It’s All Correlated: Seniors, Cultural Engagement and Mental Health
As claimed by previous studies, engaging in cultural community-based activities can aid substantially in the recovery of mental illnesses, such as depression. Cultural engagement can manifest in many ways, such as partaking in recreational activities (i.e. singing and sports) and/or attending general outings and events. For elderly populations, this sort of engagement is especially pertinent as it fosters better mental and physical health outcomes. This demographic is most vulnerable to depression as a result of factors like increasing social isolation, weakening economic standing, and overall deteriorating health. Poor mental health subsequently can lead to developing higher susceptibility to conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and dementia. For this study, authors Fancourt and Tymoszuk wanted to know how cultural engagement practices not only aid in recovery of mental illnesses, but also how it can prove beneficial in prevention.
The authors allocated data from English participants in the 2002 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, all of whom were >50 years and had no reported depression diagnoses at the start of the study. The authors then utilized logistic regression analyses, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), as well as doctor diagnoses to identify associations between cultural engagement and depression over a decade time frame.
Their findings suggest that optimal mental health is dependent on how frequent cultural engagement takes places, thus rendering it a dose-response relationship. Overall, there was found to be a 32% lower risk of depression for individuals who partook in cultural engagement practices and events every few months and 48% who did so once a month or more.
In short, cultural engagement is vital in risk prevention of mental illnesses and diseases. Participation in recreational activities, excursions, and events can help alleviate feelings of loneliness, loss of purpose, and inadequacy. Human beings are social creatures, after all, and are in constant need of mental stimulation. If there is one key takeaway from Fancourt and Tymoszuk, it is the importance of developing new skills and social connections and essentially making it a priority to constantly nurture personal growth, even well into retirement.
Source:
Fancourt, D., & Tymoszuk, U. (2019). Cultural engagement and incident depression in older adults: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 214(4), 225-229. doi:10.1192/bjp.2018.267
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