None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
People with dementia and their caregivers often experience loneliness and depression, which can impact their quality of life and caregiver burden. One promising social intervention is choir singing - an accessible and enjoyable activity that benefits memory and thinking, social connectedness, and mental wellbeing of older adults. Previous studies have reported varying results about the extent to which choirs improve quality of life, mood, and wellbeing for people with dementia and their carers. We are partnering with Bulimba community centre to evaluate the Sing Sing Sing choir program for people with dementia and their caregivers living in the community. We will survey people in the early days of joining the choir (0-3 months post starting intervention) and follow them up once 6-8 months after their first survey to determine whether choir participation improves the quality of life, wellbeing, mood and loneliness of people with dementia and their carers; and whether it reduces burden for carers of people with dementia. We will also interview the participants to ask them about what they have experienced as the most significant change for them since taking part in the choir. By building on the growing body of research into choirs for people living with dementia, we will develop an evidence base to understand how to make these interventions most effective.
Interventions
Weekly community choir rehearsals, during school terms, for people living with dementia and their carers. The choir is run by a choral conductor at Bulimba Community Centre. The choir meets in person at the community centre. The choir rehearsals run for 2 hours and include morning tea. Attendance is monitored each week and noted down on an attendance checklist. Volunteer "choir buddies" help to provide vocal support, social support, and organise morning tea.
The choir rehearsals involve vocal
Weekly community choir rehearsals, during school terms, for people living with dementia and their carers. The choir is run by a choral conductor at Bulimba Community Centre. The choir meets in person at the community centre. The choir rehearsals run for 2 hours and include morning tea. Attendance is monitored each week and noted down on an attendance checklist. Volunteer "choir buddies" help to provide vocal support, social support, and organise morning tea. The choir rehearsals involve vocal warm up exercises such as breathing exercises, tongue twisters, lip trills, and scale exercises. After the warm-up the choir will learn new songs. The songs will be broken down into sections and sung on repeat to practice. Sometimes the conductor will focus on learning the lyrics and at other times hitting the right notes. Participants are also taught how to follow the conductor's cues. Some of the songs will also involve singing in rounds. At the end of the rehearsal the choir will be able to sing a couple of songs all the way through. They will revisit songs they have learnt in future weeks. The choir also has a few performances through the year. The research study will be conducted during the first year of the members participating in the choir.
Sponsors
University of Queensland
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participating in the Sing Sing Sing choir at Bulimba Community Centre (i.e., people living with dementia and their caregivers)
Exclusion criteria
If unable to provide consent or understand questions due to severe cognitive impairment
Outcome results
None listed