Browsing by Subject "taide- ja kulttuuriharrastus"

In this candidate´s dissertation I examined the finnish liberal, non-formal adult education in the context of artistic and cultural activities and their effects on social capital and well-being. Liberal adult education sector provides non-formal, non-degree-oriented adult education in Finland. The effects of non-formal adult education are mainly studied in qualitative methods by searching experiences of the attendants. There is a lot of research available on the subject, and the results have been the encouraging: liberal adult education has benefits linked to increasing social capital. Attending in education expands the circle of friends and active citizenship. Professor Jyri Manninen and Sara Luukantele have produced several reports based on qualitative material on the impact of liberal adult education on participant's life. The health effects of participation in arts and cultural activities has been studied lot in Finland and internationally. In several studies, arts and cultural activities have been shown to be linked in longevity and well-being. Markku T. Hyyppä has studied the effects of cultural interactions and well-being and longevity in Finland. By studying Swedish speaking minority and Finnish speaking majority and their attendance in community participation and singing in a choir, Hyyppä has been able to show that social participation and social capital associates with self-rated good health. Social capital is one of the forms of human resources. Originally refined by Pierre Bourdieu, it is described to be a type of capital resource, that is built in networks and other social interaction. The concept of social capital was developed alongside human capital and physical resources to explain economic growth. Retirement is a big turning point in human life. It effects all aspects of life and can cause challenges when, for example, the range of life and social networks shrink. An aging body and new kinds of health issues may also set challenges. Some research has been done concerning artistic and cultural participation to meet the challenges of retirement and the physical ageing process.The results have been positive, artistic or cultural interaction seems to be connected with wellbeing, it can for exampe help to reaffirm older age identity. Liberal adult education sector is the only large scale provider of education based on the principle of lifelong learning for the elderly. The ongoing change in the age structure of finnish population and the longer and healthier life will increase the demand for courses for the elderly also in the arts and cultural subjects.