Creative activities can foster a sense of personal fulfilment and social connectedness. As people get older, however, ageing-related challenges can make it difficult to engage in creative activities. New technologies may help address this gap, but they need to be designed and deployed sensitively to ensure the promised wellbeing benefits of creativity are realised. How can we design and use new technologies to best support engagement in creative activities in later life? How can creative technologies be harnessed to promote healthy ageing?

This panel discussion, offered in person and online, features international experts in creativity and ageing. Panellists will discuss how they use technology to support healthy ageing through creativity. Following the panel discussion, in-person attendees will have an opportunity to interact with technology demonstrations at a networking reception.

• Learn about creative uses of technology for healthy ageing
• Listen to national and international experts in the area
• Explore options for connecting technology with older adults
• Engage hands-on with creative technological experiences

Hear from our speakers:

Scientia Professor Jill Bennett is Founding Director of the Big Anxiety Research Centre and The Big Anxiety Festival, a research-driven, mental health festival, which won ‘Best New Event’ at the Australian Event Awards in 2017. Jill’s ARC Laureate fellowship supports the Felt Experience & Empathy Lab [fEEL] at UNSW, involving psychologists and creative practitioners specialising in mental health engagement, and the communication of embodied experience through virtual reality. Outputs include The Visit, an interactive avatar made with women with dementia.


Professor Felicity Baker is Associate Dean Research for the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. She leads HOMESIDE, the largest music therapy trial ever funded by the EU ($4.2M), involving teams in Australia, Norway, Germany, Poland and the UK; and MATCH, involving researchers from the performing arts, human-computer interaction, computer engineering, and medicine. In this talk, Felicity will outline the aims of developing MATCH, a mobile application designed for carers of people with dementia.

Professor Lynn Froggett is Co-Director of the Institute for Citizenship Society and Change and the Psychosocial Research Unit at UCLan and Executive Chair of the Association for Psychosocial Studies. Lynn Froggett's focus is on the contribution of arts and culture to human health and welfare. Other key interests are in civic renewal and public mental health. She has led numerous collaborative research programmes in settings as diverse as health, education, criminal justice communities and the cultural sector.

Dr Gail Kenning is Interdisciplinary Research Fellow with fEEL and Ageing Futures Institute, UNSW, working at the intersection of data and digital media and art, craft and design. Gail explores creativity in relation to health and wellbeing, with a focus on ageing and dementia. Using creative, co-design, psychosocial and participatory approaches, her art practice explores digital media, craft, expanded textiles, dexterity, health, wellbeing, dementia and ageing. It includes data visualisation, programmed animation, video and photography and sculptural installation.

Dr Alon Ilsar is a drummer, composer, instrument designer and researcher. He is the co-designer of a new gestural instrument for electronic percussionists, the AirSticks and is researching the use of AirSticks for health and wellbeing, making music creation more accessible to the broader community. Alon holds a PhD in instrument design from University of Technology Sydney. He has played the AirSticks at Sydney’s Vivid Festival, on Triple J’s Like a Version and at NYC’s MET Museum.

Thank you to our collaborating organisations:

Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative, The University of Melbourne
Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne
Research, Ageing, and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University
Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University
Invictus Health, Melbourne
The Big Anxiety

Masks are recommended when not eating or drinking

Cost
AAG Member/University of Melbourne staff $15
AAG Member/University of Melbourne Concession/Student (Member) $10 
Non-member $30 
Concession/Student (Non-members) $15
Online $10

Click on the link top right and register for online or in person attendance - pls note this will go to EventsAIR