• Partner with residents and management in one senior housing building in Hartford, CT, to implement a building-based arts intervention.
• Collaborate with building residents and management to assess the feasibility, acceptability, satisfaction, cost, and short-term outcomes of the intervention.
• Assess the internal infrastructure and inter-organizational partnerships necessary for expanding and sustaining the proposed program over time.
• Introduce community elders to the idea of photographing images and using these images to tell others about the experiences that shaped their lives.
• Utilize narrative interviews as venues for residents to share meaningful experiences, thoughts on healthy aging, philosophies of life, and food recipes that have special meaning.
• Produce a catalogue of the exhibit on CD, for public dissemination.

Project Details
Thirty residents reflecting the age, gender and ethnic diversity of the building's population, chose to participate in some or all of the activities that included: 1) a photography workshop conducted by a bilingual photographer; 2) photography by resident photographers, assisted by the professional, who took their own photographs of images that had special meaning for them; 3) portrait sittings for residents who chose to have formal portraits of themselves; and 4) narrative interviews exploring "recipes for life" and lived experience. Many non-participating residents, as well as outside networks of extended family members and friends, attended the opening reception and exhibit. At this event, residents who were not involved in the original project expressed interest in participating in a similar intervention in the future.

"Recipes for Life" has demonstrated a sustainable approach for increasing social engagement, strengthening cultural identity, fostering creative expression, empowering participants, and improving mental health and well being among residents of senior housing in Hartford, CT. The positive responses of building staff and residents toward "Recipes for Life" suggested that ICR build on this pilot experience by expanding the program both within the original building and into other senior housing in Hartford. Residents' enthusiasm about the project suggests that by increasing capacity (ability) in local settings, arts-based interventions such as "Recipes for Life" can be meaningful and sustainable programs in senior housing.