a place of vulnerability, frailty and great expense. But you can – people already do – have a good quality of life in your 70s. I don’t want to live to 120, but I would like the end of my life to be active and valid.” This begs for the question: What could the arts sector do to fit in to this desire for activity and validity?

Fancy working after 65? Think again…

A little bit of live news coverage today from the AL’s fictitious Newsroom (!) The High Court has ruled that British employers are allowed to force employees over the age of 65 to retire, even if the employee doesn’t want to leave. According to the BBC article covering the issue, ‘The majority of people retire before 65, but 1.3 million people work beyond state pension age. It has been suggested that many more would if their employer permitted it.’ Looking at a 2006 Guardian article adressing the fact that ‘2.6 million people aged between 50 and 65 who are unemployed or economically inactive would prefer to be working’, does today’s ruling seem sensible or unfair? And what effect could this have on older people’s engagement with the arts?

On local news, the BBC has also published an article  today showing that elderly Londoners are finding it harder to book journeys using the Dial-a-Ride service due to the introduction of a new computerised system in 2008.

Older People and the Internet

The Office of National Statistics website is currently running a ‘Focus on… Older People’ feature that collects and dissects data from several sources (mainly from the Census) that relates to the ageing population. One of the most interesting finds is the research carried out on the relationship between older people and the internet.

The Focus on Older People 2005 Report (p.85) shows that research carried out by the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing at University College London claims up to 36.8% of all males and 26.5% of all females aged 60-64 will use the internet.

Use of internet:1 by age and sex, 2002
England
	a) Uses Internet
	50–54	55–59	60–64	65–69	70–74	75–79	80 and over
Males	59.4%	48.7%	36.8%	28.8%	18.7%	15.6%	9%
Females	47.7%	40.4%	26.5%	17.9%	10.7%	10%	6.5%
1Respondents asked whether they used Internet.
Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, University College London
ONS Report: Focus on Older People 2005; p.85 .

Older people and the arts – some facts and questions

In the run up to our Bolder and Wiser symposium next week, I thought I’d share some recent snippets and thoughts after attending a recent IPPR event (Ageing and Wellbeing in an International Context, 7/Sep) to get your thoughts flowing.

We’re all getting older, and more numerous …

• Current birthrate is below replacement level
• 1 in 4 babies born now are expected to live until they’re 100
• Globally, the number of people over 60yrs will triple by 2050
• In the more developed regions of the world, 21% of the population are over 60yrs, projected to rise to 33% by 2050

In this country, although we’re living longer, we’re still retiring by 65 years … Q: What do people do with their time for the next 20+ years, and what role can art and culture play?

The role of volunteering is increasing on agendas of health and wellbeing of older people. There was an interesting debate at the seminar between acknowledging that there are benefits of volunteering, but also highlighting the danger of a discourse of enforced retirement by 65 years, while encouraging voluntary work which doesn’t have the financial benefits and security of paid employment. Audiences London did some focus groups recently with some arts-engaged older people, and one strong message was that people were really enjoying being able to try all kinds of skills and activities now that they are retired, because they’ve got more time. One woman in particular had just recently taken up dancing, having never done it before, and she was having a ball! … Q: Can the elements of volunteering that are beneficial be incorporated or used by arts organisations to engage with older people?

However, older men getting involved in participatory activities, or attending events, seems to be generally a bit less common and often experience greater levels of exclusion … Q: Do we need to think about tailoring the ways in which we engage with older men as distinct to engaging with older women?

A number of projects working with older people are using arts as a means through which to communicate and undertake research with older people. The project may not be specifically about the arts, but the arts are being used as a tool for engagement … Q: Does this help us think of different ways to collaborate in terms of reaching older people?

Hope to see you next week to explore these issues, and many more.