The importance of using art therapy for people in advanced age Aging is a natural process in human life. Old age is one of the stages of human development. Old age brings with it various physical, psychological and social changes.

The International Health Organization names the period between 75-89 years old as advanced age or old age itself (Říčan, 2004). Příhoda (1967) refers to people in their 80s as peasants, Mühlpachr (2005) talks about older seniors, Vágnerová (2007) mentions the so-called the fourth age. Verešová (2007) calls the period over seventy-five years advanced old age.

Old age, and even more late old age, is often associated with diseases of the cardiovascular system, locomotor system, oncological diseases, reduced immunity, accidents and falls, psychological problems. Typical manifestations of changes in the psychological area, according to Jarošová (2006), are:

  • reduction of cognitive and gnostic functions (memorability, concentration, reduced memory capacity, etc.);
  • reduction of phatic functions (reduced speech function, speech understanding);
  • reduction of intellectual functions;
  • increased emotional instability to lability, or emotional flatness;
  • overall character changes (from positive traits to neutral or even a change or vice versa);
  • total or partial loss of interest;
  • changes in needs and their order;
  • reduced ability to adapt to changes;
  • new and challenging situations.

Caring for seniors and trying to improve their quality of life is a very important part of social services. Demographic forecasts point to an enormous growth of older seniors, who generally participate to a greater extent in the use of facilities and activities of residential social services (Malíková, 2001).

Basic activities in the provision of social services include providing clients with educational, educational and activation activities, consulting or contact with society (Vořáčková, 2012).

In addition to pain (91.4% in women and 45.8% in men, while almost most pain was characterized as permanent pain), 12-15% of people over 65 suffer from depression, and dementia affects one in twenty seniors.

In addition to involutional depression, we find somatogenic depressive syndromes accompanying the underlying disease and reactive depression, as a response to the necessity of an institutionalized stay. Depression predisposes to failure of adaptation and to suicide in old age (Hegyi, Krajčík, 2010).

The effort to improve the quality of life of seniors in residential facilities of social services points to the importance of providing therapeutic care for this large group of clients. One of the therapeutic procedures used in clinical, educational and rehabilitation care for people is art therapy.

Art therapy is a psychotherapeutic and psychodiagnostic discipline that uses artistic forms and means for therapeutic purposes (Šrobárová, 2011).

Hartl, Hartlová (2010) define art therapy in the psychological dictionary as the use of art, especially drawing and painting for therapeutic purposes, helps to determine the diagnosis and for therapeutic purposes. In the dictionary of social work (2008), Matoušek defines it as the use of expression in therapy, most often in the form of creative activities for many types of clients. When working with a client, the art therapist primarily uses artistic expression and the creative process as the main means of influencing his psychological state (Vybíral, Roubal eds., 2010). Through artistic activities, the art therapist tries to help the client to develop positively. Enters a specific topic, leads the client to achieve insight, understanding of the problem. It helps develop knowledge and stimulates cognitive processes in creative activity.

In social service facilities, emphasis is placed on caring for seniors in the way they spend their free time. The goal may be to help people at the end of their lives complete their own identity, to provide them with joy through art therapy, their perception and their own creative activity, so that they can "deal" with their age positively and to their satisfaction.

In art therapy work with clients of any age, the primary emphasis is not on the final product, but on the process of creation itself and the joy of creation, as a natural part of each person's personality. This justifies the applicability of art therapy even for people in late old age. When applying art therapy in this age group, it is necessary to start from the characteristics of this age. When designing an art therapy program, it is necessary to use its special therapeutic creative potential to stimulate, enrich, preserve, and develop individual physical and psychological components of the personality of a very old person.

One of the aspects of art therapy is the application of art, visual art through its perception. For people in advanced old age, paintings, drawings, architecture, applied art have both therapeutic and educational significance. It is the language of lines, colors, shapes, symbols, through which art silently communicates with the viewer through visual perception, helps and enables communication with the therapist and other people. And so interpret, develop thoughts, feelings, attitudes, values, ideas, memories, desires.

Individual art therapists emphasize different aspects of art therapy work that they consider important. Campbellová (1998) places emphasis on the development of individual creativity when working with seniors, Růžičková (2004) considers it important in art therapy work with seniors to realize, process and change some attitudes and opinions that prevent them from surviving old age without greater psychological distress, uncover hidden abilities and talents and encourage seniors to realize them. In this age category, Mačkinová (2009) emphasizes the importance of self-expression, the ability to communicate and process a personally significant topic, and thus achieve, eliminate or alleviate the difficulties of an old and sick person. According to Liebmann (2002), art therapy in elderly people aims to activate the remnants of their vitality, flexibility and stimulate their creativity. Undemanding techniques, such as collages, are suitable because they stimulate sight and touch, working with them improves fine motor skills (Wimmerová, 2008). Čerkalová (2012) talks about short-term memory exercises, strengthening of self-evaluation, self-realization as an aid in the rehabilitation of fine motor skills in connection with art therapy for seniors. When choosing activities for people with Alzheimer's disease, Kolmanová, Grniaková (2014) based their selection on their past experiences, on what the clients did, what they devoted to in the past.

Art therapy enables non-verbal, visual communication for people of advanced age, whose language skills are affected by dementia, stroke or other causes, and thus becomes important for understanding where frustration arises from finding words, problems to understand. It can increase the motivation, self-confidence, self-confidence of the elderly by facilitating communication, improves mood, eliminates anxiety.

In general, art therapy helps seniors, like any other form of assistance, in their adaptation to a new life situation, decline in physical strength, loss of health, specifics of age and related changes in the social and economic sphere.

Art therapists report specific results of their work with seniors. Many of the seniors rejoice when they paint something and receive positive verbal evaluations. Creation strengthens their self-confidence and thereby the feeling of their own integrity. Artistic techniques can affect generationally different tastes in old people, for example, work with natural materials is reported by Wimmerová (2008). Wadeson (in Brichtová, 2000) set the drawing to music, her client made a few strokes on the paper, but she was satisfied with the result, the anxiety disappeared and she felt better after making this picture. Deborah Ruland reports her client's delight when she was praised for her work, painting with string, dipping it into a bowl of paint and creating a picture. Mačkinová (2009) recommends finger painting and drawing on a misted window for very old people. Marilyn Magnuson (2015) enables self-expression through a mask. For the client who did not show her mouth with the mask, this contributed to self-awareness of the lack of communication with relatives. For another client, creating a candlestick led to the externalization of emotions and grief after the death of a granddaughter.

It is important that in the end the client is happy with the finished work. Psychology influences social work. Psychotherapies are an effective way of psychological help to the client.

In Slovakia, art therapy is generally rarely used, in social care facilities it is more about occupational therapy or leisure, creative activities, there is a lack of education of social workers in the field of therapies, art therapy, which is a condition for the performance of psychotherapeutic techniques by social workers.

Social workers may want to use art therapy techniques because they are consistent with social work principles. The advantage of social workers can be their more complex view of the client's problems, as well as their often broader competences to solve them (Mátel, Schavel, 2014).

The question is the need for scientific validity in connection with art therapy. Art therapy is a useful tool for those who work with clients, if they are professionally and personally knowledgeable. With this tool, we can enable clients in advanced old age to experience the joy of being able to create something new, to positively influence their personality through visual arts, visual culture and their own creative activity, in order to achieve integrity and emotional well-being in late old age.

Author: PhDr. B.Sc. Jaroslava Malček List of references

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