Your health is important no matter your age. If you already enjoy creative hobbies, you likely know how beneficial the creative process is for the mind and body. Art therapies can help people to cope with physical and mental stress through expression, management, and understanding.

Here are just four ways painting can help brain function:

Painting improves memory

Through painting, our recollection skills are boosted and our mind sharpened through conceptual visualisation and implementation. This is especially helpful for those who are likely to develop or have developed Alzheimer’s or other dementia-causing diseases.

Painting increases motor skills and coordination

Painting can help not just with emotions and memory, but also the physical side of brain function. Handling a paintbrush requires dexterity, in turn increasing mobility in the hands and fingers. The fine motor skills that a painter develops can also improve connections in the brain that may be depleting or lost.

Painting can be used as a form of communication

Ultimately, art is a form of expression. Whether the painter can’t communicate effectively through voice or simply wants to share their deeper thoughts and feelings, painting gives an outlet to communicate that removes the need to be verbal. For seniors, this can mean they get their voice back and physical or mental limitations of ageing that stop them communicating normally are removed.

Painting is fun!

At the end of the day, creative hobbies are all about having fun. And fun isn’t just a nice feeling – enjoying the hobby of painting can help with stress, anxiety, and depression, with studies showing that older adults who participate in artistic activities like painting are more positive about life, with lower levels of loneliness and depression.

Painting can be a great outlet whatever your age. At BallyCara, we encourage all kinds of hobbies, and often host painting sessions. If you want to get involved, or find out how a loved one can participate, get in touch today.