Recent research conducted by staff at the University of Tasmania and Aged Care Deloraine has found that a group singing program can improve the quality of life for people living with dementia.
This research assessed the effects of singing on changes in breathing capacity and the well-being of people living with dementia. This is an important area to investigate as people with dementia are vulnerable to breathing difficulties which can reduce their quality of life.
The study was led by Anne-Marie Forbes, Director of Creative Arts and Health at the University of Tasmania’s School of Creative Arts and was assisted by Senior Lecturer at the Wicking Centre, Dr Lyn Goldberg. Dr Goldberg assisted with data collection that measured breathing support and perceived quality of life. The data collection took place before and after the implementation of the 8-week group singing program at Aged Care Deloraine. Other members of the research team included Associate Professor Anthea Vreugdenhil and Clinical Professor Richard Wood-Baker.
The singing program, integrating the use of kazoos, was devised and administered by the registered music therapist, Alexandra Morse, in the team. Each weekly session was structured with group discussion, an opening song, gentle body exercises, breathing exercises, vocal exercises, familiar singing from memory, familiar singing with lyric sheets, new songs and a closing song.
Alexandra explained how the kazoo assisted in the study: “The kazoo provides a bit of pressure to sing against. I could sing with them [the residents with dementia] and not have to verbally give them the cue to use the kazoos. We could just make fun of making lovely music together whilst collecting data”. A video was developed by the College of Arts, Law and Education to showcase research partnerships. To view the entire video please see below:
Fourteen residents with mild to moderate dementia participated in this pilot study. Before and after the 8-week group singing program, each resident provided measures of their breathing ability using kazoos, spirometry, impulse oscillometry, and plethysmography. Each resident also completed a health-related quality of life survey (EuroQol-5 Dimension), suitable for people with dementia. The social situation was valuable in encouraging participation and the kazoos were a hit with the residents who had trouble with conventional lung function testing. While the sample of 14 residents was too small to expect any changes in the lung function outcome measures in this pilot study, there was a significant improvement in residents’ self-reported quality of life.
These findings are encouraging and will be presented in June at an international conference in Barcelona, Spain. They will inform the development and further testing of the singing program and the outcome assessment tools.
Dr Lyn Goldberg is a Senior Lecturer at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre.
