The Mental Health Edit
Volume II – Focus.
Crafting is known to be good for the mind, body, and soul, but let’s dig deeper into the mind part.
“I purchased this service/product for my mother. She loved the variety and the opportunity to explore something new each month. Thank you for this opportunity – very cool concept and a great way to keep the mind and creativity active!” – Kimberly M.
Research on the cognitive benefits of crafting have shown improvements in mental agility. In 2015, the journal Neurology looked at a group of people around 85 years old and their levels of engagement in the arts. They found that people who exercised their artistic muscle were 73% less likely to develop memory problems and reduced mental function, compared to those who didn’t partake in artistic activities. In particular, people who did a lot of crafts like woodworking and quilting were 45% less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than people who did not.
In addition, Yonas Geda, MD, a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic, completed a study that displayed that certain crafts are neuroprotective and may reduce dementia by as much as 50%. By doing creative activities like arts and crafts, older adults can delay the development of age-related cognitive decline and memory loss.
A series of studies from the Synapse Project (2018) continues to demonstrate the way in which crafting can promote successful aging. Older adults who spent several hours a week for a few months learning to participate in a new craft activity showed improvements in their cognitive performance and neural efficiency as compared to control participants.
These studies go on to support the importance of crafts as a type of serious hobby that impacts cognitive well-being amongst older individuals. Based on these findings, we at Adults & Crafts have carefully selected kits that require a bit more attention to detail and align with the types of activities that were mentioned in said studies.
Explore our focus-based kits here.
Sources: Spectrum Health, Time, Intellect Discover, Mayo Clinic