| The purpose of this study was to determine whether older adults with dementia would exhibit a change in cued behaviors (on-task, verbal prompting, visual prompting, physical guidance) and spontaneous behaviors (i.e. smiling, extending hands, hugging, laughing, etc.) when children were present during a music therapy program. Twenty-two older adults diagnosed with dementia and 17 preschool children from a nursing home/daycare center in Missouri served as participants in this study. Older adults were ranked in order of their Mini Mental State Exam test scores and by gender. To ensure that groups were equal in cognition levels and gender, older adult participants were then matched based on this rank and then randomly placed in one of three groups, Intergenerational Music Therapy Group (Group 1), Music Therapy Only Group (Group M), and the Control Group (Group C). Children in the preschool class were only assigned to Group I. Each group met one time per week, for 30-minute sessions across an 8-week period. All sessions were videotaped for later analysis and coding of cued and spontaneous behaviors. A brief post-study questionnaire was given on the last day of the study to the memory care unit staff members and child daycare staff that assisted in the study to document any changes seen in the older adults, as well as provide an opportunity to give feedback on the study. Graphic analysis of weekly percentage means and percentage means across the 8-week period revealed that older adults in intergenerational music therapy programs did not have a lower mean percentage of observed cued behaviors when interacting with children in an intergenerational program. Older adults would generally maintain their "normal" engagement of being either passive or active participants in each group session. Also, older adults did have a higher mean percentage in certain spontaneous behaviors (touching, holding hands, hugging) when interacting with children in an intergenerational program. Older adults were more alert and oriented to their environment when children were present, in turn creating more opportunities to interact and/or respond spontaneously with his/her environment. Post-study questionnaires indicated that staff members observed positive behavioral changes in older adults that lasted for several hours after the completion of all sessions. Study limitations and recommendations for further research in intergenerational music therapy programming are discussed. Trends can only be interpreted for this specific sample due to having such a small sample size. |
