Quality of Life and Mental Health After a Community Arts and Music Program for Older Adults in Ambato, Ecuador: A Retrospective Single-Group Pre–Post Evaluation

Background/Objectives: Participatory arts are increasingly used to promote the mental health of older adults, but evidence from Andean Latin America is scarce. This study describes changes in quality of life, depressive and anxiety symptoms, cognitive reappraisal and loneliness among older adults who took part in a community arts and music programme in Ambato, Ecuador. Methods: We conducted a retrospective secondary analysis of single-group pre–post evaluation data from 24 older adults who completed a university-delivered programme combining visual arts, music-based activities and psychosocial accompaniment. Outcomes were the WHOQOL-BREF domains, PHQ-9, GAD-7, ERQ cognitive reappraisal and the three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale. Mean changes with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), Holm-adjusted paired tests, standardised effect sizes and individually meaningful change were estimated. Results: The psychological (+21.9 points; 95% CI 14.5 to 29.3; dz = 1.25) and social relationship (+12.0 points; 95% CI 4.6 to 19.4; dz = 0.68) domains improved, whereas the physical and environment domains did not change appreciably. Depressive (−2.50 points; 95% CI −4.02 to −0.98) and anxiety (−3.00 points; 95% CI −4.25 to −1.75) symptoms and loneliness decreased, and reappraisal increased (all Holm-adjusted p ≤ 0.010). However, only 7 and 8 of 24 participants achieved clinically important reductions in depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively, and six had lower average quality-of-life scores at follow-up. Conclusions: Programme participation was associated with gains in psychological and social quality of life and modest, heterogeneous symptom reductions. Given the uncontrolled design, small sample and absence of longer-term follow-up, these findings are hypothesis-generating and warrant controlled evaluation.