Not closing but starting point of lives for seniors: Action research of a welfare center’s autobiography class

This study explores the benefits of arts and social capital networks for senior citizens generated during the arts program “Youth Autobiography School” (YAS). The program was held at a senior welfare center in Gwangju, South Korea with the purpose of enabling seniors to live more dignified lives. Qualitative action research with a questionnaire was employed as a study method. The findings demonstrated that the five stages of eight outcomes were created of 12 classes: first stage, empathy; second stage, trust; third stage, fun & pleasure, intellectual growth, and relationships; fourth stage, captivation, and self-satisfaction; and fifth stage, community engagement. Additionally, social capital networks were generated among participants. Subjects: Mental Health; Adult Education and Lifelong Learning; Lifelong Learning; Cultural Studies


Introduction
Long life expectancy is a recent world phenomenon, but in Korea, rapidly shifting to an aging society without being properly prepared has caused a decreasing quality of life as shown by an increase in elders' isolation and suicides (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 2015). This study examined the ways in which an arts program might address this social problem by assisting elders who look for new identities as equal-valued members of society.
Choi Jeong-Nang ABOUT THE AUTHOR Choi Jeong-Nang has a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and an MA in Cultural &Tourism Management from Chonnam National University, South Korea. Her research is focused on practice-based outcomes, including individual and social benefits, between arts & culture education and seniors. She has been working as an art facilitator for a senior welfare center since 2015 and is currently the chief researcher at Cultural Research Lab.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
The starting point of this research was that the majority of seniors' problems might be related to the social structure of my country, South Korea. While experiencing a rapidly industrializing society, we might have unconsciously traded respect for seniors or traditional values for our busy lifestyles. This circumstance leads to discrimination or ignorance toward seniors, which, in turn, affect seniors' dignity. This study therefore presents a path for seniors to reestablish selfconfidence and regain their dignity through arts and culture experiences. It will be the baseline data of a concept of seniors that is changing, as well as an understanding of present seniors by our society.
Previous studies have been conducted about arts activities for seniors as social participation (Lee, 2016;Park, Lee, Bae, Park, & Kim, 2016) as well as in relation to making good use of free time in later life (Lim & Kim, 2015). Besides, Kim and Park (2014) and Lee, 2013a) expanded the diversity of arts education from that based on welfare centers to cultural facilities utilizing museums and suggested programs to transform seniors, not into consumers, but producers (Kim & Park, 2014;Lee, 2013b), while in-depth professional education with appreciation and criticism was practiced as a complex arts program (Lee, 2016). Recently, interests in how to forge social coexistence between society and seniors (Choi, 2018;Son, 2017), who need not be cared for but are instead able to share their know-how as social value, have increased through arts and culture education.
The arts program "Youth Autobiography School" (YAS) started with the motivation of providing seniors in Gwangju, Jeonnam, South Korea with opportunities for living more dignified lives; it involved participation and writing collaborations between 25 senior participants and four arts facilitators.
In this study, I addressed three research questions: (1) What are the distinctive outcomes generated in each stage while seniors participate in the art program?
(2) To which benefits of art do the outcomes belong?
(3) What kinds of social capital are built when relationships deepen?
This paper is arranged as follows. First, I present a short description of the YAS and the study methods. Next, I explain the eight outcomes of five individual processes. Finally, I identify the connections to the benefits of arts and analyze the social capital generated from the senior participants, facilitators, and all guests invited to the graduation ceremony.

Background theory: benefits of arts and social capital
To analyze the outcomes of the program, I used a framework for understanding the benefits of the arts (McCarthy, Ondaatje, Zakaras and Brooks 2001) and social capital theory (Aldrich 2012;Putnam, 2001;Woolcock & Narayan, 2000). The former was developed by conducting a comprehensive review of the benefits associated with arts, including cognitive, behavioral, health, social, and economic benefits. In addition, it divided them into four parts: private, public, intrinsic, and instrument benefits, while containing an analysis of the balance regarding the latter two. This framework shows the intrinsic benefits on the bottom and the instrumental ones on the top, with both flowing from private to public. The private parts are instant benefits to individuals and the public ones are those accumulated by the public. In the middle are benefits that elevate individuals' personal lives and spill over to the public at the same time (McCarthy et al., 2001).
Originally "social" refers to the phenomenon of friendship, containing mutual respect and a sense of common interest, so it indicates mutual, not just personal benefits (Uphoff, 2000: p. 222). It generally can be defined as "reciprocal human interactions" based on networks including trust, mutual understanding, norms, and other forms of connection ranging from individuals and groups, to organizations, communities, and even nations (Coleman, 1990;Putnam, 2001). Typically, social capital is explained by bonding, bridging, and linking (Aldrich 2012;Putnam, 2001). Putnam sees bonding social capital (exclusive) as ties among homogeneous individuals and relations between family members, close friends, and neighbors. Bridging social capital (inclusive) connects group or network members to other local networks as loose friendships and co-workers, which generate broad identities (Aldrich 2012;Putnam, 2001). Linking social capital comprises networks of trusting relationships between people who interact across formal or institutionalized power; in short, people in dissimilar situations, who are entirely outside of the community, enable members to leverage a far wider range than bridging social capital. Whereas bonding and bridging social capital basically connect members of the same status as horizontal relationships, linking social capital covers vertical distance (Aldrich 2012;Kim, 2011: p. 3-14). However, bonding and bridging social capital are not "either-or" categories into which social networks can be neatly divided, but "more or less" dimensions along which we can compare different forms of social capital (Lee, 2013a: p. 12;Moriarty, 2004: p. 17;Putnam, 2001: p. 23) (Figure 1 here).
While examining this research, I realized it was hard to clearly define the characteristics of each stage by only using the three basic concepts of bonding, bridging, and linking (Aldrich 2012;Putnam, 2001). I therefore adopted "bridged-bonding capital" from Lee, 2013a) to explain the second to fourth stages. The strong relationship formed between the senior participants and the facilitators bridged the age differences as well and it also united those two groups into one in the process of taking classes, which generated bridged-bonding. At the end of this research, linking social capital emerged among invited guests, ranging from close friends and families to district officers and a district representative. All guests who attended expressed their sincere interest in the program. Through the graduation and publication ceremony, the participants became aware again, not only of themselves and the facilitators but also of those who were not visible in the field, including Gwangju Cultural Foundation, the organization that had influenced the YAS. In addition, bridged-bonding social capital between the senior participants and the facilitators was deeper in trust at the same time. I applied "bracing social capital" from Rydin and Holman (2004: p.122) to explain the fifth stage. This can be considered a mix of the three types of social capital (bonding, bridging, and linking). It also provides scaffolding connections covering across and between scales and sectors within a limited group of people or places as shown by the previously mentioned ceremony at a welfare center (Table 1 here).

YAS program
This YAS (Youth Autobiography School) program for seniors was the second participatory and collaborative autobiography-writing program held since it started in 2014. It took place for about 7 months from May 11 to 21 November 2015 at the senior welfare center, Deo Bu Leo Rok ("Be happy together") in Gwangju. The YAS is one of the four projects under the umbrella name "Creative Arts School" sponsored by the Gwangju Cultural Foundation since 2012. Available to citizens from elementary students to seniors, the four projects provide opportunities for various creative cultural experiences. When we prepared the YAS, the project manager of the welfare center and the four arts facilitators held regular meetings to understand the character of this program based on the center were recruited by the project manager (Ms. Lee), who explained the program face to face to the users as well as through notices posted inside the welfare center from March to April 2015. The first program had 25 senior members and 4 arts facilitators, but the average number of participants overall was 16. The gender ratio showed 25% females and 75% males (opposite of most arts programs), and the age proportions showed 6.3% were below 64, 37.5% were 65 − 69, 25% were 70 − 74, and 31.3% were 75 − 79 (Figures 2 and 3 here). The participants had a relatively high education level, with high school and college graduates accounting for over 80%, reflecting a meaningful social phenomenon projected to describe up to 66% of the total senior population in Korea by 2030 (Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 2014). Most were living independently, within a 30-min radius of the welfare center. I, in an effort to reduce privacy concerns, only the family names of participants were used in the study ( Figure 4 and Table 2 here).
The program consisted of 12 classes covering four stages, each with a different purpose−first life (children), second life (young adult), third life (middle adult), and fourth life (present and future) −plus an, entrance ceremony and a sports day. Each class provided a different kind of arts program: painting, listening to golden oldies, recollecting dreamy old days (using a dice game), mementos, drawing-a-lifespan graph, calligraphy (on a fan), taking pictures (using a cellphone), experience trip 1 (museum), writing 1 and 2, experience trip 2 (an arts village), as well as the graduation and publication ceremony. I expanded the number of stages from four to five, based on the study results. The class took place two times a day, for two hours each in the morning and afternoon every other week. Six autobiographies were completed this year (Table 3 here). Modified by the author (Coleman, 1988;Putnam, 2001;Rydin & Holman, 2004;Lee, 2013a) Figure 2. Gender Ratio of participants.

Methodology and methods
The primary objective of this research was to explore the effects of arts programs for seniors, with regard to the results and process based on the benefits of arts and social capital generated by participation in the arts program "Youth Autobiography School (YAS)". This program started with the motivation of helping seniors maintain or regain dignity as they aged, and changing their own and modern society's negative stereotypes of seniors.
This research used, action research (as cited in Jo, 2015) as a study method, which, as a way of getting to know various circumstances, can be effective in searching for solutions for daily-life problems. In action research, a field researcher initiates a study with the aim of solving particular challenges and, through planned interactions, examines participants' shortcomings or difficulties, discusses the problems deeply and collaborates closely while collecting data and performing analyses to look for better solutions or circumstances (Jeon, 2014;Jonsdottir, 2015;Lee et al., 2013).
Prior to the start of the program, I was introduced to all of the participants by a welfare center staff member. As a researcher and arts facilitator, I could easily become involved with the program participants and additionally benefit from these merits by obtaining thick description for transferability. When conducting analysis, I tried to keep my distance from the participants, though, admittedly, there were a few times when I could not state definitively whether I expected a particular outcome and believed it to be confirmed, or whether that same outcome had been objectively observed outcomes. To maintain credibility, I employed contemporaneous field notes,  and casual interviews as well as project documents (e.g. participants' writings, pictures) in a triangulating fashion. I conducted long-term observations, member checks, and peer reviews to verify dependability for scientific rigor. For the data analysis, I collected the indicators and then  sorted them to make a fit for each category through open coding. During the axial coding process, the eight distinctive outcomes emerged in five stages. Additionally, a questionnaire with 13 items related to the benefits of arts and social capital indicators was carried out four times at regular intervals to an average of 16 attendees of the program. Finally, at the end of this study, I analyzed the outcomes of benefits of arts with social capital networks (Table 4 here).

Research ethics
Approval for this research was obtained through the senior welfare center, Deo Bu Leo Rok, in 2015 (KASW). The process was explained to all the participants in detail, including the voluntary nature of participation and the right to opt-out, and participants provided consent directly prior to the program. In all cases, we followed the code of ethics of the welfare center, whereby unexpected matters were discussed with the participants and the project manager, who attended the whole program, when they were encountered. Consent for photos was obtained through the center as well as from the participants. The photographs and artworks were shared with the welfare center, Deo Bu Leo Rok for the publication and graduation ceremony.

First stageempathy
Through participatory observation, I found that empathy based on shared experience appeared in the second class, listening to golden oldies, as the first outcome. Empathy spread noticeably among the participants and changed the atmosphere to a relaxed and significantly enjoyable one. During the first class of painting, participants had felt uneasy, saying the experience was new to them. However, when the second class of listening to old familiar music took place, all members naturally sang together along with the person they proposed to be the daily DJ, an art facilitator. The shared experience of listening to old songs enabled them to talk to each other more and share memories. Observing the participants, including their facial expressions, what they said, and their actions, I noted that a sudden affectionate atmosphere had developed. This moment was deeply impressive, as evidenced by a field note I made at the time: "as if the air had colored" (1:45 pm, 1 June 2015).
Music is profoundly linked to personal memories; favorite music or songs can trigger memories of lyrics and recollections of experiences connected to that music enable reconnecting to, and interacting with others (Brody, 2016;Huhtinen-Hildén, 2014). The participants came to know that the stories they shared were not only those of others but also their own. As one senior participant said, "I thought it was only my memory, but people here thought like me. I liked sharing my past." Another member said, "It brings back the good old days of running around with friends. I am sure that it is good to come here." Empathy, based on sharing experiences and sentiments, appeared as a distinctive feature in the first stage. Even age gaps (a maximum of 15 years) and gender differences faded and bonding took place instead. The members expressed agreement with each other by nodding. Empathy and an increase in social capital are among the most basic benefits of the arts and arts participation, and having a capacity for empathy enables people to more easily accept unfamiliar others (Hoynes, 2003).
In summary, providing a setting in which participants could trace their memories seemed to be the most important factor of the beginning stage. I could see that bonding social capital was created among members in the first stage and art's intrinsic benefits appeared in a spillover area (see Figure 5). As mentioned previously, I used a questionnaire of the benefits of arts and social capital indicators. Empathy increased from 3.97 to 4.24 of 5 (Likert scale) between the first and fourth survey (see Figure 6).

Second stagetrust
During the program, each arts facilitator was responsible for assisting three participants, especially in the morning class, with writing their autobiographies for the 7 months of the program. The YAS was designed to bring back old memories which produced empathy. This empathy planted mutual understanding and led to increase trust among the participants and arts facilitators. In writing an autobiography, trust is a key element for enabling members to say whatever they want to facilitators and co-workers. When the attendees told their stories about the old days to the young arts facilitators, I could feel that they trusted us deeply. It was clear that for the elders, revealing something that they wanted to hide from a far younger teacher (the participants called us "teachers") was not easy.
One day, a flower pot that we planted on the entrance day was put on a 78-year-old participant's desk and I asked a staff member why "participant Kim" had brought it. She explained that he had brought the pot the week before to show to arts teachers for receiving compliments. We did not have class that week but he had forgotten, and said to himself, "I will bring this again next week." I recalled something he had told us about his childhood: he had lost his mother at the age of six and had been raised by both his grandmother and stepmother, and he once said, "I couldn't settle my mind since elementary school and always felt the lack of maternal affection." In his eagerness to show off his pot, I seemed to see a little boy who could not grow up yet in a part of his mind. (Figure 7 here).
Talking with the staff, I suddenly felt responsible for helping the senior participants, both as an arts facilitator as well as a guide, to accomplish their goals (writing their own autobiographies) According to Reason (2002), there are four ways of knowing: experiential, presentational, propositional, and practical. Experiential knowing occurs through the immediacy of perception such as a face-to-face meeting with a person, place or thing. Presentational knowing grows out of experiential knowing and provides meaning and significance through sound, drawing, and writing about aesthetic imagery. Propositional knowing takes place through ideas and concepts. Finally, practical knowing executes the other forms of knowing to act in the world (Reason, 2002: p. 170). Heron and Reason suggest in action research that "knowing" will become more effective if these four ways are put together, because action research is based on the concepts of interaction, understanding, and transformation (as cited in Kim, 2011: p. 97). To understand the elders, I tried to use all these kinds of knowing, because most of the participants had undergone unthinkable experiences during the 1940-1950s in Korea, which I could not even imagine before.
At the program's end, Participant Kim expressed his trust and gratitude for having received almost-parental affection from the young teachers while he attended the program. He was not a hard-working participant and did not finish his autobiography, but I think that he received a little solace and improved his psychological health through the program, and this counted as success to both him and us facilitators. As McCarthy et al. (2001) has said, the therapeutic effects of the arts, improve mental and physical health, particularly in the elderly. Especially in writing, positive outcomes of the arts show a wide range of learning benefits for participants. Another male participant said, "I can't write well, and I can't think how I can work on my autobiography … but if my teachers help me, something will be able to work." As the literature on the benefits of arts focuses on participants' trust, it can help senior participants perform better in class.
In summary, the participatory and collaborative autobiography-writing program promoted trust based on empathy. Trust can be the main foundation to positive outcomes together. As Hoynes (2003) has pointed out, without a basis trust, based on mutual understanding and respect, it is not possible to advance to the next step. Trust increased from 3.88 to 4.2. During "recollection of dreamy old days" (3 rd class) and "drawing a lifespan graph" (5 th class), both intrinsic and an instrumental benefit of the arts were produced in the spillover and public areas. Bridged-bonding social capital appeared between participants and arts facilitators in this second stage (see Figures  5 and 6).

Third stagefun and pleasure, intellectual growth, relationships
New experiences awakened in the senior participants feeling that learning is fun and pleasurable. Actually, when they took "taking pictures" (Class 7) and "the first experience trip" (Class 8), the participants seemed to be like elementary school students expressing their joy and pleasure. One of the participants said it was the first time in his life that he had experienced these activities, and he would recommend this class to others. Another male participant, one who was timid and calm person and, usually spoke only when asked, said of himself, "seems like shoots are coming out on an old tree." Participants showed interest in learning about arts and culture. The Intellectual growth caused by enjoying learning jumped abruptly in the Class 8 when they started connecting their lives to arts, and their will to learn and know more increased fast. As Hoynes (2003) has asserted, the arts afford varied modes of learning, creating greater opportunities for learners as well as facilitators to connect in productive ways. During their first experience trip to Wanju city where an art village is located, I noticed that the participants were eager to learn new things and listened enthusiastically to the guide's commentary about the history of the place. After looking around, we talked about what they had seen and thought. This time, nobody was timid or hesitated to express their feelings: It seems that I am peeled like layers of an onion while taking classes. I am stimulated by new ideas and make notes of whatever pops up in my mind. [Participant Choi] Looking back, I have been living with blinkers on my eyes until these days, like a frog (fish) in a small pond. From now on, I'd like to enlarge my learning by looking ahead … I was satisfied looking at those old relics and new technologies being put together and I'd also like to keep a balance between the old (himself) and new (learning) together.
[Participant Lee's writing] Such remarks support the ideas that education relating to arts and culture is a kind of investment in the creativity of citizens, and that artistic creativity not only sustains itself but also promotes the capacity for imagination and innovation in other endeavors (Huhtinen-Hildén, 2014). Additionally, intellectual growth is directly connected to critical thinking ability which leads participants to improve their intellectual development toward the arts and culture (Coleman, 1990;Hutzel & Kim, 2013;McCarthy et al., 2001;Newton, 1997).
I found out that culture is like a document in which the human past, like buildings, bookstores, pictures, and writings, is written … Then, considering the life of a man, we can say life is an art itself. So, if I can draw a more beautiful design, my life might be more valuable.
[Interview with participant Choi] Relationships among the participants started developing and their networks expanded dramatically because the two groups (the morning and afternoon classes) joined for the first time. I could observe intimacy beginning between the two groups as co-workers under the YAS. Maybe the informal atmosphere of being out of the classroom facilitated a more inclusive and accessible environment that enabled the members to relax better and frankly share ideas during active engagement. Among them, especially close relationships between some members were noticed: "I made a good friend here. While we were sitting together taking class, our friendship was getting closer. I think our relationship will go further even after this program is over." Actually, I anticipate seeing these two participants in the same program again the following year. This shows how arts help to provide a "social glue" to cement people to each other (as cited in Hoynes, 2003).
During this stage, the participants felt that learning arts is fun and pleasurable, which generated intellectual growth and relationships. Fun & Pleasure increased from 4.06 to 4.6, Intellectual growth from 3.88 to 4.47, and Relationships from 4 to 4.4. In addition, the intrinsic and instrumental benefits of the arts expanded from the private and the spillover to the public area with a widened bridged-bonding social capital (see Figures 5 and 6).

Fourth stagecaptivation, self-satisfaction
Approaching the last stage of this program, the atmosphere of class felt different. Specifically, captivation stood out in the morning class of the fourth stage. To concentrate on their work, participants did not take breaks or chat during classes. We used most of the time on writing and modifying during Classes 9 and 10. Their speed and will to write well increased quickly; an interest in how to write well intensified as well. In this research, captivation appeared at Class 9 out of 12, suggesting that this effect may have been cumulative. In other words, they reached a point at which believed it was time to learn how to learn. Participants must invest basic time to build their knowledge base about writing. To develop the personal skills needed to put their knowledge into practice, also requires time. However, once the learning process starts, even small changes can bring about high levels of benefits (Carnwath & Brown, 2014;McCarthy et al., 2001). One participant mentioned that he usually wrote his autobiography after midnight sometimes working until dawn. He even developed a callus on his ankle-bone because he wrote sitting on the floor. I could definitely notice that the participants were immersed in their writing. Besides, self-satisfaction of the participants emerged at the end of the class: I am so happy that a nobody like me was able to write my own autobiography.
[ As seniors become more educated, their attitude toward community engagement improved. It also leads to individual and community-building social ties over time, leaping to high levels of personal and community benefits (Carnwath & Brown, 2014;Fraser, Bungay, & Munn-Giddings, 2014;McCarthy et al., 2001). Finally, at the graduation and publication ceremony (Class 12), the published autobiographies and the documented books of the YAS program were exhibited as accomplishments of and for the participants. Many guests were invited including family members, friends, last year's graduates, and civil servants as well as a district representative. One of the comments included this: This accomplishment was not a single person's effort, but thanks to all persons who did their duties fully in their positions, including teachers, staff, the Gwangju Cultural Foundation, which did not care about the number of participants and the results, as well as the very participants. I respect all of you. Certainly, the community can do something, because it is always wiser than a single person. We can see it again here (in the welfare center).
[The chief of the welfare center] (Figure 8 here).
Mutual experiences through which participants have shared empathy enhanced trust at an individual level, and led to wider relationships at a group level. Ultimately, the relationships built expanded into the community level, because the arts build bridges among people in the larger community (Carnwath & Brown, 2014;Hoynes, 2003). Community engagement increased from 3.66 to 4.24.
At the end of this stage, I could identify the coexistence of the arts' intrinsic and instrumental benefits in the public area. Additionally, bracing social capital, which contains linking capital between senior participants and invited guests positioned at different levels, and bridged-bonding capital between the senior members and facilitators, appeared at the same time. The reason for anchoring social capital in the last stage seemed to be that all the aforementioned distinctive outcomes did not appear or disappear at only one stage. Instead, they connected and affected as a chain reaction to cause the next outcomes (see Figures 5 and 6).

Conclusions
This article studied the benefits of arts and social capital for seniors as generated during the arts program "Youth Autobiography School" (YAS) with the motivation of enabling seniors to live second lives that are more dignified. Participatory and collaborative arts including painting, music, taking pictures, trips, calligraphy, and writing were practiced during the 7 months of the program period.
First, eight distinctive outcomes of the five YAS stages were derived. All of them connected to one another, accumulated in a chain reaction, and the produced outcomes expanded from individual benefits into public ones through this program. Second, areas of private and public mixed in the spillover area. Finally, as the program continued, bonding, bridged-bonding, and bracing social capital came into being. Bonding tied the senior members based on empathy and bridged-bonding connected them as well as the facilitators, allowing them a deeper relationship based on trust. Bridged-bonding is effective as a social glue to build cohesive relationships by bonding people from different backgrounds, genders, and age, especially for seniors. The Health and Welfare Data Panel (National Institute for Lifelong Education, 2015) has reported that 23% of seniors in Korea live alone. Thus, bridged-bonding could be one way to not exclude seniors to alleviate the severe symptoms of increasing isolation. Bracing denotes that seniors' social capital will positively affect not only individuals but also spill over to affiliated communities.
Based on the results of this research, I could confirm that the participants had changed culturally through the process of the arts program. These private benefits expanded from families, friends, and groups to larger public ones such as the community level. I suggest that arts and culture learning for seniors should not be seen as a temporary leisure activity but as a systematic learning phase for continuously taking development to the next level, so as to benefit not only individuals but also−ultimately−the community.
Arts programs for seniors are in their beginning stage in South Korea, and this study could be used as basis for understanding and motivating present elders more, as well as to increase the number of senior arts programs.