There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence to support the idea that engaging in arts has benefits for older adults, but what about hard evidence? Over the past few months at Next Avenue, we’ve been sharing stories of the mounting body of research in the field of creative aging.

Increasingly, science is providing insight into what practitioners and participants already feel in their bones: the arts are good for you. A recent article from Createquity summarized several of these findings. A team of writers from the research-focused arts blog conducted a survey of studies and literature and found that “the most compelling evidence of the value of the arts revolves around improving the lives of older adults.”