Our signature training for Senior Living. Now booking 2026!

EXPERIENCE CREATIVE AGING TRAINING

Explore Academy

Over six weeks, you’ll explore the foundation of creative aging as a field and learn to develop intentional, engaging programs with older adults — all within a supportive community of peers.

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Creativity-Infused Staff Training for Senior Living

Joy-focused approach that leverages creative assets to develop programs that engage older adults

Focus on staff-well being, creativity, and engagement

Community-based learning experience with other professionals in the U.S.

Multiple delivery formats / Fast onboarding

What You’ll Experience

Each session builds on the next, blending creativity and research into practical tools you can use immediately in your work with older adults.

6 learning sessions

Group learning circle with up to 25 team members

Creative pre-work and reflection activities between sessions

Hands-on creative tools including poetry, journaling, drawing and more

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Who is this workshop for?

Certified Nursing Assistants

women walking with a senior person

Resident Service Coordinators

Skilled Nursing

Women sitting with a senior person

Senior Service Providers

Training With Purpose

BENEFITS TO RESIDENTS

  • Higher Quality of Living

  • Better Relationships w/staff

  • Psychological Richness

BENEFITS TO ORGANIZATIONS

  • Reduction of turnover risk

  • Increase in job performance

  • Decreased sick days

  • More employee engagement

BENEFITS TO STAFF

  • Increased Job Satisfaction

  • More Connection

  • Less Burnout

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Testimonials

✦ Testimonials

  • Two women smiling and working on a craft project at a table, wearing blue gloves. Another person is in the background focusing on their work. The setting appears to be a workshop or classroom.

    "Creative Spark is CPR for the soul. You feed us so we can feed the residents. You've inspired me to bring residents together across levels of care in creative ways."

  • People painting with watercolors on a wooden table, surrounded by art supplies like brushes, colored pencils, water bottles, and napkins.

    “Creative Spark inspired me to work more with my team; to continue to shift my thinking and belief systems about what it means to grow older; to discover what lights me up so I can use it to help others find what lights them up.”

Course Overview

  • Session One: Leading with Joy

    Session Two: Creative Aging Principles We start by building a robust vocabulary for creative aging grounded in research and embedded in a theoretical framework. Through interactive exercises a learning circle is created to share what is special in us to bring out what is special in others. This immersive and experiential training is designed to create a sense of trust and form a base of knowledge that will guide our exploration. Discover the field of creative aging as it relates to brain function, human development, research, and history.

  • Session Three: Applying a Creative Lens and Utilizing a Virtual Platform

    Session Four: Program Design and EvaluationExplore co-learning with participants and celebrate the potential of ‘WhatIf’ when developing programs. Learn how to trust your instincts and bravely challenge the status quo (push your own boundaries). This module takes you through curriculum design, program evaluation, and discover best practices in how to translate programs virtually in an inclusive and accessible way.

  • Session Five: Connecting Programs to Purpose

    Session Six: Looking Back to Move Forward Our final module fosters growth as we set a challenge, support discovery, and celebrate achievement. We’ll examine culminating events as a means to shift culture and build bridges. Let’s reveal the creative possibilities of beginnings and endings understanding that they are one in the same.

Training Formats

In-Person Session

Custom Pricing*

  • 1-2 day workshop intensive at your site for up to 25 people

  • 2 Creative Spark facilitators

  • Hands on art making activities for learners

  • Reading list and handouts provided

  • Administrator support packet to facilitate internal culture shift and implementation of Creative Spark experience onsite

  • One year of CS E-Learning Community access for participating learners for 1 year.

    *Price is based on total number of learners and travel requirements

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Live Virtual

$1,000

  • Six virtual “camera on” sessions
    (1 hour per week) for up to 25 people

  • Plug and play Creative Spark curriculum package

  • Recording of all sessions

  • Tool and resource sheets (i.e. reading lists, activity sheets)

  • Administrator support packet to facilitate internal culture shift and implementation of Creative Spark methods onsite

  • One year of CS E-Learning Community access for participating learners for 1 year.

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Self-Paced

COMING SOON!

  • Access to exclusive learning content for your staff for 1 year

  • Curriculum includes
    26 online self-paced lessons

  • Training Kick-Off Session that includes a pre-recorded Creating Joy at Work session (value $1,000)

  • Interactive community connections via role-based discussion board

  • Downloadable resources (i.e. reading lists, activity sheets, etc.)

  • Ongoing learner support and weekly office hours with Creative Spark staff

  • Access to Monthly Creative Spark gatherings and our annual Creative Aging Symposium

  • Administrator support packet to facilitate internal culture shift and implementation of Creative Spark methods onsite

  • One year of CS E-Learning Community access for participating learners for 1 year.

Learn More

Interested in creative aging training but still have questions?

Reach out to Program Manager Veronicah Cohen to schedule a complimentary 1-on-1 call to discuss how Creative Spark can help. 

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FAQs

  • Description text goes hereExplore Academy strengthens key drivers of retention—connection, confidence, creativity, and job satisfaction. Learners leave with practical tools to run more engaging programs with residents, which leads to better relationships, fewer burnout-related absences, and improved day-to-day morale. Organizations often report reduced turnover risk and noticeable increases in engagement within the first few weeks. Try our ROI Calculator to estimate your potential savings!

  •  Yes. Sessions are one hour per week, with flexible scheduling for virtual cohorts. Pre-work is brief (30–60 minutes) and can be completed asynchronously. For organizations needing minimal disruption, the self-paced version offers even greater flexibility.

  • Each format provides substantial long-term value: a full curriculum, creative tools, facilitator support, and one year of access to the CS E-Learning Community for ongoing access to other professionals around the country. The virtual and self-paced options allow organizations to train up to 25 staff at once, making it a cost-effective investment per learner and reducing the need for repeated outside training.

  • Explore Academy is built on research-backed creative aging practices that have been shown to improve staff well-being, communication, and engagement with residents. In our early beta testing we consistently heard that staff felt more energized, confident, and connected after completing the program. Residents report richer social interactions and more meaningful daily experiences. Plus, program evaluations show measurable improvements in burnout reduction, job satisfaction, and the quality of resident engagement.

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Book Now

Interested in creative aging training but still have questions?

Reach out to Program Manager Veronicah Cohen to schedule a complimentary 1-on-1 call to discuss how Creative Spark can help. 

Contact Us

Meet Your Instructors

Jessica McCracken, MPA

Jessica brings people together through the creative process. Her career began at the Center for Elders and Youth in the Arts, Institute on Aging in 2007. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Non-pro­fit Arts Management. As an artist deeply rooted in community, Jessica alongside her sister Bridget, founded Trash Mash-Up, an eco-arts program. With enthusiasm for supporting professionals in the field, Jessica co-founded Creative Aging San Francisco (now The Spark Gathering), a collective of individuals utilizing the arts to support healthy aging. Expertise: arts program development, community collaboration, nonpro­fit administration.

Veronicah Cohen, B.S.H.D.

Veronicah advocates for the transformational power of creative expression on the personal and community level. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego with her B.S. in Human Development with an emphasis on older adults. Veronicah’s journey in elder care began with providing creative engagement to senior living residents to promote emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being in new and innovative ways. Veronicah now manages Creative Spark’s grant-funded efforts to bring Creative Spark to a wider audience through our developing e-learning community. Expertise: mindfulness, program management, community collaboration