「桃米長青繪畫班」長者參與經驗之探討：創意老化的觀點與實踐

新故鄉文教基金會為了激發長輩在藝術創作上的興趣與才能，並拓展老人社區參與的可能性，於2004年7月開辦「桃米長青繪畫班」，至今已邁入第十一年。研究者從「創意老化」觀點出發，進一步瞭解長者持續參與繪畫班之歷程、感受及參與繪畫班對長者個人、家庭、社區生活的影響。創意老化強調藉由長期且多元有結構的藝術課程協助長者在人生後期增進自我認同與促進人際互動，進一步提升晚年的生活品質。在瞭解長者參與經驗之時，亦記錄繪畫班指導老師的教學理念。希冀藉由本研究能讓實務工作者對於創意老化領域有更多的認識，並期待開啟台灣對於藝術運用於老年生活與照顧領域的重視。本研究以質性訪談為主要資料蒐集方式，輔以研究者參與觀察之田野筆記進行文本的分析，共訪談九位參與繪畫班之長者，研究結果說明如下：一、本研究中出生於日治時代的年長阿嬤們，她們過去的生活經驗、婚姻、教育備受限制，多是順從父母的安排，沒有自主權。然而在晚年卸下家務責任後，有機會接觸繪畫，在繪畫上，她們才是主角，這個空間是屬於她們自己的，她們可以自由的選擇創作的題材，為自己而畫。因著繪畫，婦女過往的框架慢慢被拆解，她們擁有更多於以往的自主與決定權。而以繪畫為媒介，長者的潛能得以被開發，創意亦在不同面向展現。二、繪畫班對老人晚年生活的功能與意涵：在個人層面，當藝術與生活產生連結時，生活有了重心，陪伴不再僅需要家人、長者社會地位的提升以及繪畫活動有助於長者身心健康，進一步亦能增進長者的自信心；在家庭層面，繪畫軟性力量的點綴，能進一步捲動家人間關係；在人際層面，參與繪畫班有著老友的陪伴，進一步亦能拓展與深化人際關係網絡。而繪畫班以「團體」的進行方式更有助於世代間的交流、互動與學習。三、創意老化引進藝術做為媒介運用於服務對象時，更重要的是「如何」使用藝術，協助老人適應老年生活、提升晚年的生活品質，而這之中繪畫班指導老師、在地團體的投入與陪伴正是不可或缺的重要角色。綜合上述研究結果，本研究建議：提供多元多樣化之創造性活動，能進一步開展長者的潛能。而老人服務工作者若能針對長者參與活動的阻礙加以排除，更能提升長者參與之意願。以及從創意老化觀點出發，設計相關社區藝術方案，透過長期的陪伴，亦能提升長者的生活品質。

關鍵字

創意老化；藝術；桃米長青繪畫班；老人

並列摘要

In an attempt to inspire older people to develop their talent and interest in art creations and to motivate them to participate in community affairs, New Homeland Foundation started a program – the drawing class at Taomi Village – in July 2004. This year marks the 11th year of the program. Based on the “creative aging” perspective, the researcher delves into older people’s participation in the drawing class, their experience and feelings, and the influence of such participation on them, their families, and their communities. Creative aging puts emphasis on long-term, diverse and well-organized art programs designed to help older people improve their self-identity and interpersonal relationships during the late stages of their lives, thereby enhancing their life quality during their later years. While observing the older people's experience in the drawing class, the researcher also recorded their instructor’s teaching concepts. It is hoped that through this study, the practitioners' understanding of creative aging will be deepened and Taiwan will start to value the application of art to the lives of older people and elderly care. Qualitative interviewing was employed as the main method to collect data in this research, supplemented by the researcher's textual analysis of the field notes. Nine older people attending the drawing class were interviewed. The research results are summarized as follows: 1.The subjects of this study were elderly grandmothers born in the Japanese-ruled era. They had limited freedom during the past years of their lives, including marital and educational arrangements. They had no say in such issues and instead abided by their parents' decisions most of the time. Nevertheless, having fulfilled their family duties in their later years, they were given an opportunity to try drawing, where they're the ones that matter, have their own space, draw anything at will, and do so for no one but themselves. Thanks to drawing, they gradually became free from all those restrictions enforced upon them since the day they were married, possessing more freedom and autonomy than ever before. Apparently, drawing served as a means to develop older people’s potentials, allowing them to expand their creativity in all aspects. 2.Drawing class enriched older people’s late lives with profound significance. Older people found the priorities in their lives as soon as art became a part of their lives. They no longer relied on their family members as the only companion. Their social status, physical health and mental health were improved after they joined the drawing class. Most importantly, they became more confident than before. As far as families are concerned, drawing helped older people enhance their family relationships. As to interpersonal relationships, older people met new friends and enhanced friendships with old friends in the drawing class. Moreover, the “group” activities in the drawing class were beneficial to the interactions and learning between different generations. 3.When art as a means applied to clients in creative aging perspective, “how” to use art to help older people adapt to late lives and upgrade their late life quality is undoubtedly the most important task. In this connection, the instructor, local groups’ participation and companions are indispensable for the success of the program. Based on the research results stated above, the researcher suggests a series of diverse and multifaceted creative activities to be created in order to develop older people’s potentials. If elderly service workers can remove the obstacles that may impede older people’s participation, older people will be more willingness to participate in the activities. Last but not least, community-related art programs should be designed based on creative aging perspective in order to upgrade older people’s life quality with the assistance rendered by their companions over a long period of time.