Clark Imogen N, Baker Felicity A, Tamplin Jeanette, Lee Young-Eun C, Cotton Alice, Stretton-Smith Phoebe A
Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Centre for Research in Music and Health, Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, Norway.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 31;12:598979. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.598979. eCollection 2021.
The wellbeing of people living with dementia and their family caregivers may be impacted by stigma, changing roles, and limited access to meaningful opportunities as a dyad. Group therapeutic songwriting (TSW) and qualitative interviews have been utilized in music therapy research to promote the voices of people with dementia and family caregivers participating in separate songwriting groups but not together as dyads.
This study aimed to explore how ten people with dementia/family caregiver dyads experienced a 6-week group TSW program. Dyads participated in homogenous TSW groups involving 2-4 dyads who were either living together in the community (2 spousal groups) or living separately because the person with dementia resided in a care home (1 family group, 1 spousal group). The TSW program, informed by personhood, couplehood, family centered and group process frameworks, involved creating original lyrics through song parody and song collage. Qualified Music Therapists facilitated sessions and interviewed each dyad separately. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Five recurrent group themes were developed, indicating group TSW: (1) was a positive shared experience, benefiting both members of the dyad and motivating further engagement with music; (2) stimulated mental processes and reignited participants' interests and skills; (3) provided meaningful opportunities for reflection and connection with memories and life experiences; and (4) prompted interaction and collaboration, leading to social connections, empathic relationships and experiences of inclusion. Participants also highlighted how: (5) the facilitated process supported engagement, highlighting abilities and challenging doubts.
Dyads identified group TSW as an opportunity to recognize strengths, voice ideas and opinions, share meaningful experiences, and do "more with music." Participants valued TSW as a new, creative and stimulating experience that enabled connection with self and others and led to feelings of pride and achievement. Our findings further recognize how therapeutic intention and approach were reflected in participants' engagement and responses regardless of dementia stage and type, dyad relationship, or musical background. This research may broaden perspectives and expand understanding about how people with dementia and their family caregivers access and engage in music therapy.
痴呆症患者及其家庭照顾者的福祉可能会受到耻辱感、角色变化以及作为二元组获得有意义机会有限的影响。在音乐治疗研究中，团体治疗性歌曲创作（TSW）和定性访谈已被用于促进痴呆症患者和家庭照顾者的声音，他们分别参与歌曲创作小组，但并非作为二元组共同参与。
本研究旨在探讨十对痴呆症患者/家庭照顾者二元组如何体验为期6周的团体TSW项目。二元组参与了同质性的TSW小组，每个小组有2 - 4个二元组，其中一些二元组在社区共同生活（2个配偶组），或者因为痴呆症患者居住在养老院而分开生活（1个家庭组，1个配偶组）。TSW项目以个人、夫妻、家庭为中心和团体过程框架为指导，通过歌曲模仿和歌曲拼贴创作原创歌词。合格的音乐治疗师主持课程并分别采访每个二元组。使用解释现象学分析对访谈进行分析。
形成了五个反复出现的团体主题，表明团体TSW：（1）是一种积极的共享体验，使二元组的双方成员都受益，并激发了对音乐的进一步参与；（2）刺激了心理过程，重新点燃了参与者的兴趣和技能；（3）为反思以及与记忆和生活经历的联系提供了有意义的机会；（4）促进了互动与合作，带来了社会联系、共情关系和包容体验。参与者还强调了：（5）所促进的过程支持了参与，突出了能力并挑战了疑虑。
二元组将团体TSW视为一个认识优势、表达想法和观点、分享有意义经历以及“更多地与音乐互动”的机会。参与者重视TSW是一种全新、富有创意且令人兴奋的体验，它能够实现自我与他人的联系，并带来自豪和成就感。我们的研究结果进一步认识到，无论痴呆症的阶段和类型、二元组关系或音乐背景如何，治疗意图和方法如何在参与者的参与和反应中得到体现。这项研究可能会拓宽关于痴呆症患者及其家庭照顾者如何接触和参与音乐治疗的观点和理解。
