Viva! Engagement as a Cognitive Intervention
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Viva!, an 849-square-foot storefront facility in Urbana's Lincoln Square Village, is the main site for Healthy Minds research conducted by Dr. Park's Productive Aging Lab. It was established in March 2004 as a convenient community location for the "novel leisure activities" training program already underway at Dr. Park's Beckman Institute lab. Work at Viva! centers on the idea that systematic and prolonged engagement in a novel leisure activity can result in widespread benefits for older adults. Older adults enrolled in the Viva! program participate in an eight-week course designed to teach novel skills, including quilting and digital photography. Classes are taught in small groups to encourage social interaction, and one-on-one access to professional instructors is offered throughout the week in addition to regularly scheduled class times. Participants each commit to a minimum of fifteen hours a week, both in class and at home. Early results from the Viva! project have been promising, while responses from participants themselves have been overwhelmingly positive. Many alumni choose to pursue their new hobbies long after the course has ended. Nearly half of the quilters have used subject payment funds to purchase their own sewing machines, and one participant in the first photography class used his skills to secure a paying job. Syllabi from past quilting and digital photography courses are available here.