We bring the healing power of the arts to older adults and those prone to isolating circumstances. If you serve either or both of these groups, we’re here to help!
What is an arts outreach program?
TAO’s outreach programs are typically one hour in length, consisting of interactive music programs, participatory spoken word/poetry and songwriting workshops, hands-on visual arts projects and interactive performing arts presentations. Artists are recruited, trained and compensated by TAO.
Participants never pay to take part in an arts outreach program.
Available Program Types
This is just a sampling of what TAO offers – feel free to inquire with our Program Director if you have any specific interests.
Music
Vocalists (soloists and ensembles)
Strings/brass/woodwinds (soloists and ensembles)
Genre specific ensembles (barbershop, jazz, bluegrass, etc.)
Drumming circles
Visual Arts
Painting classes
Flower arranging and plant care
Pottery painting
Origami
Jewelry art
Performing Arts
Yoga and meditation
Dramas and re-enactments
Dance
Comedy and improv
Poetry and Literary
Storytelling and Poetry workshops
Oral history seminars
Why should I use these programs?
According to the Foundation for Art & Healing, it is estimated that one third of adult Americans are affected by loneliness (feeling alone, social isolation, living alone) and this loneliness can increase mortality rates between 26-32%. This makes loneliness and isolation as lethal as chronic smoking.1
Older adults are particularly prone to loneliness and according to the CDC, makes this population 50% more at risk for developing dementia, 29% increase risk of heart disease, and 32% increase in risk of stroke. Loneliness is also associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. 2
Loneliness and isolation, in short, is a public health crisis. Feelings of loneliness should be taken as seriously as thirst, hunger, or pain – they are a signal that an individual’s basic needs are unmet. The perception of loneliness is enough to produce these adverse health consequences.3
Arts engagement is a highly effective care supplement and combatant to loneliness. In one case study studying an “arts-on-prescription” project in England, patients “prescribed” an eight-week course in fine arts (including poetry, ceramics, or painting), showed a 37% reduction in GP consultation rates and 27% reduction in hospital visits. England’s National Health Service estimated a cost-saving of $280 per patient as a result of this project. 4
The group program model offered by Tidewater Arts Outreach is an effective and efficient method to provide arts engagement experiences for these populations that are most at risk of loneliness and its adverse effects. It is imperative to the Hampton Roads community that these experiences are made as widely available as possible to groups and communities that would not otherwise be able to access such opportunities. This is made even more critical in the wake of COVID-19 as necessary social distancing measures increase these feelings of isolation in already at-risk populations.
1 Isolation and Loneliness Fact Sheet | The Foundation for Art & Healing (artandhealing.org)
2 Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions (cdc.gov)
3 Loneliness Can Kill You (forbes.com)
4 Special Report on Art and The Brain – Art & Creativity for Healing (art4healing.org)
How We’ve Responded to COVID-19
Tidewater Arts Outreach has adjusted programming to virtual platforms and outdoor, socially distant delivery methods for as long as social distancing and quarantine measures are in effect for the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk to us about your organization’s needs and we will make the program work best for you!