Living in residential care can be accompanied by feelings of social isolation, loneliness, depression, and a loss of life purpose or meaning. A team of researchers, including our faculty member Renate Ysseldyk, received a Knowledge Mobilisation Partnership Program grant from the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation to evaluate the psychosocial and cognitive impacts of two structured peer-support music programmes: Java Music Club (designed for individuals living with early dementia or no cognitive impairment) and Java Memory Care (for mid-stage to advanced dementia).
The team, lead by Zsofia Orosz of Bruyère Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-term Care, involves collaborations with Dr. Tracy Luciani (Bruyère Continuing Care), Kristine Theurer (Founder & President Java Group Programs), and Drs. Catherine Haslam and Genevieve Dingle (The University of Queensland). Through their study the team also aims to develop knowledge mobilisation tools about how to best run these programmes, and make these tools available across health care settings. In the long-term, this would mean that more individuals living with dementia and in residential care can benefit from these peer-support programmes.
To learn more about Dr. Ysseldyk’s research, visit her social and health psychology website.
For more information about the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation programmes visit CABHI.
Image credit: Freepik from Flaticon