Chua Soon Yi, Christensen Justin, Timmers Renee, Schauerman Julia, Rawling Kathryn
Department of Music & Healthy Lifespan Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice, University of the Arts London, London, UK.
Australas J Ageing. 2025 Jun;44(2):e70052. doi: 10.1111/ajag.70052.
Communication challenges in people living with dementia can limit social interactions with fellow residents and hinder professional carers' ability to provide person-centred care. While research highlights the benefits of reminiscence, storytelling and music interventions in facilitating social interaction, the potential of using soundscapes in storytelling remains underexplored. This qualitative study investigated how acousmatic storytelling-using sound recordings and music to inspire storytelling, evoke imagery and emotion, and iteratively develop hybrid audio compositions-can enhance communication and social interactions in people living with dementia.
Twelve one-hour workshops were conducted with individuals in the early to mid-stages of dementia at a care home, using auditory cues (music and soundscapes) and visual prompts (photographs and poems) to stimulate memory recall, storytelling and group discussion. Data were collected through video and audio recordings, participant observation and semi-structured interviews with care workers.
Inductive thematic analysis identified two key themes in verbal communication: (1) reminiscence and (2) creative sound associations, as well as five themes for non-verbal behaviours: (1) supporting verbal communication, (2) substituting verbal communication, (3) expressing emotions, (4) enhancing rapport with others and (5) expressing musicality. These themes highlight how participants engaged meaningfully in both storytelling and group interactions.
Findings suggest that acousmatic storytelling offers a platform for individuals living with dementia to engage in verbal communication, employ purposeful non-verbal behaviours and participate in meaningful social interaction. This highlights its potential as a narrative approach for enhancing person-centred care in long-term care settings.
痴呆症患者面临的沟通挑战会限制他们与其他居民的社交互动，并阻碍专业护理人员提供以人为本护理的能力。虽然研究强调了回忆、讲故事和音乐干预在促进社交互动方面的益处，但在讲故事中使用音景的潜力仍未得到充分探索。这项定性研究调查了声学讲故事——利用录音和音乐来激发讲故事、唤起意象和情感，并迭代开发混合音频作品——如何能增强痴呆症患者的沟通和社交互动。
在一家养老院对处于痴呆症早期至中期的个体开展了12次为时一小时的工作坊，使用听觉线索（音乐和音景）和视觉提示（照片和诗歌）来刺激记忆回忆、讲故事和小组讨论。通过视频和音频记录、参与观察以及对护理人员的半结构化访谈收集数据。
归纳主题分析确定了言语沟通中的两个关键主题：（1）回忆和（2）创造性的声音联想，以及非言语行为的五个主题：（1）支持言语沟通，（2）替代言语沟通，（3）表达情感，（4）增进与他人的融洽关系，（5）展现音乐性。这些主题凸显了参与者如何有意义地参与讲故事和小组互动。
研究结果表明，声学讲故事为痴呆症患者提供了一个平台，使其能够参与言语沟通、运用有目的的非言语行为并参与有意义的社交互动。这凸显了其作为一种叙事方法在长期护理环境中增强以人为本护理的潜力。
