Arts in the lives of Singapore's seniors: Perceived benefits, barriers, and strategies of arts participation

• Main Author: Toh, Wee Peng
• Other Authors: Andy Ho Hau Yan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Applied psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/71383
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study critically examines the perceptions of seniors towards arts participation in Singapore. Four focus group discussions were conducted with a purposive sample of 22 seniors (aged 70 and above) who are active and non-active in the arts, to elicit their perceived benefits and barriers of arts participation. Qualitative framework analysis revealed that (1) seniors who are active in the arts demonstrate positive ageing, (2) arts participation holds important benefits for seniors’ developmental domains, specifically in terms of health, social, emotional, and personal growth domains, and (3) barriers to arts participation were observed on three levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and external levels. Based on these findings, strategies for future policy are recommended to improve the arts participation rates of seniors from a health promotion perspective.