Episode 70: Veronica Rojas - An Artist at work @ the Global Brain Health Institute

In this episode Veronica Rojas talks about working to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neurologists, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artists as a Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. It's quite an adventure.

Veronica Rojas: Veronica Rojas (b. Mexico City, 1973) was born into a multi-cultural family; her father is Mexican and her mother Swedish. Veronica grew up in Mexico City where she was exposed from very early on to the art of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo. These artists have ever since remained a big influence in Veronica’s artwork. In 1995 she came to San Francisco, USA, to get a BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and later an MFA at the California College of the Arts. She currently lives in Oakland, California. Veronica has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.

Global Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. 

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: program provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia.

Creative Growth Center:  Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is a leader in the field of arts and disabilities, establishing a model for a creative community guided by the principle that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication. From the first day Creative Growth started in the East Bay home of Elias Katz and Florence Ludins-Katz, the vision was clear. Art would be the path forward for people with disabilities to express themselves and a professional gallery would exhibit their work.

Art With Elders: Founded in 1991, AWE engages older adults in fine arts classes and shares their work and life experience through public exhibits. Through classes and exhibits, the AWE program provides older adults with a vehicle for self-expression, social connection, and a presence in the larger community. Classes are taught in person and online by professional artists and are available in 5 languages. Exhibits engage artists and audiences through the power of creativity, deepening connection between cultures and generations.

Creative Minds UCSF: Established in 2020, Creative Minds is a community arts for brain health initiative in San Francisco. This unique...

In this episode Veronica Rojas talks about working to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neurologists, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artists as a Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. It's quite an adventure.

Veronica Rojas: Veronica Rojas (b. Mexico City, 1973) was born into a multi-cultural family; her father is Mexican and her mother Swedish. Veronica grew up in Mexico City where she was exposed from very early on to the art of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo. These artists have ever since remained a big influence in Veronica’s artwork. In 1995 she came to San Francisco, USA, to get a BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and later an MFA at the California College of the Arts. She currently lives in Oakland, California. Veronica has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.

Global Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. 

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: program provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia.

Creative Growth Center:  Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is a leader in the field of arts and disabilities, establishing a model for a creative community guided by the principle that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication. From the first day Creative Growth started in the East Bay home of Elias Katz and Florence Ludins-Katz, the vision was clear. Art would be the path forward for people with disabilities to express themselves and a professional gallery would exhibit their work.

Art With Elders: Founded in 1991, AWE engages older adults in fine arts classes and shares their work and life experience through public exhibits. Through classes and exhibits, the AWE program provides older adults with a vehicle for self-expression, social connection, and a presence in the larger community. Classes are taught in person and online by professional artists and are available in 5 languages. Exhibits engage artists and audiences through the power of creativity, deepening connection between cultures and generations.

Creative Minds UCSF: Established in 2020, Creative Minds is a community arts for brain health initiative in San Francisco. This unique collaboration between the UCSF MAC Community Outreach Program and Atlantic Fellows at GBHI engages older adults in underserved and underrepresented neighborhoods through photography, art, storytelling, movement, and craft-making. Creative Minds partners with community centers and clinics throughout the city to incorporate brain health education and offer these creative experiences informed by the cultural and linguistic needs of our community members.  

Memory Aging Center at UCSF: The UCSF Memory and Aging Center is an NIA-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center working to translate research science into improved diagnosis and care for people with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease and related diseases, as well as to find a treatment or prevention.

Parkinson’s Disease: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.

Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. 

Alzheimer’s Disease: Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It is a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment. Alzheimer's disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language.

Frontotemporal Dementia: Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.

Social Prescribing: Social Prescribing is a holistic approach to healthcare that brings together the social and medical models of health and wellness. It provides a formal pathway for health providers to address the diverse determinants of health, using the familiar and trusted process of writing a prescription.

Social prescribing bridges the gap between clinical and social care by referring patients to local, non-clinical services that are chosen according to the client’s interests, goals, and gifts. It allows doctors, nurse practitioners, and interprofessional health providers to formally refer patients through to community-based programs.

(See Also: What is Social Prescribing, a video, and the Time Magazine article Why Some Doctors Are Prescribing Ballroom Dance or a Day at the Museum)

National Academy for Social Prescribing (United Kingdom) NASP is a national charity that champions social prescribing. We support and connect people, communities and organisations so that more people across the UK can enjoy better health and wellbeing

What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review, A Report of the World Health Organization: Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield.

This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan.

Anne Basting, our guest for CS/CW Episode 69, is a writer, artist and advocate for the power of creativity to change lives. She is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Founder of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.org, which trains, inspires, and supports caregivers to infuse creativity into care. Her writing and large-scale public performances have helped shape an international movement to extend creative and meaningful expression from childhood, where it is expected, through to late life, where it has been too long withheld.