Older adults and creative writing

 So as I am looking at the numbers of the older population and the forecasts for the coming years, I wonder, again, about the scarcity of publications that address the subject of creative writing as a viable option for older adults.

Two things are going through my mind simultaneously. Maybe I have just created a subject that in reality does not exist, namely, creative writing is creative writing, is creative writing. There are many books out there . All you have to do is pick one and start working either by yourself, or in a group. Basically "Much Ado About Nothing".

Or, like so many things that have to do with the elderly and getting old, it is either an unappealing subject or there is an innate assumption that there is not much that can be done with a population that has so many issues.

This quote from the book -Writers have no age. (p,69) sums it up nicely.
"I drove slowly  that day. I did not want to get to where I was going and I knew a lot of reasons why. There was no one in my acquaintance who had taught creative writing at the county nursing home. I had founds accounts of only two persons in my reading who had tried and neither had accomplished very much or worked at it very long. Failure to achieve anything was a real possibility and frightening revelations of suffering and defeat seemed certain."

But as I was reading this intriguing book of Kenneth Koch few things become very clear; There is definitely a need for this kind of work, and the effect it has on the participants is indisputable, but also that working with the elderly needs to be done somewhat differently than the work done in a 'regular' creative writing group to achieve results.

Working differently has to do with the content, the type of writing and the setting but most of all with believing that this kind of work has value.

"...our students liked poetry so much. Some were writing it fairly well after two or three classes."

"Poetry not only makes people more aware of their feelings and memories but emphasises their importance. It provides a way to talk about them that frees one from the usual ways."

"As a form of writing, poetry had certain advantages...which helped us teach. It can supply opportunities to write many works and experiment in a variety of topics and styles.To get to essentials immediately, spontaneously,almost without thought, In writing poetry one can put things together in unfamiliar ways.A person can be himself,yet different."

Working differently has to do with the setting by giving allowance to the specific needs of the population. The main things suggested by Koch (and others),
 Short meetings - no more than an hour.
Help to those who need  to dictate their writing.
 Extra staff to address any special needs.

To use Koch's words; "it made the students happier,change their attitudes towards poetry,made them interested.It gave them a way to talk about life in a way that showed its beauty, and its sadness and  its humor and, often,because of all that,its value-"

Is there any reward that can be greater?