Assessing the Acceptability and Potential Emotional Well-Being Outcomes of a Digital, Intergenerational Music Program for Older Adults Living with Dementia

ABSTRACT

Cases of Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia are expected to triple in the next thirty years. Consequences of the disease include a decline in emotional well-being, which was exacerbated by the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the acceptability and potential effects of a digital, intergenerational music intervention delivered by adolescent musicians on the affect and emotions of older adults living with dementia. The study was exploratory, followed a pre- post- test design, and had 14 participants. Affect was examined using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and emotion was observed using the Observed Emotion Rating Scale. Additionally, this study assessed acceptability by asking participants about their willingness to continue and gathering qualitative feedback in focus groups. Results showed an increase in positive affect and positive trends in duration of sustained pleasure and alertness, as well as a high percentage of willingness to continue and positive feedback. Digital, intergenerational music is a promising intervention to continue examining in future studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Alzheimer’s
• dementia
• music
• emotional well-being
• adolescents

Contributions to the field

• Demonstrates the potential of a digital, intergenerational music intervention delivered by adolescents to influence the emotional well-being of older adults living with dementia, influencing the planning of future pilot and efficacy studies.

• Provides an understanding about the acceptability of a digital, intergenerational music intervention delivered by adolescents to older adults living with dementia, informing the content and design of intergenerational music interventions.

• Highlights outcome measures of emotional well-being administered with a range of dementia severity levels, informing future studies and programs about the potential of an adolescent-delivered music intervention to reach those living with different stages of dementia.

Acknowledgments

We thank Adrian Anantawan, Eric Goode, Michelle Govan, Amy Kowinsky, Deanna Page, Pam Russo, and Stacy Stull. We thank Dementia360 for their participation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Registration and protocol

This research was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04645017.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support was provided by the National Endowments for the Arts [1891751-38] and the National Institute on Aging [R01AG056351].