Leveraging the Arts for a Creative Future

What does your company have in place to help employees with a successful transition into retirement?

George Abbott wrote “Damn Yankees” when he was 68 – then revised it when he was 107. Verdi composed “Falstaff” when he was 80. I.M. Pei designed the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum at 79. Is such mental and creative acuity rare in most people? Or are artists’ brains just continuously creative? And how much does creativity matter in helping the brain make new connections for increased capability? Perhaps we should ditch our perceptions that getting older means a decline in mind as well as body. Even more to the point, perhaps each of us can realistically expect to gain benefits from creative expression.

Ready with some surprising new research is Dr. Gene Cohen, a pioneer in the field and director of the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University. A renowned medial researcher, his work is redefining the Golden Years, just as the Baby Boomers begin to retire.

Cohen presents ground-breaking new evidence in his recently published “The Creativity and Aging Study” that creativity matters, especially for older adults who participate in professionally conducted arts and cultural programs. This first national longitudinal study of its kind was developed through a cooperative agreement between the National Endowment for the Arts and George Washington University. Major findings are that older adults participating in arts and cultural programs have: better health, fewer doctor visits and less medication usage; more positive responses on mental health measures; and more involvement overall in activities.

Equally important are the implications of Cohen’s research for business. Better employee health means lower healthcare costs, less sick leave and increased productivity. Better health for retirees means lower increases in health insurance throughout the retirement years. But better health plus the unique advantages of experience and the willingness to experiment that come later in life also mean retirees are ready to continue contributing to the business – and wider – community. Cohen’s retirement research reveals “40% of retirees only partially retire,” results similar to a Cornell University work that cited 43%. Yet, structured programs to tap that resource are woefully lacking. Most retirees have no retirement planning, and only a small minority have explored issues beyond financial ones.  For business, there is a significant opportunity to offer unique services that help older employees transition into retirement. 

Better with Age

In his most recent book, The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain, published in 2005, Cohen maintains that mental decline is mostly related to disease, such as dementia and Parkinson’s. When healthy, older individuals can have their best years ahead. That’s because the brain’s left and right hemispheres become better integrated during middle age, making way for greater creativity. Moreover, new scanning technologies show that in some ways the aging brain is more flexible than younger ones. And in true use-it-or-lose-it fashion, keeping the mind active means mental capacity can continue to grow throughout life. Brain tissue is creatively restless tissue, he has said. The tissue wants to express the human potential it holds, and developmental mechanisms at work allow this potential to be expressed.

According to Cohen, three forms of thinking actually improve with age:

• Relativistic – basing understanding on a synthesized combination of disparate views; replacing absolute truth with realistic relative truths
• Dualist – uncovering contradictions in opposing views and holding opposites in mind without judgment; accepting opposing views as valid
• Systematic – seeing the forest as well as the trees to understand the bigger picture; avoiding becoming trapped in personal and petty issues

Cohen, the founding chief of the Center on Aging at the National Institute of Mental Health, will be discussing what steps your organization or company can take to promote creativity with the Boomer Generation as it heads toward retirement when he is the keynote speaker at “Leveraging the Arts for a Creative Future,” the topic for the MetLife Foundation Arts Forum Series. Cohen will prompt attendees to consider how:

• Businesses can go beyond financial planning in helping employees successfully transition into retirement
• Policymakers and the health community can lower the burden of health and disability by engaging retirees in creative environments
• Retirees and those considering retirement can challenge their brains through the arts, increasing innovative, creative thinking

The not-to-be-missed event will be held on Wednesday, March 14 with registration at 5 p.m., then proceed with the program and reception at 5:30 p.m. The forum will be held at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, and the cost is $20 per person. Be sure to learn more from this foremost researcher and expert who is challenging everyone to respond to new evidence, new thinking and new opportunities.  

To register for the forum, go to artsandbusinessphila.org/metlife or call 215.790.3620. To learn more about the work of Dr. Cohen and the Center on Aging, Health & Humanities at George Washington University, go to artsandbusinessphila.org/events/metlifeSpring07.asp.

This forum is made possible through the generous support of MetLife Foundation and is part of the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts’ MetLife Foundation National Arts Forum Series.