Creative activity in the ageing population

Abstract

The following report presents findings on creative activity participation among older adults in Ireland using data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). TILDA is a nationally representative study of community dwelling adults aged 50 years older n Ireland. TILDA visits its participants every two years to interview them about their social, economic, health and financial situation. Information on involvement in creative activities is captured at each wave of data collection. In July 2020, TILDA additionally sent a questionnaire to each participant to capture the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown period on their lives. This research assesses involvement in a range of creative activities including going out to films, concerts or plays, reading books or magazines for pleasure, listening to music, radio, and doing creative activities or hobbies. Using the data available, we produced a ‘creative activity score’ for each individual, taking into account the number of creative activities they were involved in and the frequency they partook in each activity. Using this data, we investigated how involvement in creative activities affects the health and wellbeing of older adults over a nine-year period (2009-2018) and the impact of changes in involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings detail the importance of access to creative activities in older ages, and provide the foundation for future, more in-depth analyses on involvement, motivations, and barriers to participation.