Science and Art Integration Project: Innovation in Buddhist Gestalt Dramatic Art to Strengthen the Social Adaptation of the Elderly

Abstract

This research aims 1) to study the elderly social adaptation (SA) and the participation model of network organizations in enhancing SA (PMNO) in 2 areas: urban-Bangkurat Municipality, Nonthaburi (A1) and rural-Nongmoo Municipality, Saraburi (A2), 2) to create and experiment with Innovation in Buddhist Gestalt Dramatic Art (IBGTA). Then, the perfect results were used to create a lesson set for enhancing the SA by IBGTA. 3) Disseminate the knowledge and IBGTA to the public. There were 56 key informants and 54 senior school students from A1 and A2. The results found the elderly had similar SA problems in both areas for all six aspects. PMNO is DIBE -Decision, Implement, Benefit, and Evaluation. Results showed that SA and SQL scores, after using IBGTA, were statistically significantly higher than before the experiment, thus accepting the hypothesis of the research. The elderly in both areas use similar solutions: Mental aspects and Physical aspects. The result still showed the efficiency of IBGTA in encouraging the elderly to be satisfied with this method. They could learn from their problems by looking inside themselves and others. Acting helps convey emotions and communicate problems more easily without using a lot of words. IBGTA makes fun of activities, relieves loneliness, makes friends, and is easy to apply to real life. The impact is the urge of other senior citizens and senior schools’ interest. The research results were shown in 2 conferences, two articles were published in 2 national journals, and 1 article was published in an international journal.