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. 2024;36(3):451-468.
doi: 10.1080/10400419.2023.2272105. Epub 2023 Nov 7.

Feasibility and acceptability of a group music creativity intervention for adults with varying cognitive function

E Lydia Wu-Chung  1 , Anthony K Brandt  2 , Melia E Bonomo  3 , Bryan T Denny  1 , Christof Karmonik  4   5 , J Todd Frazier  5 , Karl Blench  3 , Christopher P Fagundes  1   6   7
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Feasibility and acceptability of a group music creativity intervention for adults with varying cognitive function

E Lydia Wu-Chung et al. Creat Res J. 2024.

Abstract

Maintaining healthy cognitive functioning and delaying cognitive decline in cognitively intact and cognitive impaired adults are major research initiatives for addressing dementia disease burden. Music interventions are promising, non-pharmaceutical treatment options for preserving cognitive function and psychological health in older adults with varying levels of cognitive function. While passive, music interventions have attracted considerable attention in the abnormal cognitive aging literature, active, music interventions such as music creativity are less well-studied. Among 58 older adults with different levels of cognitive function (cognitively healthy to mild cognitive impairment), we examined the feasibility and acceptability of Project CHROMA, a Stage 1 clinical trial developed to assess the effects of a novel, music creativity curriculum on various health outcomes. Music intervention participation (93%), overall study retention (78%), and intervention satisfaction (100%) rates were comparable to other similarly designed clinical trials. Exploratory analyses using mixed-level modeling tested the efficacy of the intervention on cognitive and psychological outcomes. Compared to those in the control condition, participants in the music condition showed some improvements in cognitive functioning and socioemotional well-being. Findings suggest that a 6-week music creativity clinical trial with several multi-modal health assessments can be feasibly implemented within a sample of varying cognitive ability.

Keywords: clinical trial; cognition; creativity; mild cognitive impairment; music; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1a.
Figure 1a.
Performance on digit span over time by treatment (raw summary scores)
Figure 1b.
Figure 1b.
Performance on digit span sequency across visits by treatment (raw total score)
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Performance on the Mini Mental State Exam across visits by treatment
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Role functioning (emotional) across visits by treatment
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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