Assessing an Intergenerational Music Program Delivered by Adolescents to Older Adults With Declining Cognition

Study Summary

Intergenerational music programming has been shown to benefit both young people and older adults in terms of quality of life, social connection, and promotion of positive cross-age attitudes. During a time that older adults are facing increasing social isolation, a need exists to offer meaningful programming that can reach older adults living with memory loss. The investigators want to assess if an intergenerational music program that is delivered by adolescent music facilitators is feasible and appropriate to both the young musicians and the older adult participants. This program will be designed on Zoom but will able to be delivered in the same manner in-person, offering it flexibility to reach a variety of participants. This program is unique in that it brings together two populations who have shown to be positively affected by engaging in music - adolescents and older adults with memory loss. As a result of this work, teenage musicians will be empowered to adapt and share a music program utilizing best research practices and create new connections with an older generation. Older adults will receive a research-informed music program that will be geared to helping their musical understanding and participation, as well as an opportunity to create new connections with a younger generation. Findings from this work will generate a music program with clearly defined ingredients that can be delivered and is accepted by both its facilitators and participants, providing a foundation for future studies to assess outcomes such as social connection, cognitive benefits, and emotional well-being. This program will be built carefully utilizing stakeholder engagement from the adolescent facilitators and older adult participants. Specifically, for Aim 1 the investigators will explore the feasibility of the music program by its facilitators by conducting in-depth interviews with a sample of adolescent facilitators before, during, and after they administer the music intervention t

Primary Outcome

Test the fidelity of young musicians delivering the music program to older adults. 80% adherence as measured via Fidelity Review forms will determine that the program was administered with fidelity. Fidelity reviews will provide data if the music facilitators consistently were able to administer the ingredients of the music intervention with adherence. A percentage will be calculated for reporting.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Intergenerational Music Program