Museum programming and mood: Participant responses to an object-based reminiscence outreach program in retirement communities

Abstract

Background: Previous research suggests that group reminiscence offers psychosocial benefits, but studies have focused on multi session programs. This study examines mood changes related to a single-session object-based museum outreach reminiscence program. Methods: Twelve independent-living retirement communities, with 114 total participants, participated. A pre-test/post-test design was used to collect survey data, and a repeated-measures t-test, linear regression and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results: Mood scores were found to be significantly higher after the program, and mood changes were significantly related to participants' interest in the program's topic. Findings related to participant reactions and survey administration were also presented. Conclusions: The results of this study support the use of object-based reminiscence in museum outreach to retirement communities, suggesting it may have significant short-term impact on mood. The findings also suggest that it is important to align program content with topical interests of participants. Directions for further research are discussed.

Keywords::

• objects
• reminiscence
• older adults
• museum
• outreach

Notes

^1. No patterns in the incomplete questions were found that would suggest an issue with the items.

^2. Median scores are reported because the responses to some items were not normally distributed.