What is it about?
During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, sewing face masks gave older adults the ability to help other people. It gave them a feeling of value, worthiness and purpose. Additionally, they felt more in control in a chaotic world as they made masks to protect themselves, their loved ones, as well as strangers. The philanthropic crafting enhanced older adults’ well-being in many ways.
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Photo by Vera Davidova on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Older adults often struggle with purpose and value. Philanthropic crafting is one way to address that. There are things that help older adults derive value and purpose from crafting, and this study uncovered several of them.
Perspectives
This study was conducted because I noticed the psychological benefits of sewing face masks, and so I designed and conducted a study to investigate whether it was helping others as well. Even doing this research during the early months of the pandemic was psychologically beneficial!
Dr. Christine Guy Schnittka
Auburn University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Older adults’ philanthropic crafting of face masks during COVID-19, Craft Research, September 2021, Intellect,
DOI: 10.1386/crre_00051_1.
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