Examining Cross-Age Experiences in a Distance-Based Intergenerational Music Project: Comfort and Expectations in Collaborating With Opposite Generation Through "Virtual" Exchanges

Barriers and facilitators to older adult participation in intergenerational physical activity program: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

The intergenerational physical activity program aims to promote the health, social engagement, and well-being of older adults. It is essential to comprehend the barriers and facilitators that affect their involvement to develop successful intervention strategies. This systematic review critically examines available research to identify the factors that impact the participation of older adults in intergenerational physical activity programs.

METHODS

This study retrieved 13 electronic databases (from January 2000 to March 2023) and used a social-ecological model to classify and analyze the identified facilitators and barriers.

RESULTS

A total of 12 articles were included, which identified 73 facilitators and 37 barriers. These factors were condensed into 7 primary themes and 14 sub-themes in total.

CONCLUSIONS

The factors influencing the participation of older adults in intergenerational physical activities are multifaceted. These factors guide project developers, policymakers, and practitioners in developing and implementing intergenerational physical activity programs to help address global aging issues and promote intergenerational connections.

TRIAL REGISTRY

PROSPERO ID: CRD42023420758.

Creative aging in virtual spaces: using museum content and music therapy to explore cultural diversity

Introduction

During the pandemic, many creative aging programs stopped being delivered in person, and practitioners turned to various virtual platforms to deliver content for older adults to maintain their cognitive, physical, and psychosocial well-being. Collaborators from a university-based music therapy program and a global music museum developed asynchronous virtual programs, one for wellness populations and another for memory care settings. Content was developed and delivered by the paper's principal investigators in collaboration with the museum's curatorial team and an upper division music therapy class composed of juniors and first-year graduate equivalency students (n = 21). The asynchronous program included museum gallery content and music therapy interventions of singing, movement, and/or instrument playing based on highlighted geographic regions. The purpose of the study was to explore older adults' experiences when participating in the program.

Methods

Fifty-six older adults from three post-acute care facilities (two skilled nursing facilities and one assisted living center) served as participants. Older adult participants were categorized as cognitively healthy (n = 27) or those diagnosed with dementia (n = 29) and attended five music sessions over 8 weeks, ranging from 30 to 60 min in length. A within-subject repeated measures design was used to investigate the impact of the creative aging program on older adults' psychosocial well-being and engagement behaviors. Psychosocial well-being for cognitively healthy older adults were measured with the Multicultural Quality of Life Index, Engagement in Meaningful Activity Survey, and the PROMIS Social Isolation Short Form-4a. Psychosocial well-being for older adults with memory loss was measured with the Quality of Life in Late-Stage Dementia tool.

Results

Cognitively healthy older adults showed an increase in psychological/emotional wellness after participating in the program, while older adults with memory loss appeared less irritable and physically uncomfortable and seemed to enjoy interacting with others more. Surprisingly, the cognitively healthy older adults also showed an increase in social isolation between the start and end of the program, which may not be related to the intervention, but to the fact that all three sites had COVID outbreaks during the study and had to pause their group activities programming and residents were required to stay in their rooms. Additionally, the music interventions fostered engagement behaviors of interest (facial expression, posture), and response (body movement, eye contact, and musical interaction with the leaders in the videos) for both groups of older adults. Instrument interventions were most engaging for cognitively healthy older adults. Singing interventions were most engaging for older adults with dementia, whereas movement interventions were less engaging for older adults with dementia.

Discussion

Findings suggest that creative aging virtual programs can be delivered in asynchronous settings to enhance older adults' well-being and foster engagement. Additionally, virtual programming may be used to augment ongoing programming or used to reach older adults when distance is a factor to enhance older adults' well-being.

Innovations of music and aesthetic education courses using intelligent technologies

Innovations in training programs impact the educational system and the level of students' professional abilities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the use of innovative technologies in teaching music and aesthetics with the use of intelligent technology. Students from various music schools in Beijing participated in the study: elementary (112 respondents), middle (123 respondents), and high school (98 respondents) (areas: piano, violin, and percussion), a total of 343 participants. Assessment of the students' level of proficiency took place in several stages: comparing the students' level of proficiency with that they had before the experiment, for this purpose an average eight-point system was used. The next stage consisted of a comparison of grades for the final academic concert. The results showed that the greatest improvement was seen in the percussion class and the least in the violin class. Piano students showed an average result in the correlation comparison, but their level was the highest in the final academic concert, 48.55% of the students showed a level of skill above average. While 39.13% of the violin students scored "excellent" and "good". The same level among the students of "percussion instruments" was shown by 35.71% of the students. Thus, one can conclude that applying intelligent technologies positively impacts students' performance, but it is necessary to be careful in choosing applications and technologies for implementation in the educational process. Further research should be directed at the impact of other applications and programs on learning, as well as ways to improve other music education areas and how they can be changed by intelligent technology use.

Big and Mini: A Promising Intergenerational Program for Social Connections

Introduction: To help older adults cope with loneliness during COVID-19, a weekly, telephone-based intergenerational program called “Big and Mini” was created in April 2020 to link young and older adults together. As part of an evaluation of Big and Mini, a survey with both close and open-ended questions was sent to participants. Methods: A total of 63 Bigs and 53 Minis completed the survey. Their stress compared to before COVID-19, loneliness, life satisfaction, intergenerational closeness, and satisfaction with the program were measured for participants. Descriptive, bivariate correlation and conventional content analyses were conducted. Results: On average, Bigs and Minis had participated in the program for 3.73 and 3.49 months, respectively. Approximately half of the Bigs (47.6%) and Minis (52.8%) felt the same stress level compared to before COVID-19. A few participants felt “less stressed” compared to before COVID -9 (14.3 and 7.5%, respectively, for Bigs and Minis). All participants reported medium levels of loneliness, high levels of satisfaction with life, satisfaction with the program, and intergenerational closeness. Content analysis suggested that the reasons to join or expectations of the program were friendship, mutually beneficial intergenerational connections, and coping with loneliness. Conclusions: The Big and Mini program offers a promising approach with mutual benefits for participants. Strategies to improve the program and implications for intergenerational programs are presented.

Project Unmute: A Digital Music Program Delivered by Adolescent Musicians to Older Adults with Cognitive Decline

Effective intergenerational music programming has the power to positively influence the current lives of the millions of older adults who are experiencing Alzheimer's disease and dementia, as well as to support the confidence of the newest generation of young musicians. To explore this potential, we designed a digital, intergenerational music program delivered by adolescent musicians to older adults with cognitive decline. This program utilized songs preferred by the older adults and an interactive activity that engaged the two generations. We believe this type of easily scalable programming could support older adults and young musicians, as well as promote new intergenerational relationships.

A systematic review of the impacts of intergenerational engagement on older adults' cognitive, social, and health outcomes

BACKGROUND

Intergenerational engagement could benefit health and wellbeing within an ageing population. This systematic review evaluated the impacts of intergenerational engagement on cognitive, social, and health outcomes in healthy older adults and older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Comprehensive literature searches were undertaken, with records filtered according to pre-registered criteria. Study quality was formally assessed, and a narrative synthesis of the findings produced.

RESULTS

Forty-four studies were reviewed. Regarding quantitative evidence, 4 out of 8 studies found significant intergenerational engagement effects on cognitive outcomes, 15 of 24 on social outcomes, and 21 of 31 on health-related outcomes. Qualitative evidence was also important for understanding perceived impacts and experiences of intergenerational programmes. Only 11 studies fully met criteria for high quality research, of which the majority focused on social outcomes.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

There are a range of potential benefits of intergenerational engagement, most notably regarding anxiety, generativity, cross-age attitudes, and physical activity. However, heterogeneity in programme context, sample design, dosage, and duration indicate that more research is required to enable wider implementation and generalisability. Scientific rigour in both quantitative and qualitative research should also be employed as far as possible, to provide the highest quality evidence.

Using Music Technology Creatively to Enrich Later-Life: A Literature Review

Background: A growing body of evidence has demonstrated significant social and emotional benefits of music-making amongst senior citizens. However, several as-yet unresolved age-related barriers to "musicking" have been identified. Positioned within the emergent field of gerontechnology, concerned with the interface between aging and technology research, this review of literature thus explores the potential for music technologies to function as a vehicle for creative musical opportunities in later-life. Methods: ERIC, PsychInfo, and Web of Science databases were searched, focusing on the intersection between music, technology, and aging. The criteria for inclusion were that the paper should: (1) be in English; (2) report empirical research involving the use of music technologies intended to support receptive (listening, interpreting, reflecting) or active (playing, creating, performing) engagement with music amongst older persons, defined as being aged 60 years or above (United Nations, 2017); (3) be published as a peer reviewed journal article. Results: Of 144 papers screened, 18 papers were retained. 10 studies focused on using technology to support musicking in the form of listening, reflecting, and interpreting. Just five studies explored the utility of technology in promoting singing or playing instruments, while a further three were focused on music and movement. Conclusions: Overall, the literature reviewed suggests that older people, even those with complex needs, are capable of, and interested in using music technologies to access and create personally meaningful music. The limited research that does exist points to multiple and significant benefits that may be derived from receptive or active musicking supported by a range of music technologies.