By Liza Cucco

This month, I spoke to Emily Christensen, a musician, gerontologist, and creative aging advocate, on her journey and insights into working with older adults through music therapy and creative aging.

Q: How has your journey through music, therapy, and gerontology shaped your work with older adults?

EC: I started out with a love for music and a desire to be a social worker. In college, I discovered music therapy, which perfectly combined those interests. During my practicum, I worked mostly with older adults. It wasn’t what I initially intended, yet I found I was most comfortable working with that population. Soon, I was doing a lot of work with older adults, and in assisted living facilities.

I took a long career break from music therapy to focus on parenting. When I returned to it, I ended up working in hospice care, and eventually decided to pursue a master’s degree in gerontology. I thought this would give me an opportunity to really promote music therapy from within the larger field of gerontology. That’s when I discovered creative aging. The idea that engaging in the arts is good for everyone, regardless of setting or age, really resonated with me.

During the pandemic, my music therapy work slowed down, but I still had a contract with Jewish Family Service for a dementia choir. I approached them about expanding the choir into a more robust creative aging program. That’s how I became the Creative Aging Coordinator, running programs like the choir and other programs for adults 55 and older.

Q: Do you think there is limited awareness about creative aging in the art therapy world?

EC: When I was in school in the 1980’s, creative aging wasn’t something you learned about. As my career progressed, I think because creative aging sits more in the art education space than in healthcare,  I didn’t encounter it earlier. I was aware of the arts and health movement, which is broader, but there was also some discomfort about artists with no clinical training coming into clinical populations. 

Q: Can you explain the differences between the goals of music therapy and a creative aging class?

EC: In music therapy, the goal is tied to the patient’s needs, whether that’s pain management, social engagement, or emotional expression. The art form serves the therapeutic goal. In creative aging, the focus is on teaching a skill—like watercolor or singing—and making sure participants connect socially and feel good about their progress. So, in music therapy, the health goal drives the activity; everything we do is designed to meet a particular clinical outcome.  In creative aging, the focus is on the artmaking itself; skill mastery is first, which combined with social engagement leads to broader beneficial outcomes.

Q: Can you share an example of how you set goals in a creative aging class?

EC: In our online Exploring Creativity creative aging class, the main goal is social connection. We start each week with a gratitude check-in, where participants share something they’re grateful for or an art project they worked on. It helps people connect, and the art becomes a vehicle for engagement. We extended our classes to 90 minutes to allow more time for socializing, which has worked well.

Q: How do you design programs for individuals with dementia to ensure they can engage meaningfully?

EC: My background in music therapy helps a lot. I know that people with dementia have difficulty focusing, so I make sure instructions are clear, concise, and visual. We don’t use traditional music notation because it’s confusing; instead, I number each section of the lyrics so participants can follow easily. I also use body language and visual cues to guide them through the music. We carefully choose familiar songs- though we have had the choir successfully learn new songs, which definitely challenges stereotypes about what people experiencing dementia are capable of. It’s all about making the experience accessible and creating opportunities for them to feel successful. 

Q: How do you facilitate skill-building and social connection in your programs for people with memory loss?

EC: Music helps because it’s processed in multiple areas of the brain—most choir members do remember things they practiced the previous week, at least through muscle memory. We review each song at the beginning of the session and build on it, so participants gradually improve. Social connection happens naturally in a choir—we’re all singing together, which creates a shared experience. After rehearsals, we have refreshments and time to chat, which strengthens connections.

Q: How do you encourage social connection in an online program?

EC: We use Zoom, and I spotlight participants when they share their artwork so everyone can see it clearly. We discuss their projects, and they get feedback from both the group and the teaching artist. This particular program is ongoing; it’s not just a single 8-week class, it’s a consistent group of people who meet on the same time and day, working with a few different teaching artists throughout the year on one artform at a time. This has meant that the participants have gotten to know each other well. Our students have loved participating in an online program. Despite the assumption that older adults aren’t comfortable with technology, most participants adapt quickly and well with a little practice.

Q: How do you see creative aging programs fitting into a broader health and wellness approach?

EC: We need to view our health as a multifaceted thing. If you are physically sick, that might affect your emotions, which then might affect your social life, and vice versa. Creative aging programs address multiple aspects of health—emotional, cognitive, social, and even physical health. I wish more people saw creative aging as a part of holistic health. Taking a class like this isn’t just a fun activity—it can have a positive impact on every aspect of a person’s well-being. I hope social prescribing, where doctors can refer patients to arts programs, becomes more mainstream in America.

Q. Can you think of a story of a particular person whose experience with creative aging illuminates some of its benefits?

EC: There was a woman who joined our Exploring Creativity art class from the very beginning. She had been part of our caregiver support group, having recently lost her husband to dementia, and was searching for anything to help with her grief. With no prior art experience, she bravely began exploring different activities in the class. One of our projects involved creating cento poems, where participants arrange lines from existing poems into something new. She crafted a poem about her husband and her loss, eventually taking it to his grave. The process was transformative for her—she found it both healing and empowering to create something beautiful. She shared that the class made her feel safe enough to explore, take risks, and discover abilities she never knew she had, which was essential in her journey through grief.

Q. What is your hope for creative aging in Utah?

EC: I hope we can build awareness and accessibility so that older adults see the value in creative engagement and feel inspired to try it out. We’ve talked about the idea of a statewide creative aging festival, like the ones you see internationally, where events happen across the whole state—not just in Salt Lake. It would let people everywhere, even in remote areas, experience creative aging without having to travel long distances. The festival would be a chance to get everyone involved—arts organizations, funders, legislators—helping people see this as a core part of healthy, vibrant aging. If we can show people the joy and health benefits, I think they’ll feel more excited to make creative aging a part of their lives.

Q: What advice do you have for teaching artists interested in creative aging?

EC: Build partnerships with local senior centers, libraries, or community centers. Be willing to do some legwork, like writing grants to fund your programs. Perseverance is key. It might take time to get started, but the impact on participants makes it all worth it.

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